Mottola is a town that rises on the southern Murge, known throughout the world above all for its Grotte di Dio, or the four rock churches – dating from the 11th to the 14th century – of Santa Margherita or Marina for the Easterners, patron saint of pregnant women, Sant’Angelo, unique in its kind in Italy because it has two floors, San Nicola di Myra, which preserves one of the oldest frescoes of the Saint miracle worker and, finally, San Gregorio, a true jewel of sacred architecture dug into the rock.
Before entering the town and admiring its wonders, it is worth visiting the rock villages of Petruscio and Casalrotto.
From the monumental medieval staircase, carved into the rock, you descend into the ravine, towards the Villaggio Petruscio, with its typical cave-houses, characterized by a particular architecture and division of the internal and external space, functional to domestic, peasant and pastoral uses. Here, the most important cave building to visit is the one identified by scholars as the House of the Igumeno for its particular architecture, so cared for and refined, unique in its workmanship in the entire village.
The most important of the three rock churches in the village has been named Cathedral by scholars due to its grandeur, probably excavated in the early Middle Ages.
In Villaggio di Casalrotto it is curious and interesting to visit the cave complex, which some scholars identify as an Italo-Greek monastery, where the filming of the fantasy film Tale of Tales by director Matteo Garrone (2015) took place, in which these places became the House of the Ogre and the Princess.
The old town of Mottola stands on the top of the pleasant hill at 387 meters above sea level, with its austere and sober medieval district of Schiavonia.
Built entirely with the soft local rock, tuff, it is completely whitewashed, as is the tradition of small rural towns in Puglia. The white streets, entirely paved with chianche, also of local origin, lead to a series of characteristic little squares, including Largo Chiesa Madre, Largo San Nicola and Largo Mater Domini.
A bishop's seat from the 11th century until 1818, Mottola has a valuable ex-cathedral church, with a late Gothic façade, dedicated to the Assumption. The other churches in the old town to visit are the Church of the Immaculate, the Church of Carmelo and the Church of the Rosary.
Olio d'Oliva E.V. 500 cl.
Mustaccioli
Olio d'Oliva E.V. 100 cl
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