Polignano a Mare

Polignano, once known as Neapolis, is located next to the sea. It can be reached by car, train, or bus. To get there by car, follow route 16 from Bari in a southerly direction. Polignano has characteristic white houses on top of a rocky outcrop. The houses are built extremely close together and almost seem to be part of the rock overlooking the sea. The movement of the waves at the bottom of the natural wall has modelled the limestone into large, deep caves. One of these is the famous Grotta Palazzese which can be reached by foot following a stairway from the well-known restaurant of the same name. The other caves can only be visited by boats which skirt the inlets and arrive in the enchanting caves known as the Grotta Ardito (Courageous Cave), the Grotta Stalattitica (Stalactite Cave), and the Grotta della Foca (Seal Cave). You should also visit the Romanesque cathedral with its pillars flanked by half columns, following a typology of a probable origin from beyond the mountains (Bernay) perhaps from Norman Campania (San Lorenzo di Aversa). The ancient hamlet is also worth visiting. It was built just a few meters away from the sea and still conserves the signs of the populations which dominated it and sacked it.