'Orrido di Nesso
Narrow limestone gorge crossed by a medieval bridge, where locals still leap into the pool below.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to the Orrido di Nesso, a narrow limestone gorge on Lake Como, starts at the Ponte della Civera, where generations of local teenagers have leapt off the bridge into the pool below, worn smooth by bare feet. Two mountain torrents crash together in the gorge before dropping toward the lake, in a crack so narrow that sunlight barely reaches the bottom, a sight that stopped Leonardo da Vinci long enough to describe it in his Codex Atlanticus. For centuries the same force also turned grain mills, olive presses, and paper mills built along the current. Look over the parapet, where the stone is worn smooth under generations of bare feet.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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