These ancient natural cavities, carved by underground water erosion in the soft Miocene calcarenite, were accidentally discovered in 1885 by the Capuchin friar Father Giovanni Giunta, who was searching for a spring to supply a small convent. According to legend, the friar, following the murmur of underground waters, entered a dark tunnel and found a complex of five chambers connected by low galleries: corridors filled with fragile stalactites and white stalagmites resembling extinguished candles. Father Giunta immediately understood their value, naming them “Friars’ Caves” and protecting them for years with the silence of monastic rule until, in 1920, he opened them to the first scholars of Sicilian speleology.
Today, the Giunta Caves represent a rare example of a karst environment in inland Sicily, where rainwater has carved “halls of the underworld” and deposited crystals of pure gypsum. In the natural wells, up to eight meters deep, muddy puddles reflect torchlight, producing shifting hues of white and ochre. The guided tour, available by reservation only, follows wooden walkways that allow visitors to admire the formations without disturbing their balance: the alternation of selenite chambers, “flake” formations, and thin laminated sheets creates a small geological museum of great scientific value.
During the twentieth century, the caves served as an air-raid shelter in World War II: traces of small stone walls and an old enamel cup on a stone ledge remain—a memory of those who sought refuge from the bombs in the earth’s depths. In the 2000s, the Municipality of Delia launched a project to enhance the site, adding an information hut at the entrance and creating an outdoor educational trail with bilingual panels explaining the water cycle and the genesis of karst formations. In summer, the Giunta Caves become the stage for an acoustic music festival, “Under the Caves”, where classical guitars and violins create a surreal atmosphere among the stone arches, while in autumn the silence of the underground halls hosts theatrical readings inspired by the chthonic myths of Sicily.