Grottoes.
The Grottoes of Toirano, Balzi Rossi, and Borgio
Verezzi are only some of the evocative geological
features that have been created by the constant
subterranean water flow over the centuries in Liguria.
Underground rivers form a hydro-geological network
and when they meet up with soluble rocks they filter
through to the deepest strata and, together with
orogenetic action, gradually form grottoes.
In some protected areas, karst phenomena have created
underground systems of grottoes and tunnels that
are open to speleologists and other visitors, as
is the case with the grottoes at Toirano; another
very interesting karst area is the Bric Tana Nature
Park near Millesimo, where you can admire the typical
pinnacle limestone formations rising up in the midst
of the woods.
The delicate ecosystem of grottoes is at risk because
of the damage caused by a number of factors: disforestation,
pollution, the opening of new roads, the presence
of caves, the removal of stalactite and stalagmite
fragments and fauna.
Grottoes are the natural habitat of vertebrates
and invertebrates and land and sea creatures with
characteristics in common, ranging from depigmentation
to the slowing down of the metabolism, from the
reduction of fertility to the development of limbs,
antennae and tactile hair that is fundamental for
orientation in an environment where there is either
hardly any light or no light at all.
