The caves of Frasassi were discovered on 25th September 1971 by Rolando Silvestri. Mr. Silvestri belonged to the Italian Alpine Club Speleological Group of Ancona lead by Giancarlo Cappanera. During the Fifties throughout the Sixties more places were discovered ( including a one kilometer tunnel from Grotta del Fiume) by various CAI groups. In july 1971, some peasants from Jesi were surprised when they discovered a small hole in the ground. Hot air came out of it. They immediately started to dig a hole in the ground and they found the entrance to an intricate maze of caves and tunnels long more than 5 kms.
At first these explorers were not able to reach the bottom of the cave because of the lack of equipment. They calculated the height of the cave by throwing a stone. By doing this, they measured the time of the fall. This first, rather inaccurate measurement of the height made them believe that the cave was 100 mst high. After they had gathered an appropriate equipment, they explored what was later called the “Ancona Abyss”, to honor the home town of the discoverers. Every broadsheet had an article about it. Frascassi‟s Caves became extremely famous in a forthnight. On December 8, 1971 another tunnel was discovered. It links Grotta del Fiume to Grotta del Grande Vento. That tunnel was called “Condotta dei Fabrianesi”. More discoveries followed and more caves were found. Nowadays, Frascassi‟s Caves are 13 kms long. The most famous are: “Sala 200”, a 200 ms tunnel, “Sala delle Candeline” full of [stalagmite], Sala Bianca, made of pure [calcite], “Sala dell‟Orsa” where a big rock with the shape of a bear lays and “Sala Infinito” (The Infinite Hall) where the explorers lost their way and walked for hours, thus believing the hall to be infinite.