Caves of Wonders

The Caves of Wonders complex opens within the light-gray limestone bench above the provincial road to the Brembana Valley near the Zogno tunnel. The geological formation is the coral-rich “Zù Limestone” of the Lower Rhaetian. The complex has two entrances. The upper one consists of a narrow opening (Büs de la Marta) located in the Ravagnì locality, which allows the descent down a series of vertical shafts, with a total drop of about 60 meters. The lower entrance, located in the park above the provincial road to the Brembana Valley, alternatively offers a convenient access route to the caves, along an artificial tunnel, dug into the rock, 73 meters long, with a sinuous and slightly uphill course until reaching the innermost cave.The Caves of Wonders complex, despite its modest extension, presents insights of considerable interest both for the understanding of the geological events related to the formation of the cavity, and for the karst phenomena that are richly represented there. The caves owe their fame to the generosity and tenacity of Ermenegildo Zanchi of the Gruppo Grotte S. Pellegrino, who made it one of the first tourist caves in Italy in 1939.