Italy Accurimbono · CC BY-SA 4.0
The descent
The entrance, at 339 m.
The real relief above Frasassi Caves, measured on the Copernicus model every 30 m, and the cave going down at the same vertical scale.
The depth is the one published by those who explored it; the shape of the galleries is a sketch, not a survey. No depth has been published for this cave yet.
5.0km
Galleries
surveyed length (Wikidata)
339m
Entrance altitude
from the 30 m relief model
14°C
Inside, all year
the yearly average outside, at the entrance
577m
Rock above
the highest point within 1.5 km
Inside and outside
14 °C inside, all year.
Deep inside, a cave keeps the average temperature of the year outside: about 14 °C here, in January and in August. In July the afternoon reaches 30 °C at the entrance, 16 °C warmer than inside: take a jacket. The best months to escape the heat are from July to August. The wettest months are in November: water rises fast underground, so never go in without a guide after heavy rain.
- 8°2°Jan
- 9°2°Feb
- 12°4°Mar
- 16°8°Apr
- 21°12°May
- 26°16°Jun
- 30°19°Jul
- 30°19°Aug
- 24°15°Sep
- 19°11°Oct
- 14°7°Nov
- 9°3°Dec
Outside: afternoon and night averages for 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) brought to the altitude of the entrance. Inside: the yearly average, which deep parts of a cave keep. Near the entrance it follows the weather a little.
Cave in Italy
Frasassi Caves is a show cave in Italy. It has 5.0 km of surveyed galleries. The entrance is at 339 m. It has an underground river and stalactites and stalagmites. It is open to visitors.
Getting there.
- Show cave: open to visitorsticket required
- Genganearest town · 4.0 km in a straight line
- Parking 360 m awaynearest car park in OpenStreetMap, straight line
- Viewpointsnearest viewpoint · 0.4 km from the entrance
- Marche Airport (AOI)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 40 km in a straight lineCar hire at AOI airport (Falconara Marittima)Discover Cars · sponsored link↗
Plan the visit
Guided tours, a bed nearby, a car.
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
The water
The Fiume Sentino runs highest from November to April.
The Fiume Sentino carries about 4.0 m³/s on average here. It runs highest from November to April. It is lowest from July to August.
- 5.3 m³/sJan
- 5.5 m³/sFeb
- 6.0 m³/sMar
- 5.2 m³/sApr
- 4.3 m³/sMay
- 2.8 m³/sJun
- 1.9 m³/sJul
- 1.7 m³/sAug
- 3.7 m³/sSep
- 4.7 m³/sOct
- 6.3 m³/sNov
- 6.2 m³/sDec
From about 1.7 m³/s in the lowest month to 6.3 m³/s in the highest. Its basin above this point covers 260 km².
Estimate: long-term flow from the HydroATLAS model (WaterGAP, 1971–2000) shaped by the monthly rain, snow and temperature of the area (NASA POWER). Dams change it. Not a forecast.
From above.
The ground above the cave, with the relief shaded, the line of the section and what people have mapped around the entrance.
N
1.5 km
Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 (EOX, CC BY 4.0), 6.0 × 6.0 km, north up. The line is the section above. Points © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Around the entrance.
- 135other cave entrances within 3 kmGrotta di Frasassi, Grotta dell'Infinito, Riparo sopra il Pontechiaradovo and 132 more
- 4springs within 2 kmFontefresca, Presa d'acqua and 2 more
- 7viewpoints within 3 km
- 20marked hiking routes within 3 kmAnello di Giano and 19 more
- 8climbing crags within 3 kmFalesia Sulfuria, La Sbarra, Falesia di Ponte Chiaradovo and 5 more
- 2named waterfalls within 4 kmCascata alta di Grotte, Cascata bassa
- 15car parks within 2 km
- 12information boards and visitor centres within 3 km
- 2bus stops within 2 km
- 5campsites within 8 kmsosta, Elmo Camping, Area Camper Fabriano and 2 more
- 25hotels and guesthouses within 8 kmCountry House Monte Murano, Agriturismo Abbazia di San Salvatore in Valdicastro, Borgobo' and 22 more
- 9restaurants and cafés within 3 km
- sinkholes within 3 km
- caving clubs and spots within 15 km
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, around the entrance. A low number may just mean nobody has mapped it yet. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Towns nearby
- Genga4.0 km in a straight line
- Serra San Quirico7.0 km in a straight line
- Fabriano8.4 km in a straight line
- Sassoferrato9.2 km in a straight line
- Cerreto d'Esi9.6 km in a straight line
- Mergo9.9 km in a straight line
- Arcevia11 km in a straight line
- Cupramontana13 km in a straight line
In our other atlases
What else is around Frasassi Caves.
The river at the entrance, the waterfalls, the lakes, the mountains and volcanoes above, the canyons, beaches and islands nearby — from our other atlases.
Peakyas18 mountains within 10 kmFigures from the sister sites' databases (Wikidata, HydroATLAS, GeoNames, NOAA, OpenStreetMap). Links open when each site is online.
Month by month
The weather outside, at the entrance.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon | 8 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 21 | 26 | 30 | 30 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 9 |
| Afternoon | 8 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 21 | 26 | 30 | 30 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 9 |
| Night | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 19 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 3 |
| Rain (mm) | 59 | 69 | 69 | 60 | 66 | 45 | 38 | 42 | 80 | 71 | 84 | 69 |
| Rainy days | 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 11 |
| Sun hours/day | 2.7 | 4.1 | 5.6 | 7.0 | 8.3 | 10.0 | 10.6 | 9.4 | 7.0 | 4.9 | 3.1 | 2.8 |
| Snow on the ground (cm) | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Afternoon | Afternoon | Night | Rain (mm) | Sun hours/day | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8 | 8 | 2 | 59 | 2.7 |
| Feb | 9 | 9 | 2 | 69 | 4.1 |
| Mar | 12 | 12 | 4 | 69 | 5.6 |
| Apr | 16 | 16 | 8 | 60 | 7.0 |
| May | 21 | 21 | 12 | 66 | 8.3 |
| Jun | 26 | 26 | 16 | 45 | 10.0 |
| Jul | 30 | 30 | 19 | 38 | 10.6 |
| Aug | 30 | 30 | 19 | 42 | 9.4 |
| Sep | 24 | 24 | 15 | 80 | 7.0 |
| Oct | 19 | 19 | 11 | 71 | 4.9 |
| Nov | 14 | 14 | 7 | 84 | 3.1 |
| Dec | 9 | 9 | 3 | 69 | 2.8 |
Averages 1991–2020 (NASA POWER) for a cell about 55 km wide, brought to the altitude of the entrance (339 m) with the standard lapse rate. Not a forecast.
Recent years
Wet years, dry years.
Rain of each month as a share of the 1991–2020 average. A dry year means a lower river and hotter rock; a wet one, more water in the gorge.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 28% | 30% | 114% | 88% | 93% | 153% | 76% | 202% | 118% | 136% | 61% | 235% |
| 2021 | 228% | 70% | 37% | 121% | 41% | 27% | 98% | 132% | 46% | 117% | 170% | 178% |
| 2022 | 96% | 85% | 63% | 69% | 53% | 65% | 30% | 151% | 175% | 11% | 144% | 128% |
| 2023 | 198% | 80% | 113% | 77% | 206% | 186% | 80% | 173% | 38% | 46% | 181% | 57% |
| 2024 | 70% | 65% | 128% | 97% | 88% | 76% | 55% | 67% | 243% | 243% | 42% | 144% |
| 2025 | 68% | 110% | 198% | 102% | 101% | 36% | 120% | 82% | 33% | 25% | 78% | 55% |
130% or more: wet month 70% or less: dry month
Caves nearby.
Frasassi Caves
Italy
- —Depth
- 5.0 kmGalleries
- 339 mEntrance altitude
- 14 °CInside, all year
Grotte di Stiffe
Italy · 136 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 671 mEntrance altitude
- 13 °CInside, all year
Riserva naturale speciale delle Grotte di Pietrasecca
Italy · 141 km
- —Depth
- —Galleries
- 868 mEntrance altitude
- 12 °CInside, all year
Where these figures come from
| Name, type, published depth and length, visitors | Wikidata (Q1994964) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| The relief above, the entrance altitude, the section and the 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| River flow and basin | HydroATLAS / RiverATLAS v1.0 (Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 |
| Climate | NASA POWER, 1991–2020 |
| Entrances, springs, sinkholes, opening hours and what is around | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Rivers, waterfalls, lakes, mountains, canyons, beaches and islands nearby | Coastya, Lakeyas, Peakyas, Cascadyas, Islandyas, Riveryas |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers, canyons, caves, dark skies, viewpoints, birdwatching or forests?
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