Porto Badisco

Beach Salento, Italy

Crystal clear waters, a coast made up of a real miniature fjord, a mythological landing place. According to the legend narrated by Virgil, Porto Badisco is the first Adriatic shore touched by Aeneas on his trip to Italy, fleeing Troy, with his father Anchises and his son Ascanio.

In this locality, characterized by mythological caves and wild rocks, is the Grotta dei Cervi, an underground complex adorned with stalactite and stalagmite formations which 4 millennia ago hosted the first inhabitants of the area. It is a 3 km long underground ravine, divided into 3 sections, which contains thousands of inscriptions, paintings of hands, hunters, suns and combs with hunting scenes, personal footprints and symbols that have remained as evidence of human presence, attracting archaeologists and paleontologists from all over the world. The cave, discovered on 1 February 1970 by a speleological group from Maglie, is currently inaccessible to the public, conserves numerous inscriptions in guano and red ocher from the Neolithic era which have retained their charm and clarity over time.