Grotta di Pertosa
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The Grotto of Pertosa , also called Grotta dell'Angelo ( Angel's Grotto ), is located between the municipalities of Pertosa and Auletta , 60 km away from Salerno in the green landscape of the Alburni mountain range in Italy .
geography
The Angel Cave, located in the Cilento hinterland, is easy to reach via the SS 19 Calabria state road or, coming from the north, via the Petina exit on the A3 Salerno - Reggio Calabria motorway , and from the south via the Polla exit .
geology
The Grotte dell 'Angelo is an impressive natural amphitheater that is around 35 million years old. It already existed in the Stone Age, as indicated by many finds. Before the Christians consecrated it to St. Michael the Archangel , the grotto was used as a place of worship by Greeks and Romans.
Huge cavities, connected by tunnel-like tunnels, extend over a length of approx. 2500 m. They are covered with numerous stalactites and stalagmites . To reach this grotto, which is unique in Italy, you have to take a boat across a small underground river and drive a few hundred meters into the interior of the earth, where the silence is only drowned out by the rushing water. After a few minutes at the other end, you will come across a wonderful waterfall of the "Black River" Fiume Negro. Impressive stalactites and bizarre rock formations, formed by nature over millions of years, make the huge halls look like a salon through lighting.
gallery
lake
Chapel of San Michele Arcangelo in the cave
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literature
- Felice Larocca, Francesco Breglia: Grotte di Pertosa (Salerno). Un contesto archeologico sommerso in ambiente sotterraneo , in: Massimo Capulli (ed.): Il patrimonio culturale sommerso. Ricerche e proposte per il futuro dell'archeologia subacquea in Italia. Atti del V Convegno nazionale di archeologia subacquea 'Archeologia Subacquea 2.0'Udine, 8-10 September 2016 , Udine 2018, pp. 327-335.
