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Don't Miss
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Intemelia Valley - Between Alps and Sea
| Where the rocks assert their sovereignty |
| From on high, the stately Rock asserts its undisputed control. Here the Mineral Kingdom is made of stone and water, of snow and ice, of waterfalls and lakes, of caves and gorges. Alpine winter scenes just a few kilometres from the warm Mediterranean. Whether roaming in gym shoes or roped together and wearing climbing boots: all are countless permanent quarries at the mercy of the irresistible alpine seduction. |
Mountains that breath the sea air
| The mild sea air rises in the valleys of the Intemelia Mountain Community - arranged like a comb and facing south - to touch the spurs of the Ligurian Alps that bar access to the north winds. This allows the Mediterranean olive trees to grow at over 600 m above sea level and lush vegetation to be indulged on this mountainside, miraculously protected by a mild climate. |
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Grey calcareous rockin the Parco delle Alpi Liguri
| The peaks of the Parco delle Alpi Liguri, where majestic golden eagles nest and home to the southernmost colony of chamois in the Alps, are covered with extraordinarily varied vegetation, despite the high altitude and uniquely Mediterranean species appear alongside others of northern European origin. Through time the abundance of water has sculpted this territory which features bold peaks and deep gorges, with waterfalls, lakes and rivers enclosed between high rock faces. The numerous caves and the chasms are typical of an extensive karst system and thermal activities are appearing locally at the sulphurous springs of Lake Pigo, at Pigna. |
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The Toraggio-Pietravecchia range
| The great calcareous masses of the Toraggio-Pietravecchia range, which emerged 50 million years ago in the Eocene epoch, provide these valleys their powerful barrier against the cold northern currents. On their reassuring slopes blooms the rare and striking Lilium Pomponium, a lily with orange flowers curled up as if a turban; in the spring meadows these mix with columbine, fritillary, and peony surrounded by saxifrage and wild orchids. The winter snows transform the great fir, larch and pine forests of Gouta and Margheria dei Boschi. Cross country skiing can be practised above Pigna and at Colla Melosa (1540 m asl) and there is a refuge hut belonging to the Club Alpino Italiano. |
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A Mediterranean spectrum in the bottom of the valley
| The colours and fragrances of the Mediterranean maquis and a protective outline of pinaster mark the hills that slope towards the valley bottom with a gentle and winding jagged outline. The space, occupied by chestnut woods, is contended by the olive groves and crops brought by man to the landscape: floriculture and viticulture dominate the chessboard traced by the dry walls of the "fasce". The flysch sediments that made fertile the terrain of these hills started to deposit 80 million years ago and were over the centuries fashioned by the surface waters. A bright blue sky accompanies the changing seasons, fragrances and colours. In autumn, warm tones fill the woods - the bright red of the beech trees, the soft yellow of the chestnuts and the golden yellow of the larch. On the hills, olive groves embrace stone villages confined to their heights and elongated along the ridges, like lazy lizards heated by the last sun. |
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| Love of scenery - challenge and contemplation |
The temerity of the vegetation that advances to colonise the roughest mountain slopes is the same demonstrated by man over the centuries who challenged nature placing stone upon stone to sink the abutment of a bridge deep in a river bed dug by a stream. Nature has welcomed its exuberance and recompensed his courage with a mild welcoming climate, with sea breezes that are channels through the valleys, with tasty fruits of the earth, with the hidden wealth of the Alpine landscape. The lure of the impervious flanks the charm of enchanted secluded spots. The horizon, sometimes suffocated by sheer rock faces, draws the gaze up towards the granite peaks of the Alps, or down into the gorges and caves always it is a discovery. | | |
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