Giornate FAI, itinerario tra acqua e pietra a Castellana Grotte

On Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October 2026, volunteers from the Delegation will open several sites in an area where the surface and the underground are part of the same story: ravines, caves, natural wells, churches, countryside and architecture that tell of the ongoing relationship between nature and human presence.

From the Church of Madonna della Grotta to the Gravinelle and on to Contrada Genna, with its Neviera and Church of San Nicola, this distributed itinerary will take visitors through different places linked by a common thread: water, stone and the ways in which local communities have learned to understand, inhabit and use this environment.

At each stop, volunteers from the FAI Delegation of the Trulli and Caves, Apprendisti Ciceroni student guides from the “Luigi Dell’Erba” Higher Education Institute in Castellana Grotte, coordinated by Professor Marzia Cino, and Emanuela Elba, together with experts in wine, local history and speleology, will welcome visitors. They will offer specific stories and perspectives, gradually piecing together a shared history from one site to the next.

It will be a journey into and across the earth: in the cavity of Madonna della Grotta, devotion and legend will come together; at the Gravinelle, visitors will be able to observe the landscape from the perspective of water and geology and attend a speleological exploration; at the Neviera, they will discover the history of preserving cold and the ancient rural economy; at San Nicola, they will find traces of religious devotion and community life in the countryside.

This itinerary invites visitors to view the area not as a static backdrop, but as a living landscape where nature, history, work, memory and community continue to intertwine.

Visitors will be able to listen to stories, identify traces left by human beings, observe techniques and hidden environments, learn about an ancient agricultural heritage and, in Contrada Genna, FAI members will be able to taste wine made from historic grape varieties.

Each site will be open on Saturday 10 October from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and on Sunday 11 October from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. On Saturday 10 October, the Neviera and the Church of San Nicola di Genna will be open only in the afternoon.

Wine tastings at the Genna vineyard, hosted by the “Giovanni Aiello – Enologo per Amore” winery, will take place by reservation on Saturday 10 October at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday 11 October at 11:00 a.m.

## The Church of Madonna della Grotta

Madonna della Grotta is documented as early as 1091 as a natural cavity used for worship. Between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the upper church began to take shape, although it remained unfinished; its portal bears the date 1778. In the nineteenth century, the cave also became a refuge for brigands. The twentieth century brought years of neglect followed by restoration work, culminating in its designation as a protected site in 1983 and more recent safety measures.

The church extends over two levels around the natural cavity, located approximately nine metres below street level. The upper church has a single nave, three vaulted chapels and a façade marked by pilasters, a curved pediment and a niche containing the Madonna and Child. The lower church preserves an eighteenth-century altar, an old Marian fresco that has been seriously damaged, and a stone Nativity scene created in 1980 by local sculptor Angelo Calcagnini.

At the Church of Madonna della Grotta, the legend of the miracle involving the shepherd girl Maria and the pig herder known as “Mancino” will be brought to life through a performance by actors from the “Grocà” Cultural and Theatre Association APS.

The church will also host the exhibition *When Castellana Became Water: Memories of Floods in the Age of Climate Change*. The exhibition features a series of period photographs of the floods that affected Castellana Grotte in 1896 and 1968, from the archive of Foto d’Arte Guglielmi in Castellana Grotte. Decades later, these snapshots have become testimonies to another era, as well as reminders of the area’s vulnerability. The exhibition has been arranged by FV Building Solution Srl.

## The Gravinelle

The Gravinelle are two natural sinkholes in the karst basin, reaching depths of approximately 37 metres, where rainwater disappears underground. The first documented speleological exploration took place on 26 December 1956.

This is a place where geology is not merely something to observe, but a presence that has shaped the landscape and influenced, over time, the ways in which people live in and move through this area.

At the Gravinelle, speleologists from the Puglia Grotte Group will accompany visitors in discovering the underground world through a demonstration of speleological exploration techniques. They will present the equipment, descent procedures and progression systems used to move safely through underground environments.

## Contrada Genna

The Church of San Nicola di Genna stands in Contrada Genna. This rural building dates from the sixteenth century and was probably constructed on an older place of worship. Its simple gabled façade, small bell tower and mosaic are set within a landscape still characterised by the countryside, ancient connecting roads and the Neviera.

Built in 1788 and restored in 2016, the Neviera tells the story of an ancient system for preserving snow intended for ice production. Next to it, a head-trained vineyard has been planted using historic vines, providing further evidence of an agricultural culture deeply rooted in the area.

Here, the visit also becomes an opportunity to rediscover the relationship between land, water, cultivation and rural culture. At the vineyard, a wine tasting featuring wines from Cantine Aiello will be offered exclusively to FAI members—a convivial opportunity to learn about and taste the products of this land in the very landscape from which their story originates.

It is a way of concluding the journey through these sites by bringing together memory, agriculture and wine culture.

Visitors may choose to visit a single stop, follow several of them or complete the entire itinerary. Each site must be reached independently. Admission is free, with voluntary donations welcome.

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## MADONNA DELLA GROTTA
**Via Serritella 14**

Tour, performance and photographic exhibition presented by FAI volunteers, Apprendisti Ciceroni student guides and teachers from the “Luigi Dell’Erba” Higher Education Institute, together with actors from the Grocà Association.

### TIMES

**Saturday 10 October:**
10:00 / 10:45 / 11:30 / 12:15
3:00 / 3:45 / 4:30 / 5:15 p.m.

**Sunday 11 October:**
9:30 / 10:15 / 11:00 / 11:45 / 12:30
3:00 / 3:45 / 4:30 / 5:15 p.m.

## GRAVINELLE
**Piazza Caduti Castellanesi, Via Gravinella**

Visits led by FAI volunteers and speleological experts from the Puglia Grotte Group.

### TIMES

**Saturday 10 October:**
10:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.; 3:00–6:00 p.m.

**Sunday 11 October:**
9:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.; 3:00–6:00 p.m.

## NEVIERA AND SAN NICOLA DI GENNA
**Strada Comunale Genna**

FAI volunteers and experts.

### TIMES

**Saturday 10 October:**
3:00–6:00 p.m.

**Sunday 11 October:**
9:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.; 3:00–6:00 p.m.

## GENNA VINEYARD
**Near the Neviera**

FAI volunteers and experts.

Special visits by reservation for FAI members at the Genna vineyard, including a wine tasting hosted by *Enologo per Amore Srl*, an agricultural company—Cantine Aiello.

### TIMES

**Saturday 10 October:**
4:00 p.m.

**Sunday 11 October:**
11:00 a.m.
Web: fondoambiente.it/luoghi/chi...