A treasure hidden in the bowels of Monte Conero
Located little north of the famous rock of the two sisters, this extraordinary marine cave extended for about 70 meters in the depths of the limestone. With its two openings facing north and east, one of which allowed direct access by boat, the cave kept a small gravel beach inside.
The most surprising peculiarity of this place was the presence of a freshwater source that arose directly from the rocky walls. The master of ax Oddo Stecconi, a historical figure of the Conero Riviera disappeared in 2014, handed down the memory of when, as a child, he accompanied his father on the boat inside the cave. With a simple knife, the man practiced cuts in the rock and made fresh and drinkable water arise, a real miracle of nature in the middle of the sea.
This extraordinary feature also finds confirmed in the historical testimonies of the engineer Francesco De Bosis who, in 1861, described the cave thus: “The rough and full of prominent walls, the majestic and unequal vault, from which the filtered waters are dripped with a drop.”
The mystery of the name: between history and legend
The origin of the name “Grotto degli Schiavi” has fueled numerous hypotheses and stories that intertwine between historical reality and popular imagination. The most accredited version leads the name to the pirates Schiavoni, a Balkan populations who for centuries furrowed the Adriatic by dedicating themselves to piracy and raids along the Italian coasts.
According to tradition, these fearsome navigators used the cave as a secret operational base, exploiting its strategic position and the difficulty of identifying to plan their attacks. But the place was not only served as a refuge: legends narrate that pirates hid their prisoners there, chaining them to iron rings set in the rock, testimonies that according to the stories would still be visible inside the cave.
The Schiavi Grotto is one of the most legendary places of Monte Conero. This time from the mystery it has certainly existed …
Posted by Sirolo through the times on Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Legends that challenge time
Around the Schiavi cave have developed over time stories that mix historical elements with mythological suggestions. One of the most touching tells of a princess kidnapped by pirates and prisoner in the cave, whose tears of pain would have given rise to the source of fresh water that characterized the place and transformed the pain into a blessing for future visitors.
Another fascinating theory connects the cave to the mysterious hole of the Devil, another legendary place of Mount Conero. According to this version, the Schiavi cave would be nothing more than the treasure chamber connected to the notorious well and would create an underground system of galleries and hiding places that crosses the entire mountain.
The most suggestive legend, on the other hand, features a perfidious siren who, with his bewitching song, attracted the sailors inside the cave to reduce them to slavery. This story is also intertwined with the birth of the rock of the two sisters: an allied demon of the siren, once defeated, would have been transformed into the rock, which split into two parts and generated the famous rock that today characterizes the landscape of the Conero.
The disappearance of a natural heritage
Unfortunately, this extraordinary natural and historical heritage was lost in the early 1930s. A landslide, probably caused by the explosions of the stone quarrymen who worked in the area, has sealed the inputs of the cave forever, making it inaccessible and transforming it from a tangible reality to pure object of memory and legend.
The loss of the Schiavi Grotto represents not only the disappearance of a unique geological phenomenon, but also the interruption of a millennial tradition that linked man to this extraordinary environment. The extractive activities, although necessary for the local economy of the time, have deprived the future generations of the possibility of admiring and studying this hidden jewel of Mount Conero.
A legacy that lives in memory
Despite its physical disappearance, the Schiavi Grotto continues to live in the collective imagination of the Conero Riviera. Local fishermen and tourist guides still pass on the stories related to this mysterious place, keeping alive an oral tradition that represents an integral part of the cultural identity of the territory.
For those who today sail in the waters in front of the rock of the two sisters, the charm of imagining what was hidden behind those white rocks remains. The most imaginative still claim to be able to hear, on calm sea days, the complaints and the sound of the chains of the ancient prisoners, echoes of a past that refuses to be completely forgotten.
A warning for the future
The history of the Schiavi cave reminds us of the importance of preserving our natural and historical heritage. Today, in an era of greater environmental awareness, this story represents an example of how human activities can irreversibly altering natural millennial natural balances.
