The Terra delle Gravine Park is a natural area consisting of large karst canyons arranged in a fan around the Ionian Arch of the Gulf of Taranto. The Park "Terra delle Gravine" has a total area of about 25,000 hectares and extends, in fact, on the territory of 14 municipalities (Ginosa, Laterza, Castellaneta, Mottola, Massafra, Palagiano, Palagianello, Statte, Crispiano, Martina Franca, Montemesola, Grottaglie, San Marzano and Villa Castelli), from the Province of Taranto to that of Brindisi.
Each gravina has its own peculiarities: there are small and shallow gravine rich in human settlements dating back to the lower Paleolithic and gravine deep even more than two hundred meters, wild and rich in biodiversity. Yes, because the ravines are many, all parallel to each other that, arranged in a north-south direction, descend from the plateau of the Murge up to the coastal plain of the Ionian Arch Tarantino.
In addition to the important natural heritage, with the exclusive and characteristic presence of some rare animal and plant species, the ravines also offer a rich and fascinating heritage of archaeological evidence. The presence of numerous caves, in fact, has favored human settlement, from the Neolithic to the modern age. Each cave can be considered a treasure chest of possible treasures of inestimable value that witness the human attendance during the past centuries.
There is no other part of the world, a place with an equivalent amount of rupestrian settlements and archaeological sites, with natural assets and karst phenomena so important and similar wealth of natural biodiversity.