At the BIT in Milan, the Caves and the Municipality of Castellana will present the latest additions to their rich program of events that will draw tourists from the Caves to the city center and vice versa. With tours, concerts, performances in the Caves, and workshops for schools, the tourism offering lasts year-round.
During the BIT of Milan, the International Tourism Exchange, which opened yesterday, Sunday, February 12th. The Municipality of Castellana Grotte and the Grotte di Castellana company, present at the Puglia Region stand, reviewed their 2022 activities and outlined the outlook for the current year. The focus was on the seasonal adjustment of tourist flows, the planning of the cultural agenda, and the promotion of the history and microhistory of the City of Caves.
To present the very rich Calendar of appointments and major events that will take place in the town in the south-east of Bari throughout 2023, the Mayor of Castellana Domi Cilberti, the municipal councilor for events Fabio Caputo, Gianfranco Lopane, Regional Councillor for Tourism of the Puglia Region, Aldo Patruno, director of the Tourism and Culture Department of the Puglia Region, Francesco Manghisi President of the Board of Directors of Grotte di Castellana Srl, Luca Scandale, director of Puglia Promozione, Margherita Costante Vice President of the Company, Monica Di Monte advisor of Grotte di Castellana Srl, Joseph Savino artistic director of the Caves.
Among the main events of 2023, promoted by the Caves and the Municipality, there are the major events in the spaces of the Caves and in the squares. They remember the The Days of Fire and the Night of the Fanove brought thousands of people to witness the historical reenactment of the days of the plague and the rebirth. It's still, the squares of Summer and Winter in the spaces of the town, Christmas in the Caves, Hell in the Cave and the new show dedicated to Peter Pan.
A calendar designed for visitors of all ages, which has made the current offering even more attractive, in an area strategically located, allowing tourists to enjoy natural beauty and services just a stone's throw from other enchanting places in Puglia.
«The Castellana Caves and the Municipality of Castellana Grotte presented the new tourism project they are working on, which aims to enhance the experiential and sensorial aspects of our karst complex and to increasingly involve the city and its center in the tourist flows arriving in Castellana. - declared the Mayor of Castellana Grotte, Domi Ciliberti Castellana Caves is more than just a visit or an educational trip: experiencing our caves also means participating in immersive experiences like Speleofamily, Speleonight, Hell in the Cave, Peter Pan, and the Sirio Observatory, and taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the accessibility project. Renewed educational workshops, entertainment, cultural, and nature events are integrated and extended to the city's squares and iconic locations, a program we launched in the summer and over the recent Christmas period, with tremendous success. Castellana Caves and Castellana Grotte are increasingly focusing on sharing their history and unique features, hoping to capture the growing interest and appreciation of partners and visitors.».
In particular, as regards the Castellana Caves, the guided visits to the “Franco Anelli” Speleological Museum, the Speleonight and Speleo Adventure experiences dedicated to schools are added, educational workshops for students of all levels of institutes: from nursery school with educational workshops “Fa-volando” and “H2Oltre – The story of a friend called Gocciolina”, to those concerning primary and lower secondary schools, real tours such as the workshops “Geotour""Grotta school"and "White Grotto School”. And finally for secondary schools also the laboratory “Cave & stars” during which the concept of “time” will be revealed, underlining the link between geological time and astronomical time and the experience of “Hell in the Cave”, the largest underground aerial show in the world that combines dance, voices, sounds and lights in the natural setting of the Castellana Caves, to literally immerse yourself in Dante's Inferno.
«The results recorded by Grotte di Castellana Srl in 2022 are positive – supports the company's Board of Directors consisting of the president Francesco Manghisi, from the vice president Margherita Costante and the councilor Monica Di Monte Compared to 2021, we saw a 45% increase in admissions and a 5% increase in online sales. It was a very busy year for the Caves, both in terms of tourism and artistic performances. We counted 44 performances of "Hell in the Cave" with 10.953 spectators, 30 "Speleonight" tours with 600 participants, and 32 "Speleo Junior" and "Speleo Family" tours. We also highlight the trailer for "Peter Pan," the new show debuting in the caves in 2023, and other events—including book launches, music, and Christmas celebrations. The Council hopes to continue the growth trend already recorded, further fueled by the diversification of the offering.
