A natural covered opening in the earth; a cave; also, an artificial recess, cave, or cavernlike apartment.
a faux cave with a water feature and statuary (often Neptune). Also a deliberate attempt to introduce a melancholy mood (associated with creativity), and a cool retreat on a hot day.
an underground passage, often decorated with crystals, bits of broken shells, and broken pieces of mirror, and involving running water in rills and pools; all of this is calculated to create a mysterious effect.
small cave, esp. one with attractive features
A well decorated cave room.
a small cave (usually with attractive features)
a caving club that is a member organization of the National Speleological Society (NSS)
a local chapter of the NSS
Plato used the cave as an analogy to explain the nature of human understanding. The ancient Greeks were fascinated by caves. Cretan grottoes were sites of mysteries. The ancient Romans liked natural caves and also made artificial caves. The Blue Grotto and Grotta del'Arsenale, on Capri, are famous famous examples. Alberti recommended grottoes as garden features and they became popular during the renaissance. Example 1
A cave, given that name when found in an English or Picturesque landscape.
A construction in the form of a cave, especially as in 18th century landscaped gardens.
either a highly decorated cave, or a decorated cave-like area
A Grotto (Italian grotta) is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificial garden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide. The picturesque Grotta Azzura at Capri and the grotto of the villa of Tiberius in the Bay of Naples are outstanding natural seashore grottoes.
A grotto is an http://www.caves.org/io/ internal organization of the National Speleological Society (NSS). They are the lowest level of organization within the NSS. They generally function as the local NSS chapter/club.