Domusnovae, Grotta di San Giovanni

Domusnovae, Grotta di San Giovanni, Ramo Bobore. Photo by Roberto Atzori, from Sardegna DL

The cave of San Giovanni with its 860 meters of internal road is classified as the longest carriage cave in the world, the only case in Italy and one of the seven cases in the world. It is a suggestive cave where it is possible to admire the karst phenomenon. From a geological point of view, the entire area dates back to 530 million years ago, formed by carbonate rocks. Today a destination for many tourists with an attraction of about 100,000 tourists a year, an international choir festival has been taking place for some years, and above all a destination for speleologists and climbers from all over Europe to climb its walls and secondary branches. In addition to the easy internal road that remained freely open to car traffic until 1999, which represents the main branch, there are also secondary branches whose access is reserved for expert speleologists, including:
• Su stampu de pireddu
• Bobore branch
Adding the main branch to the secondary ones, the cave reaches a development of 3920 meters.
Before the construction of the internal road, it is assumed that it was used as a refuge and home because artifacts and pottery dating back to the Neolithic and Byzantine era were found. In the respective entrances there were prehistoric cyclopean walls (whose remains are still visible today, especially at the southern entrance), a chapel of Byzantine origin, unfortunately demolished at the end of the 19th century to allow the construction of the road. Nevertheless, a commemorative church dedicated to Saint John was built in the street to the left of the cave, flanking the southern entrance.
We have numerous historical documents that speak of the Cyclopean walls thanks to the many travelers of the 19th century. Among the most important are King Carlo Alberto, Valery, Francesco d'Este, General Alberto la Marmora, Father Angius and many others.
The construction of the road, whose material was partially extracted from the walls and the chapel, was started in 1866 by Count Pietro Beltrami and later completed by the knight Gaetano Semenza to allow the creation of a communication route between the town of Domusnovae and the valley of Oridda as it housed numerous mining activities and it was decided to facilitate the transportation of the minerals downstream.

Tag

Structure category: natural monument

Content type: Environmental site

Usability: Open

Province: South Sardinia

Common: Domusnovas

Macro Territorial Area: South Sardinia

POSTAL CODE: 09015

Address: località "San Giovanni", s.n.c.

Telephone: +39 348 0553309

E-mail: consorzionaturaviva@gmail.com

Website: www.grottasangiovanni.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Grotta-San-Giovanni/100066600231036

Information on tickets and access: For always updated information on visiting hours and on the various types of tickets and offers, we recommend that you visit the manager's website. More information on access is available on the info-entrances web page. It is also possible to make reservations online: Book >

Access mode: For a fee

Tickets :

Services information: Visiting the Cave is allowed both from the South entrance and from the North entrance. Once they reach the opposite entrance to the one from which they entered, the visitor must necessarily retrace the Cave in the opposite direction. For example, a visitor who starts the visit from the South entrance, once they reach the North entrance of the Cave, must go backwards and return to the South entrance.

Other services: The management of the Grotta di San Giovanni makes available the services of: cave climbing, trekking and bike rental.

Update

27/1/2026 - 09:06

Services

Guided tours