The Phantom's Cave, a photo from Savona, Liguria

Photographer's Note

Believe it or not, I've found the famous Phantom's Skull Cave. It's not hidden in some deep remote jungle off the shores of Bengali. No, it's situated along the Via Aurelia (S.S.1) just outside Noli in Italy!

This is Capo di Noli - one of many capes in the Mediterranean Sea along a part of the Ligurian coast called Riviera di Ponente - some 20kms (12mi) southwest of Savona, between Spotorno and Finale Ligure.

The road is clinging to and under the weathered mountain with a precipice to the sea on the other side the rail. Loose falling rocks are usual on this narrow and winding part - as are pedestrian, bicycles and mopeds due to the proximity of tourist villages on both sides.

It's a very beautiful spot and I try to stop whenever passing - there's usually room for 3 or 4 cars in small pockets along the road. The view down to the wave-washed rocks is amazing, as the colors continue into the azurblue water.

This time I also turned around and to my great surprise saw the cave - for the first time! It's obvious that the road (when driving) and the sea (when stopping) draw the most attention. Or - maybe - it hasn't been there all the time... ;o)

"The Phantom has eyes and ears everywhere!" (Old Jungle Sayings)

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Scanned at 600dpi; slightly cropped; adjusted brightness -10, contrast +15, saturation +20 and increased in blues +30, decreased in yellows -10; ran NeatImage; resized for TE; sharpened; framed and saved for Web.

pamastro, digi-mom has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

pamastro (7218) 2004-07-18 21:42

Very nice scan. You have brought out the sharp, jagged lines. But also with a fluid, oozing feel, in some areas where the rock seems to "drip". The mask look really stands out strongly from this point of view. And it adds a bit of dynamism to the shot creating the feel of a giant struggling to reach out as it turns to stone. I'm sure there could have been a myth associated with this rock if it appeared like this 2000 years ago. Much like other stretches of the Italian coast from Scylla and Charibdis in Messina to Circes the Witch in San Felice. And now the Phantom, too. :) The newest addition. Well spotted and photographed especially for finding a spot on the narrow winding road.

digi-mom (1064) 2004-07-20 9:36

Definitely better than the thumbnail - I almost missed this one. Along with your note, and Paul's, I appreciate this photo even more. And I had to look for that bird - what a great way to show the scale of the eye! It would be hard to capture the entire scene, but I would like to see the sea that the phantom is viewing now. One of the dangers of TE - wanting to go see all these places for myself! :o)

jiherka (4528) 2004-07-20 16:26

Nice view of this cave. We see the other end of the cave, is it this the blue small mond in the middle? Grat to have keept the road on hte bottom. This give us a scale for the cave.
well done Kaj