Entering the Castellana Caves: the Principal Cavern

Last summer I had the amazing experience of entering the Castellana Caves, in the southern Italy region of Apulia (Puglia in Italian).

It was my first time in a cave, and the majesty of the Principal Cavern, the first “hall” of the caves, left me speechless and gaping. I felt like a child for the first time in a long time. That was really something!

It’s not allowed to take photos further down the caves, but believe me, it gets more and more beautiful the more you walk deeper into the narrow corridors of Castellana Caves. 

The caves were discovered in 1938. The entrance is represented by an enormous vertical tunnel 60 meters-long. The main cave is named “La Grave” (as abyss), and others are named Black Cavern (Caverna Nera), White Cave (Grotta Bianca) and Precipice Cavern (Caverna del Precipizio). -Wikipedia

The hole above the Principal Cavern

 In order to show the proportions, I made sure I included some people in the following photos. This gives an idea of the size of the cavern… impressive, huh?

People are so small, the cavern is huge

 And in case you’re wondering, no, there’s no HDR involved in the following photo. Here it’s just all about the incredible colors of the rock inside the caves!

Going deeper into the Castellana Caves - amazing colors

 Here is another place where I want to go back. 

My tip if you go is to buy the “full tour” ticket – I was too lazy to do it, as the heat outside made me very weak and I didn’t think I could handle the 2 hours tour walk. I just didn’t expect the temperature to be so pleasant and refreshing inside the caves, so it wasn’t tiring at all, and next time I’ll go for the full tour, all the way down until the White Cave: almost 3 kms after the Principal Cavern!

Who’s been to a cave? Was it this impressive? I want to visit more caves, so any suggestion is appreciated!