Bear's Cave - Laglio

Bear's Cave in Laglio

The Bear's Cave or Bear's Hole, is found on the northern extreme of Laglio, in the Torriggia area, at circa 400 meters above Lake Como. You arrive by climbing from Torriggia via a rather impervious mountain path. The grotto is famous for the petrified bones found in its belly, not only bear bones, but many other animals that have become extinct through the centuries, a place of worldwide importance for the finds discovered in it. In the Summer of 1849, Vincenzo Barelli was the first to find a bone fragment, then the first explorations began which achieved excellent results, many fossils and find were gathered from the from the cavern's floor.

Many fossils were donated to Dr. Emilio Cornalia, a young scholar of paleontology who would go to the site, examine the bones, study the site and fossil deposits, to then write a very detailed scientific report. Newspapers reported the news of the discovery of these ancient fossils and many professors, scholars, scientists - both nationals and internationals came to the shores of Lake Como, to the Bear's Hole grotto, in order to see this natural wonder, an encounter between water and rock - unchanged through the millenniums - with their own eyes.

The walls of the grotto are covered with stalactites and stalagmites, after a few meters you begin to hear the sound of the torrent which flows inside it, after the torrent the path begins to climb, the walls clearly show the different and successive limestone layers. We find a pond which occupies the entire bottom of the cavern circa 200 meters from the entrance. Its water is from 1-2 meters deep and has a constant 9° C temperature.

The Bear's Hole thanks to its length and internal aspect - is one of the most beautiful natural grottoes known, all visitors come away full of amazement and wonder. The city of Laglio takes care of maintaining the Bear's Hole before visiting, you should contact the City Hall for hours and guidelines.