Natural Park ”Laghi di Avigliana” (Parco Naturale dei Laghi di Avigliana) description and photos - Italy: Val di Susa (Topic)

Natural Park "Laghi di Avigliana" (Parco Naturale dei Laghi di Avigliana) description and photos - Italy: Val di Susa. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photographs and a map showing the nearest significant objects. The title in English is Parco Naturale dei Laghi di Avigliana.

Photo and description

Laghi di Avigliana Natural Park, created in 1980, is located in the Italian valley of Val di Susa at the foot of Monte Pirkiriano with its ancient abbey of Sacra di San Michele. Turin is just 20 km away.

Despite the small area - only 400 hectares, the territory of the park can boast of extraordinary biological diversity. The main attractions of these places, where nature and man are closely linked for many centuries, are the Avilian Lakes and the surrounding moraine formations - living evidence of the last two ice ages. When the huge Wurm glacier retreated 10 thousand years ago, the history of these reservoirs turned out to be closely intertwined with human life. Climate, flora and fauna changes have also changed the way of life of local tribes, inhabiting the lower part of the valley. And in the industrial era, the use of water and other natural resources and widespread urbanization, in turn, changed ancient ecosystems.

Today, the main tasks of the Laghi di Avigliana Park are the protection of the wetlands of Maresca, the restoration of lake ecosystems, the reduction of pollution and, of course, the development of ecological tourism. This small area is very rich in natural and historical heritage, and has long attracted tourists. The Avilyan Lakes and the aforementioned Maresca swamps are of particular interest. During the development of local peat bogs, some archaeological artifacts were found, which are now kept in the Museum of Antiquity in Turin and in the Museum of the Faculty of Geology and Anthropology of the University of Turin. The town of Avigliana is no less interesting, located in the park and closed by the mountain ranges of Montecapretto and Pezzulano with the ruins of an ancient castle. It contains numerous medieval monuments. And in different parts of the park there are so-called "museum points", revealing different aspects of fishing activities on the Avilian lakes, starting from the 2nd millennium BC. until the middle of the 20th century.

In terms of natural conditions, Lake Lago Piccolo, with an area of only 60 hectares, is of more interest than Lago Grande (90 hectares), as it is surrounded by forests, meadows and extensive reed beds. In autumn and winter, hundreds of different species of birds gather on the shores of the lakes - diving, crested ducks, teals, wiggles, moorhenes and broad-legged ducks. And on Lago Piccolo you can see wild ducks, coots, gray herons and cormorants. In late winter - early spring, if you're lucky, you can admire the spectacular mating dance of the chomgi, which is called "mirror".

In the Maresca swamps on the northwest side of Lago Grande are the ruins of one of the largest explosives factories of the mid-20th century. The plant is considered the most interesting example of industrial architecture of the beginning of the last century. It was bombed several times, and during the Second World War it was the site of partisan battles.

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Topic: Natural Park ”Laghi di Avigliana” (Parco Naturale dei Laghi di Avigliana) description and photos - Italy: Val di Susa.