Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 16 Visitors along the
underground trail in the Corchia
cave (Corchia underground
system; see location in Fig. 4 )
ApuanGeoLab, an exhibition aimed at the dissemination of
knowledge of the Earth Sciences located in the Equi Terme
village. It was conceived as an interactive museum, where
mechanical exhibits assist visitors to observe geological
processes from the global to the local stage (Amor
ni et al.
2013 ). Visitors of the Karst-palaeontological Park number
approximately 7,000 each year, generating a total income of
about 60,000 Euros.
7.3
Corchia Underground System
The most important Apuan geotourism project is the Corchia
Underground System, a good example of management of
geosites based on the direct involvement of the local com-
munity of Levigliani in the Stazzema Municipality.
The Apuan Alps Park Authority and the Stazzema
Municipality set up a public limited company, named
Fig. 17 The
museum of Corchia underground system
hosts Etruscan and Roman artefacts: an Etruscan funerary cippus with
half-circle crowning ( left ) and a large fragment of trabeation of an
imperial Villa Rustica ( right background )
Pietra piegata
Antro
del Corchia
, to enhance the use of the Corchia Cave for
tourism and cultural purposes, through the creation of a fully
equipped pathway available to the public in this cave, the
largest Italian karst system. The underground trail develops
along more than 1 km of natural galleries, fully equipped
with 646 m of stainless steel bridges (Fig. 16 ).
The preservation of the integrity of the karst environments
visited by people is guaranteed by a convention with ARPAT
through a permanent monitoring system (three stations)
detecting chemical and physical parameters, with particular
attention to CO 2 concentration and wind speed, to avoid sat-
uration conditions that might affect the calcareous deposits.
The Corchia Underground System integrates the Spele-
ological Trail of the Corchia Cave with other tourist attrac-
tions
Park Authority, for cultural enrichment, built two tourist
trails inside two disused Quicksilver mines. The project was
able to promote one of the oldest Apuan mining sites, which
was already named in documents of the Middle Ages, and
sporadically exploited in the following centuries, for the
mining of mercury minerals. This location is one of the few
places in the world where mercury is found in its native state
in the form of metallic droplets in quartz veins (Hydrargi-
rium or
Quicksilver
).
Museum, located in a late 18th century
building in the village, was opened to the public in 2008 to
display the best of the Apuan
The
Pietra piegata
linked to the Apuan geological heritage:
the
'
marble culture
'
that is preserved
Quicksilver mines and the
Pietra piegata
Museum, both
in the Park
s territory (Fig. 17 ). It displays the most charac-
teristic types of products made withApuanmarbles, beginning
with those of serial character, to develop an archaeological
'
located in Levigliani. In 2008
2009 the local community
and private companies working under the supervision of the
-
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