• Municipalities

  Pertosa

• Address

  Località Muraglione, 18/20, 84030 Pertosa SA

• Telephone

  0975397037

• Email

  info@fondazionemida.it

• Website

  https://fondazionemida.com/

Description

Located in the Alburni Mountains, the Pertosa Caves are a karst complex located in Campania which represents one of the great tourist attractions of the area. Steeped in history and archaeology, they are the emblem of local and international history, having attracted the attention of various university scholars from different parts of the world.

Thanks to the presence of the Nigro river, which flows within them and is navigable for some stretches, they can be visited for suggestive guided boat tours.

Originating from the force of the water that dug the tunnels, the Caves extend horizontally for about 3 km inside the mountain. Thanks to the presence of the Nigro river, they are the only navigable caves in Italy, perfectly equipped for tourist visits via boats towed by a system of steel cables.

Thanks to the finds discovered (amphorae, vases, various utensils), it has been ascertained that the caves were inhabited by shepherds who lived on stilts. These important finds are today kept and visible in some of the most famous museums in Italy such as the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, the Provincial Museum of Salerno and the Prehistoric Ethnographic Museum of Rome.

Going deeper it is possible to discover environments with suggestive names such as the Branch of Wonders, the Great Hall, the Throne Room, the Branch of Paradise. Everywhere you are surrounded by stactites and stalagmites, reflections and flashes due to calcite, the purest calcium carbonate that sparkles like diamonds. The rock concretions take on bizarre shapes.

Scholars trace the origin of these caves back to 35 million years ago and they are considered the only caves in Italy not of marine origin to be crossed by a watercourse.

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