Western Liguria is known all over Italy for its famous seaside towns. But if you turn around, with your back to the sea, and climb up the hills, get ready for some amazing surprises, such as the Caves of Toirano and the Caves of Borgio Verezzi near Savona, two wonders of geology in Italy, just a one-hour drive from Sanremo by taking the A10 motorday ( known as the “Motorway of Flowers”), towards Genoa. 

Caves of Borgio Verezzi: colorful galleries

Located just a few kilometers from the seaside, the Caves of Borgio Verezzi are known for being Italy’s most colorful galleries. At the entrance to the galleries, the constant temperature is 16°, with a very high humidity, usually above 90%.  The route through the caves leads to several “rooms”, down to the deepest one, the Sala del Castello.

What makes the Caves of Borgio Verezzi so fascinating are the colors and shapes found inside. A maze of stalactites and stalagmites and other cave formations hanging from the ceiling in seeming defiance of gravity and extending in all directions for five kilometers in many and amazing nuances of white, yellow and red, which make visitors lose the concept of space.

The tour last about 60 minutes.
www.grottediborgio.it
For info and booking: tel. 019 610150, grottediborgiosv@libero.it

Caves of Toirano: an archeological  experience

Located in the area of the Val Varatella’s grey dolomite rocks is the underground complex  of the Caves of Toirano: over 150 natural caves, of which only a part is open to the public: a spectacular over one-kilometer-long tour through stalactites,  stalagmites, columns, walls covered with aragonite and underground lakes which form during wet periods over the year except in summertime. 

Very important are the archeological finds of the Basura Cave: many remains of the cave bear, which found shelter here over 24,000 years ago, can be seen in the so-called Bear Cemetery. And these are not the only finds. The Corridor of the Footprints, showing the footprints of two prehistoric adults and three children imprinted in the clay, provides evidence of the presence of the Homo Sapiens. 

In the larger Cave of Santa Lucia Inferiore, the Pantheon, visitors can admire a stalagmite covered with aragonite crystal known, because of its beauty, as the cave’s “gem”. 

The final part of the cave, called Tanone, was used during World War Two as an air raid shelter for the locals.

The tour lasts about 70 minutes.
www.toiranogrotte.it

Remember to keep the ticket, because it allows free and no expiration admission to the Ethnographic Museum of Toirano. 

 For info and booking: tel. 0182 98062, grotte@comune.toirano.sv.it