Pian del Tivano

Pian del Tivano

The Pian del Tivano is located 7 kilometers from Nesso, in the town of Sormano, at 1050 meters above sea level. To the north it borders Saint Primo Mount. Heavily frequented during the winter months, the Pian del Tivano, hosts a ring of more than 10 kilometers of cross country skiing trails.

The Pian del Tivano and its bordering areas host one of Italy's most important karst spring systems. It is a complex network of caves and tunnels, dug by the waters inside the chalky formations, during the great quaternary glaciations. During the latest glaciation, the glacier originating from lake Como inserted itself into the Nosè valley, the depression that formed was gradually filled by the waters from the glacier, in the formation of a lake. When the glacier began to retract, the lake, no longer fed by the fusion waters, dried up due to the presence of a complex karst system with fissures in the rocks which function as sinkholes, creating the Pian del Tivano.

The Pian del Tivano area is rich with natural grottoes and karst springs. We recommend the Fornitori - Stoppani which reaches a length of 37 kilometers, the Complesso Tacchi Zelbio, and the Buco della Niccolina. Over the years, explorers and researchers have taken turns studying these caves, it's an environment with a difficult access - reserved only to expert speleologists.

Legend has it that Queen Aufreda, wife of Teodoric the Great, King of Ostrogoths, struck by beauty of this place had a castle built, where she took shelter together with a page boy. One evening the King arrived at the castle, discovered them and, furious, pursued the two of them through the night around the meadows and marshes of the Pian del Tivano, until he found and killed them. As a reminder of this legend, there is a corner of the Plain that until the last century was called the Queen's Garden. The area's beauty, the presence of refreshment stands, coffee bars, restaurants, agriturismos with farms, and the convenient parking areas, render the Pian del Tivano an ideal vacation destination and place to stay.