diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6f31401..02e2c31 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 build/
 .vscode/
+.cache/
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index d6d36b3..3748b26 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ if (WIN32)
 	set( CMAKE_INSTALL_MANDIR "." )
 endif (WIN32)
 
+# Path to a directory outside of CMAKE_BUILD_DIR
+# Should be used to cache large downloaded data that won't be deleted on clean builds.
+set( DOWNLOAD_CACHE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/.cache )
+
 # --------------------------------
 #  Compiler settings
 # --------------------------------