At Noto Antica on the eastern slope of the plateau of Monte Alveria, reached by a steep path, are two grottos carved out of the calcarenite characteristic of the Hyblaean Plateau; identified by Paolo Orsi in 1894 they were identified as heroa destined for cave worship in the Hellenistic Netum. The main feature of these vast rooms is the presence along the walls of a series of niches, mostly rectangular in shape, intended for forms of cultic rituals; some of these still retain traces of painted decoration.
The University of Naples Federico II team carried out excavations inside the heroa, with the aim of recovering a reliable stratigraphic sequence, recognizing the traces of the ritual actions that characterized the life of these cave cult sites. The research involved other cavities and caves located along the slopes of Mount Alveria so as to document the possible spread, in the area, of this type of cult that finds comparison with the more famous latomie of Akrai and Syracuse, where the ancient quarries have been re-functionalized and dedicated to the worship of heroes and the walls have been worked and cut to accommodate rectangular niches or quadrangular recesses intended to contain votive pinakes with dedications to heroes.
Syracuse's interest in Noto and its hinterland is well known and, especially between the 5th and 4th cent. BC intensified considerably; the appearance in Noto of cave cults, which both in terms of significance and architectural form and layout recalls the best-known Syracusan models, could also fit into this scenario.