40 Kms south-east of Bari, the busy, industrial and administrative capital of Apulia, lies the little town of Castellana whose origins go back even further than the 10^th century. For a number of years now, the town has been called Castellana-Grotte and is the most important tourist attraction in Apulia, as well as one of the most famous in the whole of southern Italy. It owes its rapid and lucky notoriety to the discovery on January 23^rd, 1938 of a vast system of natural underground caves. The Grottos of Castellana represent one of the most important series of natural underground caves in Italy and Europe, a reputation gained  not only because of their size but above all for the spectacularity of the natural galleries and the prodigious wealth of crystalline concretions