Antro del Corchia Cave

Set among the spectacular scenery of the Apuan Alps Park, the “Empty Mountain” carries with it the secrets of millions of years of geological history. 70 km of tunnels and wells make the Antro del Corchia the largest underground complex in Italy.

It is an integral part of the Corchia Underground Cultural Tourism System, an economic enhancement laboratory based on natural environmental assets, marble processing quarries, and mining archeology. A unique model in the Italian panorama of hospitality and sustainable development. The Corchia is a collective property of the Levigliani di Stazzema community, in Versilia. The current tourist offer deals with the relationship between men and the environment, in their local development process. It came out from the acquisition of an undivided property for the benefit of the residents, initially for civic uses, then through an epic of cooperative enterprise and it is also officially recognized by the recent Landscape Plan of the Tuscany Region. The System is a fusion experiment between environmental assets and anthropic works, linked by the reading of symbols that rise to teaching tools, storytelling, narrative, and historical and anthropological – in other terms cultural – investigation, meaning everything that contributes to the formation of the individual on the intellectual and moral level and the increasing of awareness of his role in society.

The Antro del Corchia has an extension of over 70 km of tunnels and wells, with 1,200 meters of maximum height difference and a system of karst ducts developed in 2 cubic km of rock, which make it the largest underground complex in Italy and one of the major ones in Europe.

The guided tour of the tourist cave starts in Piazza Geremia Barsottini, in Levigliani di Stazzema (LU). A shuttle bus will take you to the Antro del Corchia entrance, built in an abandoned marble quarry at 860 m above sea level, a beautiful terrace on the Apuan Alps.

Visitors will be accompanied inside the karst complex by expert operators, who will entertain guests with information on geology, karst, and speleology. The route winds for about 2 km inside the cave thanks to a combined system of steel walkways and passages on natural rock, with a very low environmental impact, which allows entering the heart of the Apuan Alps in complete safety.

Once the excursion is over, visitors will have the opportunity to relax at the cave entrance, where it is possible to enjoy a wonderful view, find refreshment and stop at the souvenir shop, which offers minerals, marble products, and memories of the just-lived experience.