La grotta di Collepardo (Monti Ernici, FR)

The Collepardo cave is a karst hole, located south of the Collepardo village (Frosinone province), in the canyon of the Fiume creek, tributary of the Cosa river. It is caved in strongly fractured Cretaceous limestone, separated from Jurassic and Miocene carbonates through tectonic lineaments. The cave mouth is roughly triangular, with maximum width at the base about 11 m and maximum height about 7 m; within the cave different halls are distinguished, separated by concretions and collapse breccias. One hall is not accessible for the preservation of a bat colony. The historical importance of the Collepardo cave is due to the finding of human and mammal bones and manufacts of the Bronze Age. Moreover, it was a renowned destination of famous European voyagers in the 18th and 19th centuries.