Extraordinary discovery in Malnate: a new molera cave in Valle del Lanza

The Valle del Lanza Park continues to hide treasures that are gradually being brought to light. A few weeks ago, the GEV (Voluntary Ecological Guards) of the PLIS (Local Park of Supra-municipal Interest) made an exceptional discovery: another molera cave was brought to light in Como Province, on a trail between Malnate and Cagno (which is part of Solbiate con Cagno) between the Trotto and the Mazziotto Mills, after years of being hidden by the dense vegetation.

New molera cave discovered in Malnate

The cave was discovered by Marco Pizzato, the coordinator of the GEV, in the slope of the valley. The first person to explore the cave was Fabio Faccetti, another important member of the GEV.

“While carrying out our usual checks,” Marco Pizzato explained, “we noticed a hole in the slope that we had never seen before; we went to look, and it was, indeed a cave. It’s very beautiful, maybe the most beautiful, because there’s a small lake inside. You can’t go in, because it’s full of water, but it hasn’t been vandalised, as no one knew of it, so it’s still in a ‘virgin’ state, including its colours.”

“The thick vegetation kept it hidden until a few weeks ago,” the GEV coordinator said. “It’s not so big, maybe 30 metres long and 10 metres high. This brings the number of caves in the Valle del Lanza to 13, and some of these have several other caves inside.”

 

Translated by Ilaria Bizzotto and Alessia Castagna

Reviewed by prof. Rolf Cook