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WARNING: trekking is not like walking! If you can't overcome a passage, go back!
Some of the tracks presented here are set along mountain trails where some passages may require holding to ropes or climbing short ladders, and may have exposed passages without safety protections. These tracts can be a serious danger if faced without the right equipment, awareness and physical condition.
ITINERARIUM® has no responsibility regarding the tracks presented here, their dangerousness, accessibility, praticability and safety. Who decides to take these tracks does it at their own risk.

Hike to the Natural Trail of Laghi del Gorzente

The water reserve of Genoa in the Capanne di Marcarolo Natural Park

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length icon Length:
14.5 Km
time icon Our time:
4h30' walking
climb icon Total climb:
520 mt
height icon Min and max height:
660 mt - 910 mt
track ring icon Type of track:
ring track
surface icon Surface:
trail
panorama icon Panorama:
lakes - sea
coverage icon Cell network coverage:
partial
winter icon Traced in winter:
yes
bike icon Traced by bike:
no

The itinerary crosses the historical dams and the ancient ice houses on Ligurian Mountains, which have always represented the water storage of the city of Genoa.
The ring itinerary develops along the Natural Trail of Laghi del Gorzente (lakes of Gorzente), made by the volunteers of CAI Bolzaneto, across Piedmont and Liguria, along the Alpine chain of Ligurian Apennines, in the group of Voltri.
The Laghi del Gorzente are three artificial lakes built from 1883 with the purpose of feeding the aqueducts of Genoa. The trail leads to two lakes: Lago Lungo and Lago Bruno, the latter takes its name from the author and creator, the Engineer Niccolò Bruno, as stated by the monumental effigy that records his work.
The hike also crosses the ring of the seven ice houses: large artificial diggings with stone walls that, until the ‘800, were used to preserve the snow. The person in charge of the ice house (“giassin” in local dialect) prepared the bottom of the ice house with leaves and branches and filled it with the first snow as much as he could. At the end of the season the ice house was covered with a straw roof with the shape of a pagoda. The snow, already turned into ice, was then carried during the night to the city where it was sold to preserve the fish on the boats, to heal fevers and bruises, but also to make sorbets!
For centuries, the ice houses have been an important sustenance for the city of Genoa, so much so that the ice trade was undergoing a state monopoly.
The itinerary starts from Prou Renè, crosses the characteristic peat bogs, passes by the Grain Stone (once used as a place for important trades), by the memorial Martiri di Passo Mezzano (martyrs of Mezzano pass), reaches the Natural Observatory of Laghi del Gorzente at Bric di Guana “Damiano Barabino”, placed along the Alta Via of Monti Liguri (High trail of Ligurian Mountains) - stage 23 Sterrata dei Laghi.
The trail also passes near the limit of the bronze tablet of Polcevera of 177 B.C., that is a bronze foil with a latin incision, reporting a sentence of two Roman magistrates who spoke about the borders and the territorial rights of Genoa, today kept at the Museo Civico di Archeologia Ligure (civic museum of Ligurian archeology) of Genoa Pegli.


Traveled on: Apr 1st, 2023
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