Photograph Tempio del Valadier Sanctuary

The Sanctuary of Santa Maria infra Saxa and the Tempietto Valadier are two sanctuaries and chapel located at the entrance of the Frasassi Caves, a remarkable karst cave system in the municipality of Genga, in the province of Ancona, Marche, Italy. Tempio del Valadier and visible in rear of photo is the hermitage of Santa Maria Infra Saxa The sanctuary and chapel are located within a few dozen meters of each other, on a ledge entrance to the Frasassi cave system. The sanctuary is ancient; it is cited in documents from 1029. It is a simple stone structure built by Benedictine monks to house a burned image of the Madonna. Getting to Temple has a very steep hike up but definitely worth it. We enjoyed seeing the church and how it fit perfectly into the opening of the cave! It was fun to see some rock climbers scaling the cave walls, too. Nice stop before we toured Grotto di Frasissi