50 anni di Speleologia condivisa | Mostra fotografica a cura del GSM

What have you been searching for all these years?
The depth.
Why right here?
Because I know that somewhere here it is hidden.
Who told you?
Those who came before us.
Did they find it?
No. Or perhaps partly, but we must continue to search for it.
Is it necessary?
Yes.
Why?
Because we desperately need it.

Human beings are karstic by form and substance.
Like limestone, which is carved, hollowed, and then rebuilt by the elements, we too traverse voids and fills, encounter resistances, mold and allow ourselves to be molded.

Caves - like people - reveal themselves only to those who have the persistence of the stubborn, to those who accept the darkness to finally recognize the true form of things.

Caves must be observed up close to understand how the wise hand of time has sculpted them into unique shapes, offspring of the geological art of an invaluable, free, and wild era.

For fifty years, the Martinese Speleological Group has been exploring, documenting, studying, and giving back. Each cavity we pass through has become a piece of shared history. We are beings made of time, and in the end, yes, we disarm the caves, but always leaving fix and spit on the walls: signs of passage and care, so that someone else may continue the journey, push beyond, force narrow passages if necessary, attempt other paths that we have only glimpsed or did not want to explore.

The exhibition “50 Years of Shared Speleology” tells all this: the memory of the rock, the feats, the relationships, the new forms of life, the dedication that for half a century has united different people around a single passion.

An invitation to look below the surface and to take part, for a moment, in what has been our extraordinary karstic existence.
And it is not over yet.

The exhibition "50 Years of Shared Speleology," set up on the occasion of Spèlaion 2025 at the Museo delle Pianelle - inside the Ducal Palace of Martina Franca - is open to the public every day from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM until February 6, 2026.

Spèlaion 2025 is organized by the Martinese Speleological Group and the Puglia Speleological Federation, with the support of the Municipality of Martina Franca, in agreement with the Ministry of Culture – Superintendence for Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Landscape for the Provinces of Brindisi, Lecce, and Taranto, and is sponsored by the Apulia Region, Italian Speleological Society ETS, National Commission of Speleology Schools, Alpine and Speleological Rescue - Puglia, University of Bari Aldo Moro, University of Padua, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, University "Gabriele D’Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara, Order of Geologists of Apulia, LAGAP - Free Association of Professional Environmental Guides and AIGAE Italian Association of Environmental Escursion Guides.

Special thanks also to our partners and sponsors: BCC Locorotondo, Marraffa, Werent, Serveco, Berwich, Monte Tullio Lab, L’Arcàllegra, Villaggio In, Verboschi Dental Studio, and Mountain Goods.