Aerial Views of Molfetta - Il Pulo

This is the Pulo, Molfetta's neolithic site. From the air you can clealy see how it is a round depression in the midst of an otherwise flat territory. You can also see the cave dwellings in the walls and the gunpowder factory in the center. The structure in the bottom right of the photo is the 16th century monastery.

For on-the-ground views and more information, click here, here, here , here, here and here.

Pulo, 6

One of the plants found in the pulo is this Umbilicus Rupestre, or Venus' Navel, also known as navelwort. In traditional medicine this plant was used to aid in the expelling of afterbirth, and for healing bruises, burns, scalds, chilblains, corns, earache, epilepsy, eye troubles, fever, jaundice, scruff, shingles, skin troubles, sores, stings, pulmonary tuberculosis, ulcers and warts.

Useful little plant, eh?

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Besides being a valuable archaeological site, the pulo is also a unique natural habitat. There are a wide variety of plants growing in this basin, some of which are not found anywhere else.

This is a 400-year-old carob tree. Our guide explained that carob seeds grow in pods that can be of varying sizes. Inside the pods are the seeds themselves, and they too can be of varying sizes. However, the core of the carob seed always weighs exactly 0.2 grams and was called "karatos" in Greek. (Remember, Apulia was part of Magna Grecia.) This was used as the standard weight for the "carat," or the measurement system for diamonds.

I find the trunk of this tree to be a fascinating combination of forms, shapes and textures. My family and I see the form of a child sitting in the trunk, with a crown on his head and holding something in his lap. Can you see him?

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In the first half of the 16th century, a religious community of Capuchin monks built a small monastery right on the edge of the pulo, sort of hanging off the edge of the cliff actually. It is thought that the monks used the pulo not only for religious pursuits, meditation, and as a burial ground (an undamaged ossuary containing human bones was found in the cavern I showed on Tuesday), but also to cultivate crops and to study the unique naturalistic phenomena that exist here.

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In the second half of the 18th century, Molfetta's "pulo" attracted the attention of the Kingdom of Naples and the Bourbons because of the high level of nitrate found in the soil of the caves. A gunpowder factory was built in the center of the pulo itself. The photo above shows a series of large basins in which the soil from the caves was "washed" in water. The nitrate was filtered down into lower channels at the bottom of the basins and then collected.

The photo above shows the four ovens in which the gunpowder was "cooked." I'm afraid I'm a bit unclear on the process...I was too busy taking pictures and missed the explanation!

Local myths claim that there were underground tunnels that led from the pulo all the way to the sea (2 kilometers away) and that the gunpowder was carried through them to be loaded onto ships for transport. Tunnels leading inland have been discovered in the historic center of town, but what remains of them does not lead very far, so this myth remains unproven.

By the end of the 1700s interest in the gunpowder factory was already declining and the structure was abandoned and allowed to fall into ruin.

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Only one of the cave dwellings at the Molfetta Pulo can be visited. It's amazing to think that this cave was inhabited from the Neolithic age up to the 19th century. You can see that the entryway is formed by a dry stone wall that was added to make the cave more "house-like."

Just outside the entry to this cave, there is a tomb in which archaeologists discovered six skeletons. Three were male, two were female and one was of undetermined sex.

In the second half of the 18th century the first discoveries of prehistoric materials were made: painted ceramics, flint arrowheads, obsidian hatchets, and bone tools. These artifacts can be seen at the Museum of Molfetta's Pontifical Regional Seminary.

In the first decade of the 20th century, systematic archaeological digs were carried out in the fields around the "pulo" by prestigious archaelogists, who discovered the remains of a necropolis and a neolithic village.

Il Pulo

Molfetta's "pulo" is a karstic doline (or sinkhole) formed by the collapse of the ceiling of an underground cavern, possibly as the result of an earthquake, somewhere between 60 to 250 million years ago. It is about 30 meters deep and about 180 meters across, at its widest point.

The "pulo" was inhabited continuously from Neolithic times on. There are many natural caves in the stone walls that were used as living spaces. Think cavemen! You can see some of the caves on the far wall in the photo. This is considered to be one of the most important Neolithic sites in southern Italy.

The "pulo" has just recently been opened to the public thanks to the efforts of seven local volunteer associations. Visiting hours are on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

I'll show you more details in the days to come.