History in vertical

Between humidity and narrow tunnels

Only a small door separates the sun that warms the pastures from the cold and humid darkness of the mine. It is necessary to walk bent over, so as not to risk hitting the rock ceiling. For this reason, the canòpi wore long hats stuffed with straw. They also wore reinforcements on their trousers, to insulate them from the humidity during the long hours spent digging, bent over the rock.

All this took place under the faint light of a candle or, for the luckiest, oil lamps.

The twilight, the cold, the humidity. You still feel them when you visit the Gruab Va Hardimbl mine and venture into these narrow tunnels, held up by massive larch trunks that have resisted in the dark for centuries.

Steep stairs, walkways, galleries in the rock. The restoration work has preserved intact the soul of the medieval mine, allowing those who visit it to relive this page of the past. The dim lights, the sound of water infiltrating through the rocks, the smell of wet earth, as you descend towards the bottom you forget that above you, outside the mine, the sun is shining.

It is a world apart.

The submerged mine

The most intense emotion is reserved for those who descend to about twenty meters of depth. Beyond this limit, the path is no longer accessible. After a landslide that occurred in the nineteenth century, a consistent part of the mine remained submerged by water.

No one knows precisely how deep the remains of the ancient mine continue to develop beneath the surface of the water, but walking on a walkway you can glimpse the posts that go down further and further, motionless in the cave for centuries.

Water has stopped time.

To see the stars again

After this unexpected surprise, I exit into the sunlight. Welcoming me are the green meadows of the Mòcheni Valley and a delicate waterfall that plunges among the rocks, reachable via a staircase.

Outside the mine, there is a small wooden house that comes to life, especially in summer, to host special events related to the visit of the mine: concerts, meetings, workshops.

If you look out from there, you see in the valley the monument by Paolo Vivian Memory of the miner. A colossal bricklayer made of curved iron tubes and wooden boards that testify to the physical and mental strength of these men who worked in the bowels of the Earth.

In Palù del Fersina, to find out more