Tempio del Valadier
As you may have noticed so far, Frasassi Caves’ area has lot to offer. In 2007 they made an incredible discovery in the Grotta of Frasassi (not to be confused with the caves): A 8 cm prehistoric fertility statue, at least 20,000 years old and rare for Italy. This finding was also given a name: Venus by Frasassi. Another proof of the presence of prehistoric people in this area. This cave of Frasassi, is located behind the rock church from the 18th century, which we already discussed of. Here lives one of the largest colonies of bats …. Can you spot it somewhere?
The original is now exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Marche in Ancona. The municipality of Genga, on the other hand, opened a new city museum around the statue in 2015: From Venus to the Virgin Mary.
The latter refers to the beautiful marble 18th century Madonna statue carved by Antonio Canova on behalf of Pope Leo XII, who came from Genga. Once this Madonna stood in the beautiful pilgrimage church in the cave of Frasassi, but gave way to a copy. The original then moved to this museum. The sculptor Gabriele Mazzara, on the other hand, provided a copy of the Venus statue for the museum of Genga, so that one can imagine what it looks like. The walled city of Genga often used the pink rock as a foundation for his houses: beautiful to see. In the season the restaurant La locanda del Papa is also a must, delicious fresh in the rock wall and delicious local cuisine!
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