La cripta nascosta di Grottaglie

Dario Melissano 29 November 2024

Puglia is full of caves and ravines inhabited since prehistoric times, yet a crypt hidden for 700 years, with traces of famous Knights Templar, and with an aura of dream and mystery around it is something very rare.

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The mysterious place is located in Grottaglie, inside a villa that in the past was a Roman domus, known today by the name of Casa Vestita, from the name of the owner and discoverer Domenico Vestita, a local ceramist and craftsman. The villa, like all Roman domus, has a large entrance, surrounded by colonnades, and a small recess on the right, where vases, shards, plates and other objects of common use in ancient Rome are kept.

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When the restoration work on the villa began, no one could have imagined that an ancient crypt was kept inside.

The ceramist had sensed that there was something strange, thanks to a detail. “The oven,” says Domenico Vestita, “had never been turned on. It was too suspicious.”

In fact, by demolishing the oven, this magical place was rediscovered, hidden from view for seven long centuries. The most accredited hypothesis is that it was managed by a group of Templar knights. Before the dissolution of the order, the knights hid gold coins and other treasures inside the crypt, erecting an oven that only served as an external covering.

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Thanks to the obstinacy of the Apulian ceramist, today, in Grottaglie, it is possible to admire a crypt with frescoes of the blessing Christ, of Saint Nicholas and of Saint Barbara. Crusader bas-reliefs. Everything remained immaculate for many centuries before a man dreamed of that discovery and stubbornly brought it to light

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The Hidden Crypt of Grottaglie

Written by Dario Melissano

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The Hidden Crypt of Grottaglie

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