The Wind Cave
Fornovolasco - Lucca - Toscana
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Info
The Grotta del Vento is located in the province of Lucca, in the heart of one of the most picturesque areas of the Parco Naturale delle Alpi Apuane, characterized by rugged rocky peaks, slender ridges, and vertical walls that offer vast panoramas. Lower down, extensive forests cover the slopes of deep valleys crossed by streams that, in some places, have carved particularly spectacular canyons.
The karst phenomenon is present everywhere, with wide absorption areas, sinkholes, crevices, and dolines, beneath which water has carved a dense network of galleries, wells, and chambers that are part of a large complex of underground cavities. Among these, the Grotta del Vento, equipped for tourist visits, is by far the most important, both for its overall development and for the extraordinary variety of features that make it a true encyclopedia of deep karst, where all evolutionary processes are still ongoing.
By walking along comfortable paths, visitors can choose from three different itineraries, lasting one, two, or three hours, allowing them to observe phreatic conduits with smooth walls, “fossil” galleries adorned with numerous live and colorful calcareous formations, lakes crusted with crystals, flowing water, and vertical wells that seem bottomless. Visits, always guided by experienced staff, are available in eleven different languages and take place every day of the year, except December 25th.
Guided Tours
The shortest route (lasting one hour) is called the “first itinerary” and consists of a gallery that, with no significant elevation changes, passes through a series of rooms where visitors can admire an exceptional profusion of stalactites, stalagmites, flows, and colorful translucent alabaster drapery. The morphology is that of a “fossil phreatic” environment, with intense concretionary activity in progress. This itinerary is open every day of the year (except December 25th) with departures at 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18.
The “second itinerary” (lasting two hours) adds to the first by including the descent into a chasm that reaches a lower level characterized by striking erosional phenomena and traversed by a small underground river (morphology that is intermittently phreatic). During heavy rainfall, the river level can rise enough to submerge part of the path. This itinerary runs at 11, 15, 16, and 17 on all holidays (except December 25th) and on all weekdays between April 1st and November 1st, as well as between December 26th and January 6th.
The “third itinerary” (full visit, lasting three hours) includes the previous two itineraries along with a visit to a dizzying vertical shaft of 90 meters, followed by a large hall and a narrow canyon (morphology that is intermittently vadose with meanders created by waterfall regression). Like the second itinerary, this one runs at 10 and 14 on all holidays (except December 25th) and on all weekdays between April 1st and November 1st, as well as between December 26th and January 6th.
None of the three itineraries present particular difficulties: the paths are made of non-slip concrete, and the route is fully illuminated.
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