Grotta di Bossea

Useful Information

photography — Caverna di Bossèa. Public Domain.

Location:	Localita' Bossea, 10, 12082 Frabosa Soprana CN. In Cuneo, Municipio Frabosa Soprana, Piemonte. On the left side of Val Corsaglia, 50 m behind the cave restaurant. A6 To-Sv exit Mondovi, to Mondovi, turn left, 2 km behind the village turn right, towards Fontane. A6 To-Sv exit Vicoforte, to Vicoforte, turn left towards Fontane. Right before the hamlet Fontane. Signposted from the Motorway. (44.2415929, 7.8399071)
Open:	Bar and Reception: Mid-JUL to SEP Mon-Fri 9:30-18:30, Sat, Sun, Hol 9-20. OCT to mid-JUL Mon-Fri 9:30-17:30, Sat, Sun, Hol 9-19. Tours Mid-JUL to SEP Mon-Fri 10, 11, 15, 16:30, Sat, Sun, Hol 10, 11, 14:30, 16, 17. OCT to mid-JUL Mon-Fri 11, 15, Sat 10, 11, 15, 16:30, Sun, Hol 10, 11, 14:30, 16. Booking by phone(!) mandatory. Closed 01-JAN, 25-DEC. [2024]
Fee:	Adults EUR 14, Children (3-10) EUR 9, Disabled free. Groups (25+): Adults EUR 10, School Pupils EUR 6. Giro Breve: Adults EUR 12, Children (3-10) EUR 7, Disabled free. Groups (25+): Adults EUR 8, School Pupils EUR 4. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave river cave. Bears' Caves ISCA
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	A=836 m asl, L=2,800 m, VR=199 m, T=9 °C (air), 7.4 °C (water), H=98-100%.
Guided tours:	D=100 min, L=3 km, VR=116 m. Giro Breve: D=60 min, L=850 m, VR=116 m.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:	C. F. Capello (1954): La Grota di Bossea (Piemote). Rass. speleol. ital. 6 (2): 47-67 Gustavo Strafforello (1891): La patria, geografia dell’Italia, provincia di Cuneo Unione Tipografico-Editrice, Torino, 1891
Address:	Grotta di Bossea, Società Sciovie Fontane s.r.l., I-12080 Frabosa Soprana, Cuneo, Tel: +39-0174-349240, WhatsApp: +39-345-1282581. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1850	the first exploration of the cave by a group of locals, led by Domenico Mora, reaches Lake Ernestina.
JUN-1865	remains of cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) found.
1874	an expedition passes the waterfall reaching the canyon.
02-AUG-1874	opened to the public by Senator Giovanni Garelli from Mondovì.
1948	reopened for the public.
1949	exploration of the main branches completed.
1969	scientific station of the Speleological Group of the Maritime Alps of the CAI of Cuneo installed in the cave.
2011	Riserva naturale delle Grotte di Bossea created.

Description

Grotta di Bossea is a river cave with some fine speleothems. The paths are rather uncomfortable, because they were built with the aim to be hidden in the natural environment. The cave is entered through a 110 m long passage, a dry upper level of the cave, here the cave river flows in a lower level 20 m below. The cave river later reappears in the river bed of the Corsaglia river nearby. At the end of this passage, the cave becomes much bigger, huge chambers with a cave river show a high amount of speleothems. The halls alternate with narrow passages.

The biggest chamber, the Sala Garelli, is 150 m long, 60 m wide and between 50 and 80 m high. This part of the cave is very rich in various types of flowstone. Special sights are numerous Speleothem curtains, rimstone pools, and waterfalls.

After the first passage, the path always follows the course of the cave river. This underground river was named after Domenico Mora, who led the first exploration of the cave in 1850. About 4,000 m of this river are known, but at the end of the tourist section, a 50 m deep and 150 m long siphon makes the exploration very difficult. Water tracing experiments determined the underground route of the water, which is between 15 and 20 km long. So further discoveries are likely. The water of the river is very cool, even cooler than the cave air. The amount of water depends on the season, with a minimum of 50 l/s in the winter to the maximum of 2,000 l/s in spring and autumn.

The developed part of the cave ends at the Sala Garelli. Now the visitor has to return via the same passages and halls. But apart from the fact that a cave looks different in the other direction, the tour also uses an alternative route on the way back.

This cave was first opened to the public by Senator Giovanni Garelli from Mondovì on 02-AUG-1874. Some say it was the first show cave of Italy, but actually Grotte Oliero was opened 40 years earlier. Nevertheless, according to our knowledge, it was the second show cave, and lately had the 150th anniversary. The cave was reopened in 1948, with renovated trails and electric light. Such a second opening requires that it was previously closed, but unfortunately we could not find out when or why. Our best guess is that it was closed when World War II shut down all tourism and the visitor numbers collapsed.

In the last years the area was protected by the Riserva naturale delle Grotte di Bossea, and the cave is - of course - continually improved. The so-called historic tour, which we describe above, was extended by new itineraries, for a total length of about 3 km and a vertical range of 116 m. The tour now takes 100 minutes instead of an hour, and is dubbed the Giro Completo (Full Tour). However, they still offer the old tour, which is now called the Giro Breve (Short Tour).

This cave and nearby Grotta del Bandito (Bandits Cave) contained great quantities of Biology cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) bones. A complete skeleton is on display in the cave, the last which remains at the cave. The discovery of cave bear bones in 1865 was the first discovery of such bones in Italy. Most of the bones found were from very old or very young bears, so the bones are most likely from feeble bears, which died in the cave during hibernation. The cave bears frequented the cave between 80,000 and 12,000 years ago for hibernation and for giving birth.

But the living fauna of the cave is also very interesting. The cave contains an endemic troglobite, the pseudo scorpion (Pseudoblothus ellingseni Beier, 1929). In the small chamber La Sacrestia (The Sacristy), close to the Salone dell'Orso (Bear Hall), a cave laboratory for the study of the cave life exists. It was run for more than ten years by Enrico Lana. Today the Laboratorio Carsologico (Karst Laboratory) is run in cooperation by the Central Italian Alpine Club, the Polytechnic of Turin and ARPA Piedmont. For more info, see the link to his site below. In total, 57 species of cave animals were found in the cave, 10 of which are endemic.

The visit of the cave requires a little physical fitness, due to the high elevation gain. They lately extended the tour, so it is much longer and includes new sections as well as the Karst Laboratory. The old tour is still offered, it is now called the Giro Breve (Short Tour), while the new tour is called Giro Completo (Full Tour). The times of the tours change over the year, there are at least different times for summer and winter, but the seasons are a little weird, as summer starts in mid-July and ends in October. It is also unclear which times are for the Giro Completo and which for the Giro Breve. As it is now mandatory to make a reservation by phone, you might want to ask when you do so. They have no online booking system, so reservations are only by phone and WhatsApp. As they have an english website, we hope they have someone speaking English on the phone. They offer guided tours in English and German for groups with reservation and for an additional fee.

We found no public domain photos of the cave, but as it is a show cave for more than 150 years, there are numerous engravings from the 19th century. Most of them are from the book by Gustavo Strafforello (1891) which is listed in the literature section. It is actually a book about the provincia di Cuneo, but the cave obviously had some importance. The engravings were made by Giuseppe Barberis. The collage at the top right is from an unknown source, probably a postcard. And the entrance on the right comes from a newspaper supplement, published for several years, which showed engravings of the most important Italian cities. This shows that the cave was well known and had some importance.