Aa few minutes from Monopoli begins a coastal stretch near Polignano a Mare, full of caves and marine caverns dug out over the millennia by the sea. Among the most important: the Grotta della Rondinella, the Grotta dell'Arcivescovado, the Grotta Chiangella, the Grotta Ardito, the Grotta Palazzese, the Grotta delle Monache, Grotta Stampagnata, the Grotta dei Colombi, the Grotta di Sella etc…

The largest and most famous is Grotta Palazzese, so called because it was under a noble palace, the palace of the Miani counts. This marine cavern has been admired for centuries by poets, writers and musicians, including Diderot who have described it and handed it down as an enchanting place.

In the past the cave was accessible only through a steep staircase carved into the rock, then in the 20s it housed a bathing establishment and finally from the XNUMXs it became a hotel with a restaurant.

Today Grotta Palazzese can also be reached from the sea through two natural openings.

Sccording to an ancient popular legend, a swallow came to this cave every year to build its nest in one of the ravines of the vault of this cave. One day a violent storm from the north destroyed his bed, dragging the swallow into the water with its young. Since then, if you hear the cry of the swallow and her little children on a stormy day, it is considered an omen of bad luck.