What is "lupercal"

Lupercal \Lu*per"cal\, a. Of or pertaining to the Lupercalia.

Lupercal \Lu*per"cal\, n. A grotto on the Palatine Hill sacred to Lupercus, the Lycean Pan.

The Lupercal (from lupa, Latin for she-wolf) is a cave at the foot of the south side of Palatine Hill in Rome, between the Temple of Apollo Palatinus and the Basilica di Sant'Anastasia al Palatino. In the legend of Rome's foundation, Romulus and Remus were found there by the lactating female wolf who suckled them until they were found by Faustulus. The priests of Lupercus later celebrated certain ceremonies of the Lupercalia there, from the earliest days of the City until AD 494, when the practice was ended by Pope Gelasius I.