A dive into history and Gravina Sotterranea

The underground passages of Gravina are an obligatory stop that you absolutely cannot miss! You will start your tour visiting the church S. Maria degli Angeli, the only rupestrian church of Greek Orthodox rite to have preserved the altar used for the distribution of the Eucharist during liturgical functions, called “ara”, and originally known as S. Maria delle Tombe because of the tombs present both inside and outside the church. Continue along the Ponte Acquedotto, the protagonist of important film sets such as the 007 movie “No Time To Die”, from which you can enjoy the picturesque view of the archaeological area of Petramagna and the many caves that characterize the landscape of the opposite side of the Canyon. You will end the cultural part of the tour admiring the Medieval Bastion, the last remaining tower of the sixteenth-century city walls, a defensive element with the purpose of protecting the “curtains” from enemy attacks. The second part of the tour will take you into an underground world of tunnels dug into the rock, a path that winds through old cellars, cisterns and rooms that form a fascinating labyrinth, until you reach :

-The Underground of S. Sofia: whose masterpiece is the funeral mausoleum that houses the remains of Duchess Angela Castriota Scanderbeg, wife of Ferdinand Orsini of Aragon, the sixth Duke of Gravina;

The underground passages of S. Emidio: by visiting the “Casa Montemurro” it is possible to see Don Eustachio’s and Don Saverio’s rooms, the cistern, the set of priestly vestments of the two priests from Gravina in concept of sanctity, and various instruments of penance used by them. Going down a staircase for two floors below the ground floor, you reach a well-kept underground environment, where we gathered in prayer and meditation, along the 14 stations of the cross.