Deer Cave (Otranto)
Grotta dei Cervi | |
| Alternative name | Grotta di Enea |
|---|---|
| Location | near Porto Badisco, Otranto Comune |
| Region | Province of Lecce, Apulia, Italy |
| Coordinates | 40°04′58″N 18°29′06″E / 40.08278°N 18.48500°E |
| Type | limestone karst cave complex |
| Part of | Peninsula Salentina |
| Length | 1,500 m (4,900 ft) |
| History | |
| Periods | late Neolithic, Eneolithic, 6000 to 5000 years BP |
| Associated with | prehistoric settlers |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1970 |
| Archaeologists | Paolo Graziosi |
| Management | University of Salento |
| Public access | no |
The Deer Cave (Italian: Grotta dei Cervi - literally: Grotto of the stags) is a natural cave at the Salento coast near the town of Porto Badisco, around 8 km (5.0 mi) south of Otranto in Apulia, Italy. Unknown before 1970, it came to immediate international attention after the discovery of its impressive, innovative and enigmatic complex galleries of prehistoric parietal wall paintings.
This complex of caves was discovered during an ongoing routine exploration of the local territory on February 1, 1970 by a team of speleologists of the Salento Speleological Group "Pasquale de Laurentiis" from Maglie. It was initially named Cave of Aeneas (Grotta di Enea) in reference to Virgil's Aeneid in which the Trojan hero Aeneas first landed in Italy precisely in Porto Badisco. The current name alludes to the omnipresence and significance of deer depictions among the cave's galleries. The location was soon closed to the public in order to ensure that the original environmental conditions essential for the conservation of the paintings are not disrupted. Access to the cave remains restricted to authorized personnel and researchers only.