Description of the attraction
The Grotto of the Seer of Lilibey, also called the Grotto of Sibylla, is located directly below the Church of San Giovani Battista, built in 1555 by the Jesuit monks at Cape Boeo. Tradition associates this crypt with the name of Sibylla Kuman, also known as Sibylla Sicula. Sibylla (or Sibylla) was called in ancient times the fortunetellers of the future, clairvoyants.
The Church of San Giovanni Battista was not the first to be erected on this site - on the contrary, together with the Church of Santa Maria della Grotte, it was part of the old abbey of Padri Basiliani.
Sibylla's grotto is located at a depth of almost 5 meters underground and consists of a central circular niche connected with two rooms - one oriented to the north, the other to the west. The niche, carved directly into the rock, is covered with a kind of low dome of stone, in which a dormer window is made - it is connected to the floor of the higher church. There you can also see a square vat, not too deep, designed for storing water. The northern room, also carved into the rock, has the shape of a semicircle. There is a spring at the floor level, which fills a square vat. In front of this room is a large stone altar with a carved image of St. John the Baptist (Giovanni Battista in Italian). The altar, dating from the 15th century, is of great value. The irregularly shaped western room was probably partly constructed from a well.
Considering the presence of a spring in the cave and the proximity of the sea, a legend was born among the people that it was here that Ulysses came to quench his thirst. They also said that Sibylla Kumana, one of the most famous soothsayers of antiquity, lived in this very grotto. Near the grotto there is something like a bed, which seems to be carved into the rock - according to legend, Sibylla rested on it.
