After more than three months of closure, the Castellana Caves (Ba) have once again revealed themselves to the public in all their splendor. They officially reopened to visitors today, Friday, June 26, during a busy morning of resumption of work in the presence of local authorities and the President of the Puglia Region. Michele Emiliano, who wanted to be present at the restart of one of the main regional tourist attractions by inviting the citizens of Puglia to stay in Puglia for their holidays and to visit the caves and all the other beauties of the region.
Accompanying President Emiliano on a short tour of the underground karst complex were the Board of Directors of Grotte di Castellana srl (President Victor Casulli, Vice president Francesco Manghisi and Councilor Maria Lacasella), the Mayor of Castellana Grotte Francesco De Ruvo together with the members of the Municipal Board and Council, Professor Alessandro Reina, scientific director, and Dr. Giulia Monaco, executive officer of the Castellana Caves.
Furthermore, over 250 tourists visited the caves on the first morning of their reopening, accompanied along the tour route by expert guides. Two tours are available: the full tour (approximately 3 kilometers long, leading to the White Cave, lasting 100 minutes) at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00, and 17:00; and the partial tour (approximately 1 kilometer long, covering 50 minutes) at 10:30, 11:30, 13:00, 14:30, 15:30, and 18:00. A full tour in English is also available at 10:00, 12:00, 15:00, and 17:00, as well as the option to book tours in German and French.
"It's a great emotion to finally be able to reopen our beautiful caves to the public. – stated the President of the Board of Directors Casulli, who symbolically opened the doors to the first visitors at 9:00 am together with the Vice President Manghisi and the Councilor Lacasella – For us, this is a new beginning, and we're happy to have already received so much attention from tourists, as well as many bookings for this weekend and for the coming weeks."
