Boat tour of the Polignano a Mare caves with aperitif

The small port of San Vito is used as a dock for local fishermen's boats. From the sea you can see the Abbey of the same name overlooking the marina, dating back to the eighteenth century and currently a private residence. On the left we can see the control tower and the fishponds, built to store live fish during the winter months.

The first recess we find along the coast is a cove, not a cave: Cala Paura. In reality, its original name is Cala Paguro. It is thought that, from the pronunciation of the dialect term "Pagour" (hermit crab), it came to be called Cala Paura due to assonance. In this cove there is the famous writing "Torno Subito" with wrought iron letters set in the rock. It seems that they are the work of an Iranian sculptor visiting Polignano but it is not known who the artist was referring to. Maybe right in our country.

Immediately after Cala Paura we find Grottone. Think that in the early 1900s inside the cave there was a cinema, accessed through the small door to the sea.

The blue cave is located below the Santo Stefano Bastion. It is called this because of the play of light that occurs between the sea water, the sun and the rocks, which gives the cave its blue colour.

Lama Monachile is the postcard of Polignano. It is the most photographed beach, the first stop that visitors reach once they arrive in town. In the 15th century it was the commercial port of Polignano. Looking at Lama Monachile from the sea, on the left you can observe the cliff of the Bastione di Santo Stefano. On the right, however, the rocks welcome large steps at the top of which there is the bronze statue dedicated to Domenico Modugno. There is a small cave accessible from the blade, whose exit can be seen from the sea: La Grotta della Piana. It's a kind of rock tunnel.

Looking to the right, at the top of the stairs on the rocks is the bronze statue dedicated to the singer Domenico Modugno, born in Polignano a Mare famous for the piece “Volare - Nel blu dipinto di Blu”.

The Palazzese Cave is the best known, also thanks to the restaurant of the same name. In the 1920s this cave housed a magnificent bathing establishment, one of the first in Italy. In the cave there are two caverns, a smaller one and a larger one, and the smaller one also houses a small pebble beach.

There are many legends about the islet: it is said that a pilgrim returning from the Holy Land lived there, who decided to move to the Rock. Certainly we know that in 1612 the fishermen had us built on a chapel dedicated to St.Antonio Abate, In 1837 there was a cholera epidemic and the church became a lazaret. It was then destroyed. In 1901, a group of missionaries fixed in the rock the iron cross that we can still see today on the Rock.