Since ancient times caves and grottoes have been associated with spirits and divinities. For example, the Cumaean Sybil, who could foretell the future, had her own cave which was rediscovered as recently as 1932.

The advent of Christianity did not destroy this supernatural association for the apparition of the Madonna of Lourdes took place in a cave; and in Roman Catholic shrines throughout the world her statue is embraced by a grotto or artificial cave.

In the Italian sixteenth century artificial grottoes became increasingly important elements of garden design. In Florence there are two well-known examples by Buontalenti in the Boboli gardens and the fashion spread to such villas as those at Pratolino and Castello. I have written a post about a charming grotto called the spring of Fata Morgana in the hills to the south of Florence. You can read about it at https://longoio.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/the-enchantress-well/

The grottoes are usually decorated with shells, curiously shaped stones, semi-precious gems, mosaics and imitation stalagtites. They contain a source of water which plays into pools and basins, the traditional haunt of naiads and nymphs (hence the word ‘nymphaeum’ to describe such features).

In the hot italian summer the grotto provided a welcome source of coolness and was even used for bathing but the fashion also spread to colder countries including Russia, France and England.

Alexander Pope was particularly enamoured of the grotto he created for his riverside villa at Twickenham and wrote ‘my grotto is finished with shells interspersed with pieces of looking glass: a thousand pointed rays glitter and are reflected over the place.’

It was an exciting discovery when I located perhaps one of the most beautiful grottoes in Italy in an unassuming Florence suburb. Originally a feature in a much larger park, now reduced by new buildings, the grotta del Bandino achieved its present form in the mid-eighteenth century and was designed and decorated by Giuseppe Menabuoi, famous for his engravings, Giuseppe Giovanozzi, sculptor, and Gaspero Pulcinelli, who arranged its shell features.

Built with materials including pottery, glass, shells and rocks the grotta is approached through the original gateway of the Bandino villa, half of which is now used as a public library. I was quite stunned with my entrance into this fantastique and equally grotesque artificial cave. Three arches framed an interior encrusted with shells and weird figures. Before me extended a basin, once filled with water, and an ocular window bathed the grotto with a warm autumnal light. Above me the ceiling was painted with several birds flying above a bosky landscape.

My guide told me he was equally stunned when he first entered this faery-like place and fell in love with the grotto. Indeed, he has helped to organise chamber music concerts there and commented on its perfect acoustics.

It is fortunate that the grotta del Bandino has been preserved amid the encroaching Florentine suburbs and been restored to its original glory at the turn of this millennium, transforming its former ‘grotty’ state into a worthy haunt of sylphs, naiads and fine music making.