The aqueduct bridge over the ravine and the rock churches
On the edge of the Murgia, near the border with Basilicata, Gravina in Puglia stands on the rim of a deep ravine, the "gravina" that gives it its name, carved into the limestone by the waters of a stream, its walls riddled with caves inhabited since prehistoric times. Like nearby Matera, it has a rupestrian civilisation of cave dwellings, rock churches and underground cellars.
The symbol of the town is the aqueduct bridge, a seventeenth century stone bridge of arches that crosses the ravine, built to carry water to the town and also used as a path between the two sides; it appeared in the James Bond film No Time to Die (2021), in a dramatic chase scene with Daniel Craig jumping from it. On the opposite side of the gravina lie the remains of the ancient settlement of Botromagno and the rock church of San Michele delle Grotte, carved into the rock, with an ossuary. In the town, the underground Gravina, "Gravina Sotterranea", is a network of cisterns, cellars and caves under the old centre that can be visited with a guide. The cathedral, the Pomarici Santomasi Foundation museum and the Swabian castle of Frederick II complete the visit.
Tip: the best view of the bridge is from the belvedere near the cathedral; Gravina is known for its "pallone di Gravina" cheese.
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