The word grotto comes from Italian grotta, Vulgar Latin grupta, and Latin crypta ("a crypt"). It is also related by a historical accident to the word grotesque. In the late 15th century, Romans accidentally unearthed Nero… See more

Grottoes were very popular in Greek and Roman culture. Spring-fed grottoes were a feature of Apollo's oracles at Delphi, Corinth, and Clarus. The Hellenistic city of Rhodes was designed with rock-cut artificial grottoes incorporate… See more

In Ticino, the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, grottoes were places where wine and food were stored and preserved. They were built by exploiting the morphology of rocks and boulders, to create roo… See more

The popularity of artificial grottoes introduced the Mannerist style to Italian and French gardens of the mid-16th century. Two famous grottoes in the Boboli Gardens of Palazzo Pitti were begun by Vasari and completed by … See more

Today, artificial grottoes are purchased and built for ornamental and devotional purposes. They are often used as shrines in which to place statues of saints, particularly the Virgin Mary, in outdoor gardens.
Many … See more