20 km from the beaches of Formia and Minturno, slightly beyond the border between Latina and Frosinone provinces, we find Pastena, a castle of volscian origin, rebirth in 1227 under the rule of the Del Drago family. This place is famous for some carsian caves of national interest.
A visit to the caves will give the tourist both the chance of satisfying a naturalistic curiosity and the possibility of a spiritual experience. It is almost impossiblenot to perceive a recall to the Palaeolithic era, when it was a place of primary shelter against dangerous natural phenomena.
The descent to the caves allows visitors to get in touch with a natural environment million of years old, where human intervention was limited to the creation of a safe path in the rock.
The characteristics of the huge cave were determined by the erosive action of a stream of water.
The Cave is divided into two stumps: a fossil one, 900 metres long, allows a detailed tour of the cave and presents wide cavities (weeping-willow hall, tile hall, wonder hall, column hall and torment hall) and the main attractions; an active one, accessible trough a 200 metres staircase, which after 2000 metres, will lead to the Sacco valley and Falvaterra. Such a natural beauty was discovered in the beginning of 1900 thanks to Carlo Franchetti, a roman baron, who, helped by the Capital speleological group, allowed a greater accessibility and a livelier naturalistic interest.
This interest persuaded the Lazio regional government to supply the Consorzio per la Conservazione e Valorizzazione del Patrimonio Speleologico delle Grotte di Pastena e Collepardo, the funds necessary to have the site accessible to tourists, thus allowing the instalment of an internal lighting system and a suitable paving allowing a safe walk, despite the persistent humidity (98 to 100%).
The local staff is very professional and will guide the tourist to the discovery of this wonderful and romantic corner of our land.
The long opening hours (8:30-19:00: summertime, 10-16: wintertime) and the tour guides facilitates the presence of many tourists for the one-hourlong visit. We hope that in the future the ring for the whole cave will be completed, thus making it Italy’s most important carsian natural site. We also hope that a gorge will be constructed, in order to monitor the afflux of Fosso Mastro all year round.
It must be remembered that the entrance fee to the Cave gives also access to the Olive and peasant civilization museum, located in the well restored communal palace of Pastena.