|  In
the heart of the Apuan Alps, in the commune of Stazzema,
70 km of caves and galleries stretch in an unreal and fantastic
underground world, among stalactites and subterranean
lakes, a few kilometres far from the sea.
At the entrance three doors divide the
real world from the mysterious, fantastic, and intoxicating
atmosphere of the scenery.
After a steep slope you reach a gallery called "Galleria
Franosa" - loose gallery- and then another one the
"Galleria degli inglesi" - The gallery of the
English. Another gallery, The Gallery of Snow, contains
a small waterfall which creates images of a touching and
penetrating rust colour.
Reaching the bridge on the "laghetto del Venerde"
you feel enraptured, ready for the last stretch heading
for the Petrified Forest, a kind of isle before getting
to the " Gallery of the Stalacites".
 In
a locality of mount Corchia called the ?Hell?, there are
a lot of caves. One of these is called ?The cavern of the
Devil? because on the ceiling we find two holes, that according
to a legend are the prints of his horns.
In another quarry known as the hole of the ?Wild Men? there
is a gigantic horse with its glance fixed in a point of
the grotto ?printed? on a concretion calcareous.
According to a legend the person that finds the point in
which the horse is looking, will find a lapis-lazuli and
a golden vein, while according others the horse keeps guard
over a hidden treasure.
The Corchia?cave.
Embedded in the Apuan Alps in High Versilia , it is the
longest Italian karst system and one of the greatest in
Europe; moreover, it is he third deeper cave in Italy. Tourists
can visit a part of the cave following a completely equipped
and illuminated route, whose almost horizontal course leads
to the discovery of a secret world made of concretions,
galleries, fascination and suggestion.
The Corchia?s cave- In the heart of Versilia there is an
"empty mountain?....."a charming mountain ".
Its mascot is the chough (pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax), a bird
characterised by the unmistakable red colour of its legs
and spout, and already famous as symbol of the Park of the
Apuan Alps. Its logo is a swift heart-shaped brush-stroke
in the colours of nature. This image is meant to evoke,
right at first sight, the sudden emotion of the discovery
of a precious environment, hidden in the bowels of a unique
mountain, beautiful and wild mountain, which, sinking into
the earth, stands lofty in High Versilia, just few kilometres
far from the sea. |
www.parcapuane.toscana.it
