In this arid region, rivers and lakes are more rare, substituted by the so-called lama, very common in Murge.

[13] Pulo di Altamura's drainage basin is so big, that it's been defined by Carmelo Colamonico "one of the largest absorption areas in Apulia".

[14] The amount of water flowing through the endpoint has formed, over the millennia, the doline, both eroding the rock mechanically and chemically dissolving it.

[15] Moreover, Carmelo Colamonico, in 1917, first hypothesized that a pre-existing cave (acting as a sinkhole) may have collapsed, leading to the formation of the doline.

[17] The northern side of the doline, almost vertical, has many crannies and natural caves, probably inhabited by hominids and prehistoric man.

Domenico Santoro, in his essay Description of the city of Altamura (1688), wrote that Saint William of Montevergine had lived as a hermit in one of the caves in the northern side of the doline, even though the primary sources of his statement are currently unknown.

Due to the particular shape of its walls and to the very particular microclimate along them and in the crannies of the doline, its habitat is ideal for many species (animals and plants), that are normally uncommon on the Murge plateau.

For example, common raven is one of the species that nest on the steep and impervious walls of Pulo di Altamura.