Grotte di Oliero

Grotta Parolini

Useful Information

photography — The dam of the mill, Val Brenta in the background.

Location:	Via Oliero di Sotto, 85, 36029 Valbrenta VI. Oliero, Valstagna, at the main road. Leave SS 47 at Valstagna and take the old road through Oliero. In the Val Brenta, north of Bassano del Grappa. (45.8435538, 11.6681485)
Open:	Mid-MAR to MAR Sat, Sun, Hol 10-17. APR to mid-JUN Sat, Sun, Hol 10-18. Mid-JUN to JUN Tue-Fri 10-17, Sat, Sun, Hol 10-18. JUL Tue-Fri 10-17, Sat, Sun, Hol 9-18. AUG Mon-Fri 10-18, Sat, Sun, Hol 9-18. SEP Sat, Sun, Hol 10-18. OCT Sun 10-17. [2024]
Fee:	Adults EUR 12, Children (5-17) EUR 10, Children (0-4) free, Students (-25) EUR 10, Seniors (65+) EUR 10, Disabled EUR 10. Park: Adults EUR 6, Children (5-17) EUR 5, Children (0-4) free, Students (-25) EUR 5, Seniors (65+) EUR 5, Disabled EUR 5. [2024]
Classification:	Karst Cave. River cave.
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	Tair=12 °C, Twater=9 °C.
Guided tours:	D=40 min (trail), 20 min (Grotta Parolini). V=30,000/a [2000]
Photography:	allowed, no flash
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Grotte Di Oliero, Via Oliero di Sotto 85, 36020 Valstagna (VI), Tel. +39-0424-558250. info@grottedioliero.it Ivan Team, Via Fontanazzi n. 1, 36020 Solagna (VI), Tel. +39-0424-558250. info@ivanteam.com Comune Di Valbrenta, Piazza IV Novembre n. 15, 36029 Valbrenta (VI), Tel. +39-0424-99905. info@comune.valbrenta.vi.it
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1822	explored by the naturalist Alberto Parolini.
1830	olms from Postojnska Jama released by Alberto Parolini.
1832	opened to the public with a boat tour on a subterranean lake.
1964	olms still living in the cave, rediscovered by cave divers.
1967	Aellen and Strinati bought an olm from the cave.

Description

The Grotte di Oliero (Caves of Oliero) are several caves which are the springs of the short fiume Oliero (Oliero river), a tributary of fiume Brenta (Brenta river), and so the plural is definitely justified. The Brenta valley is a typical valley of the southern rim of the Alps. Cut deep into the limestone mountains, it has a fertile floor and steep walls. Here at the Oliero spring, it is rather narrow, and so the Oliero is only a few hundred meters long, from its source to its mouth. To the southwest lies the Altiplano d'Asiago, which is not really a high plain, but a mountain range, also called Sette Comuni. It is the recharge area for the spring.

All together, four caves may be visited on paths through a small park, called Parco Naturale delle Grotte. The most interesting is the Grotta Parolini, originally called Covolo dei Siori (Cave of the Lords), but renamed Grotta Parolini in honour of the first explorer Alberto Parolini. The trail on the left side of the river also leads to two dry caves, located on the slopes above the spring. The Covolo degli Assassini (Grotto of the Murderers) and the Covolo delle Sorelle (Grotto of the Sisters). Back at the river Oliero, it is possible to cross it on the old mill dam and follow the right shore of the river upstream to the other spring of the Oliero. This deep blue pot at the foot of a limestone cliff is called Cogol dei Veci.

The Grotta Parolini is the main cave of the park. The trail leads to a quay in front of a limestone cliff, the cave portal is only about 2 m high, but very wide. On the rock face, above the portal is an old plate telling about Alberto Parolini, who visited this spring in 1822 and was the first to enter the cave on a boat. He discovered dry passages behind the calm lake which are today electrically lighted and toured as a show cave. A wooden boat brings visitors continually across the lake and back to quay. The deep and calm water hid a strange mystery, which astonished cave divers some years ago. It is home to Biology olms (Proteus Anguinus), an amphibian troglobiont from Showcave Postojnska Jama in Slovenia. This animal is endemic in the Triestine Karst and along the croatian coast. Its appearance in Italy is artificial, an experimant undertaken by Alberto Parolini in 1830, who brought olms to this cave and released them. He wanted to know if this animal was able to adapt to the slightly different living conditions. He never found out, and the olms were forgotten, until they were rediscovered by cave divers in 1967, 137 years later. As olm live about 90 to 110 years, this is at least the next generation. Olms still live in the cave, and are seen now and then.

The Covolo degli Assassini (Grotto of the Murderers) has an impressive portal and a nice view across the valley. On a sunny day the sun shine into the portal of the cave and makes it a really pleasant place. This place was obviously used for a cave house once, the holes of the timbers are clearly visible. It seems there once was a two-storey wooden house built into the cave. Behind the area of weather influence the cave immediately narrows and lowers to a passage, which can be visited only stooping and crawling.

The last cave is the second source of the river Oliero. The Cogol dei Veci is at the foot of a high cliff, and goes down immediately. There is no cave which can be visited, but the rocks around the pot show many stalactites, which makes clear that this place once was inside a cave too. Since 1990, divers from Italy and Great Britain have explored the cave behind. The first sump is 2,340 m long and 55 m deep, first explored by Olivier Isler. The second siphon, after 200 m of dry passage, is 1,090 m long and 50 m deep, and was first dived by Rick Stanton and John Volanthen in 2004. They again found 200 m of dry passage with an enormous shaft and a waterfall.

The park is entered from the road through the village Valstagna, there is a small car park on the opposite side. The first building to the left contains a restaurant, with fine cappuchino, bruschetta and beer in Bavarian Masskrüge, which hold one liter. Obviously they are not typical for this region, the landlord brought them back from a trip to Munich, and as he does not need them, very often he is quite happy if a guest requests a Mass beer. The upper and basement floor of the building is home to the Museo di Speleologia e Carsismo (Speleological and Karst Museum), a very nice museum about caves, speleology and the geology of the area. There is also a vast collection of shells, see-, earth- and fresh-water molluscs from Veneto and fossils from the Palaeozoic to the Quaternary.

A second museum is called Museo delle Cartiere (Paper Mill Museum). It is located in part of the restored premises of the former Burgo paper mill, right at the entrance to the park. The water was used as a power source as well as for the water needed in the process.

The Museo Etnografico Canal di Brenta is located in the centre of Valstagna. It is dedicated to local traditions like the terraces suitable for growing tobacco. Water and wood, stones and tobacco where the backbone of the local economy for centuries. There were numerous ethnografic studies in this area in the last decades, and the museum presents the results.

Today the park and cave are maintained by Centro Rafting Ivan Team, a company also offering rafting trips and canoe courses on the Brenta river. They managed the site for more than 25 years, although they renamed, at the beginning they were named Valbrenta Team. The site has not changed entrance fees in 20 years, which is quite a feat, we have lots of sites listed which doubled or tripled entrance fees in the last 10 years. And actually they have two museums more than 20 years ago, the Museo delle Cartiere (Paper Mill Museum) is rather new, also the nearby Museo Etnografico “Canal Di Brenta”, which is 20 minutes walk away, is included. The normal entrance fee includes the boat trip to the Grotta Parolini, but if you do not like boats, you can buy a cheaper ticket without the cave tour. The show cave tours are offered on demand, there is no need to make reservations or book online, which is also quite refreshing in post-pandemic times. The park has trails which are partly wheelchair-accessible, however, it's impossible to make a natural site fully accessible without massive destructions. So there is the possibility to explore the park, but most likely it's not possible to visit the cave.