Diverse Albiano

<p>An incredibly varied route that takes us from the historic center to the Albiano mountain, passing by Lake Santa Colomba, the Le Grave biotope, and the high-altitude meadows</p>

<p>Albiano is known for its extraction activity which has made it one of the most important centers worldwide for the production of cubes, slabs, and tiles in porphyry. However, there is a lesser-known and extremely interesting side of Albiano: a mosaic of places rich in biodiversity that deserve to be discovered and known by walking at a slow pace.</p> <p>The proposed itinerary shows a great variety of unexpected environments: starting from the historic center of Albiano, you climb towards the mountain, crossing pine forests and broadleaf woods until reaching Lake Santa Colomba, located on the border between the porphyry area and the limestone area of Calisio, with the ancient canope mines. This fascinating water body is a biotope of vital importance for the reproduction of many species of reptiles and amphibians: every year, thousands of frogs and toads come from the surrounding woods to the lake to mate and lay eggs. In its waters also live trout, pike, roach, tench, and carp. Special plants grow in the lake as well, such as the yellow iris, a splendid iris with large flowers, and the fibrin clover, a beautiful aquatic plant with white-pink flowers.</p> <p>The route then continues to the small protected area of &#34;Le Grave,&#34; with its surprising bonsai trees, and finally brings us back to Albiano crossing large meadows, mixed forests of firs, oaks, beeches, and chestnuts: once a fundamental source of sustenance for the people of Albiano and today protagonists of important recovery projects.</p>