Top 12 Caves in Ticino

Discover the official MTB tours nearby: www.komoot.com/it-it/collection/3576744/-blenio-bike-28-tour-mtb-in-valle-di-blenio-la-valle-del-sole or on the official association website: www.bleniobike.ch

It is a classic type of cavity with an articulated karst morphology. It opens a few meters above the stream bed and has a triangular entrance. It has galleries, tunnels, narrow passages, halls, shafts, a small lake and numerous ascending and descending branches with different gradients. The main ascending branch has always been known, but subsequent studies, explorations and deconstruction work by Alex "Pino" Beati, Francesco Bianchi-Demicheli, Nicola Oppizzi, Riki Pontiggia and Luigi Tantardini have brought to light a descending branch with considerable development and important tributaries. There are numerous forms of concretions. The galleries are crossed by water curtains and drains, while the lower sections are hydrologically active. The clay deposits are considerable in places.

The Houses of the Pagans are ancient defensive buildings located in the Blenio valley, in some caves or balms. They perhaps served as shelters or signal posts. They are linked to the legends of the pagans who lived in the caves and their dating is uncertain, but they range from the 3rd to the 15th century.

Located in the municipality of Rovio, at 690 meters above sea level and reachable in about ten minutes via an easy path, the "Böcc" of Sovaglia extends for approximately 500 metres, with a height difference of 61 metres. The picturesque spring has been known since ancient times, but is documented in written sources only since 1851.

The source of Sovaglia is a karst cave of great speleological interest. Ideal for diving as the shaft goes far into the rock.

At this point is the famous fossil mine (World Heritage Site) of a world that has been past 240 million years. You can find out more about this on the sign next to the small mine entrance and the corresponding museum in Meride or Besano. The mine is famous for the variety of fossils that have been excavated.

C. or Casa dei Cröisch is the name given to a number of small defensive structures in the Blenio Valley, which are built in caves or under balms. Both names and variants also stand for undeveloped caves as well as for old buildings and ruins within and occasionally outside the Blenio Valley. The fortifications known today are located in the former municipalities of Aquila, Dongio (three), Malvaglia, Marolta and Torre. The building called Castello in the former municipality of Chiggiogna in Leventina, which neighbors the Blenio Valley, belongs to this group due to its location and structural features. All systems except one are in a clear spatial area. Relationship to a settlement. They are difficult to access and are usually additionally protected by truss-like walls. The vestibule, fireplace and small finds prove that it is habitable. In addition to the preserved, irregular mortar masonry, several of the buildings were partly made of wood. Numerous controversial hypotheses about the population and function of the C., such as signal posts, refuges of the last pagans or Saracen bases, were based on its location or its name. In folklore. In this respect, the buildings, with the legendary tradition of the pagans living on the C. living in the valley, similar to the Grottes aux Fées in Valais, are closely related to the idea of motherly. powers. Since the written sources are silent, the interpretation remains archaeological. Finds and findings: According to two C-14 dates that have not been further confirmed, the building can be dated to the 3rd-7th century. (Malvaglia), or 9th-11th. Century (Dongio 1). After thorough Although the C. of Malvaglia was destroyed around 1200, it was rebuilt and probably served as a residence for members of the local ruling class until the 14th or 15th century.

This gorge is located in the middle of the plateau