The main highway from Naples to
Rome (the A1 autostrada del Sole, see map) passes
up the Liri valley through the province of Frosinone (the name of the province as well as of the
capital city of that
province in the region of Lazio, the Italian region that borders Campania on
the north. Frosinone contains two karst
cave systems of interest to tourists and cavers alike.
From this entry on
the Castelcivita grotto:
Karst: A landscape formed from the
dissolution of soluble rocks including limestone,
dolomite and gypsum. The word, itself, is the German
name of Kras, an area in Italy and Slovenia, where
it is called Carso and where the phenomenon was
first studied. Karst areas are characterized by
sinkholes, caves, underground drainage systems and
collapse triggered by the development of underlying
caves. In the popular perception, the best known
feature of karst areas are stalactites and
stalagmites.
One is the
Pastena Cave (image, top right) near the town of
Pastena; that town is 7 km south of the Ceprano exit of
the autostrada (15 km/24 mi) up the autostrada
from Monte Cassino. The cave site, itself, is then 4.5 km
from Pastena, on the road to Castro dei Volsci. The other
cave system is the Collepardo cave (image, below,
left) on the north side of the auostrada (at the next exit,
Frosinone) 24 km (15 mi) up from Ceprano; then take the
road to Alatri. Collepardo is a few km above Alatri. (Both sites
are marked by red camera icons on the map, above.)
The Pastena cave
was discovered in 1926 by Carlo Franchetti, a speleologist
from Rome, and was partially opened for tourism one year
later. It is the longest cave system in the Lazio region of Italy
(3120 meters/9365 feet). The Collepardo site has been
known since ancient times. There are pre-Roman walls that
testify to a much older presence than that of Rome. The
cave, itself, shows signs of having been used as a
mithraeum, a place of worship to Mithra, the sun God.
(There is an example of that in the city of Naples, as
well. See this link.) In
more recent times the Collepardo cave was also known as
the Cave of Dolls
because of the shapes of certain stalagmites. It was
renamed the Queen Margherita Cave in 1904 in honor of the
queen's visit to the site. The cave is quite near the
Antullo Well (image,
above, right),
a gigantic sinkhole, 60 meters deep and 300 m in
circumference. It is probably connected to the nearby cave
system. There are strange tales about this thing, such as
that farmers used to lower their animals down into it for
grazing
Both cave systems
as well as the sinkhole are administered by the same
agency, the Consortium for Evaluating the Pastena and
Collepardo Caves, located in the town of Pastena. Both cave systems
are equipped as “show caves,” at least partially, meaning
they are safe for you even if you have left you harness
and ropes at home. But don't go near the sinkhole.