The Otranto bauxite quarry

Otranto bauxite quarry is one of the best places to visit during your holidays in Salento. It is located near the lighthouse of Punta Palascia and Monte Sant'Angelo. In this field of disused mining, an emerald green pond has formed making the landscape, to say the least, remarkable.
The bauxite quarry is a very attractive destination for tourists and visitors. This would be one of the most photographed places in Salento. Since it is an abandoned area, it is good to approach to it with extreme caution. The access to the quarry is quite easy, however, without restriction, maybe waiting for the local authorities to intervene to put it in safety, and to enhance it as a site of regional tourism.

The bauxite mining in the quarry of Otranto began in 1940 and ended in 1976. The bauxite is a mineral used in the production of aluminum. The formation of the emerald green pond it is likely that occurred due to the infiltration of water from the aquifers in the area.

The color of the water creates a fascinating contrast with the surrounding rock walls, which shine with a beautiful deep red. The landscape is surrounded by vegetation with its bright green colour, creates a wonderful place to visit at least once in a lifetime.

This is an area of great scenic and environmental interest, a true gem in Puglia which deserves to be discovered and admired, besides the famous beaches of Salento, which represent one of the most popular tourist destinations in the area.
The mine is open and has not been subjected to any intervention of environmental recovery. The waters that filled the excavation gave birth to a whole new lake ecosystem. Nature has therefore taken hold again, in a completely spontaneous way of a place that had undergone the strong impact of human intervention.

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