Grottole (Lucano: Jròttl') is a town and comune in the province of Matera, in the region of Basilicata in southern Italy.

The village of Grottole extends along a crest in a territory rich in waters: the Basento and Bradano rivers, the Basentello and Bilioso torrents and the smaller streams Cupolo, Rovivo and Acquaviva.

The territory was inhabited by the Greeks between the 13th and 12th century BC, when it was part of their Metaponto colony, one of the most important in Greater Greece.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was part of the medieval Principality of Salerno; in this period a castle was built.

It was later ruled by many feudal families, among them the Orsini-Del Balzo and Zurlo-Pisciscelli, then from 1547 to 1639 it was under the Sancez De Luna d'Aragona, who were followed by the Caracciolo of Melissano, Spinelli of San Giorgio and finally, from 1738, the Sanseverino from Bisignano.