Agrotto orgrot is a natural or artificialcave or covered recess.[1] Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water that are usually flooded or often flooded athigh tide.[citation needed] Sometimes, artificial grottoes are used asgarden features. TheGrotta Azzurra atCapri and the grotto atTiberius'Villa Jovis in theBay of Naples are examples of popular natural seashore grottoes.
The wordgrotto comes fromItaliangrotta,Vulgar Latingrupta, andLatincrypta ("acrypt").[2] It is also related by a historical accident to the wordgrotesque. In the late 15th century, Romans accidentally unearthedNero'sDomus Aurea on thePalatine Hill, a series of rooms, decorated with designs of garlands, slender architectural framework, foliage, and animals. The rooms had sunk underground over time. The Romans who discovered this historical monument found it very strange, partly because it was uncovered from an "underworld" source. This led the Romans of that era to give it the namegrottesca, from which came the Frenchgrotesque.
Grottoes were very popular inGreek andRoman culture. Spring-fed grottoes were a feature of Apollo's oracles atDelphi,Corinth, andClarus.[3] TheHellenistic city ofRhodes was designed with rock-cut artificial grottoes incorporated into the city, made to look natural.[4] At the great Roman sanctuary ofPraeneste south of Rome, the oldest portion of the primitive sanctuary was situated on the second lowest terrace, in a grotto in the natural rock where a spring developed into a well. According to tradition, Praeneste's sacred spring had a nativenymph, who was honored in a grotto-like waterynymphaeum.[5]
InTicino, 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 rooms with a cool climate suitable for food, particularly milk and cheese, as well as potatoes, sausages, and wine storage.[6][7]
The importance of these cellars is demonstrated in their number; for example, there are 40 grotti inMaggia, no fewer inMoghegno, and about 70 inCevio behind Case Franzoni. Some grotti have been opened to the public, as inAvegno, but most have lost their original character as they became rustic restaurants which serve basic local food and drink. A true grotto is dug out under a rock or between two boulders, where subterranean air currents keep the room cool. Often a grotto had a second floor with another one or two rooms for the fermentation cask and tools of the vintage. In front of the grotto were a table and benches of stone, where the farmers could rest and refresh themselves.[8]: 18
The popularity of artificial grottoes introduced theMannerist style to Italian and French gardens of the mid-16th century. Two famous grottoes in theBoboli Gardens ofPalazzo Pitti were begun byVasari and completed byAmmanati andBuontalenti between 1583 and 1593. One of these grottoes originally housed thePrisoners ofMichelangelo. Before the Boboli grotto, a garden was laid out byNiccolò Tribolo at the MediciVilla Castello, nearFlorence. AtPratolino, in spite of the dryness of the site, there was a Grotto of Cupid (surviving), with water tricks for the unsuspecting visitor.[9] TheFonte di Fata Morgana ("Fata Morgana's Spring") at Grassina, not far from Florence, is a small garden building, built in 1573–74 as a garden feature in the extensive grounds of the Villa "Riposo" (rest) of Bernardo Vecchietti. It is decorated with sculptures in theGiambolognan manner.
The outsides of garden grottoes are often designed to look like an enormous rock, a rustic porch, or a rocky overhang. Inside, they are decorated as a temple or with fountains,stalactites, and imitation gems and shells (sometimes made in ceramic); herms and mermaids, mythological subjects suited to the space; andnaiads, or river gods whose urns spilled water into pools. Damp grottoes were cool places to retreat from the Italian sun, but they also became fashionable in the cool drizzle of theÎle-de-France. In theKuskovo Estate, there is the Grotto Pavilion, built between 1755 and 1761.
Grottoes could also serve as baths; an example of this is at thePalazzo del Te, in the 'Casino della Grotta', where a small suite of intimate rooms is laid out around a grotto andloggetta (covered balcony). Courtiers once bathed in the small cascade that splashed over the pebbles and shells encrusted in the floor and walls.
Grottoes have also served aschapels, or atVilla Farnese at Caprarola, a little theater designed in the grotto manner. They were often combined with cascading fountains in Renaissance gardens.
The grotto designed byBernard Palissy forCatherine de' Medici's château inParis, theTuileries, was renowned. There are also grottoes in the gardens designed byAndré Le Nôtre forVersailles. In England, an early garden grotto was built atWilton House in the 1630s, probably byIsaac de Caus.
Grottoes were suitable for less formal gardens too.Pope's Grotto, created byAlexander Pope, is almost all that survives of one of the firstlandscape gardens in England, atTwickenham.[10] Pope was inspired after seeing grottoes in Italy during a visit there. Efforts are underway to restore his grotto.[11] There are grottoes in the landscape gardens ofPainshill Park,[12]Stowe,Clandon Park, andStourhead.[13]Scott's Grotto is a series of interconnected chambers, extending 67 ft (20 metres) into the chalk hillside on the outskirts ofWare, Hertfordshire. Built during the late 18th century, the chambers and tunnels are lined with shells, flints, and pieces of colored glass.[14] The Romantic generation of tourists might not actually visitFingal's Cave, on the remote isle ofStaffa in the ScottishHebrides, but they have often heard of it, perhaps throughFelix Mendelssohn's "Hebrides Overture", better known as "Fingal's Cave", which was inspired by his visit. In the 19th century, when miniatureMatterhorns and rock gardens became fashionable, a grotto was often found, such as atAscott House. In Bavaria,Ludwig'sLinderhof contains an abstraction of the grotto under Venusberg, which is figured inWagner'sTannhäuser.
Although grottoes have largely fallen from fashion since the BritishPicturesque movement, architects and artists occasionally try to redefine the grotto in contemporary design works. Such examples includeFrederick Kiesler'sGrotto of Meditation for New Harmony (1964),[15] ARM'st post-modernStorey Hall (1995), Aranda/Lasch'sGrotto Concept, (2005),DSDHA'sPotters Field Park Pavilions (2008)[16], Callum Moreton'sGrotto pavilion (2010), andAntonino Cardillo'sGrottoes series (2013–2023).[17]
Today, artificial grottoes are purchased and built for ornamental and devotional purposes. They are often used asshrines in which to place statues of saints, particularly theVirgin Mary, in outdoor gardens.
ManyRoman Catholics visit a grotto whereBernadette Soubirous saw apparitions ofOur Lady of Lourdes. Numerous garden shrines are modeled after these apparitions. They can commonly be found displayed in gardens andchurches, among other places (seeLourdes grotto).
The largest grotto is believed to be theGrotto of the Redemption inWest Bend, Iowa.
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