The Piacenza area and gullies: a landscape sculpted by water

The Piacenziano reserve is famous for its extraordinary palaeontological wealth, thanks to the abundance of fossils dating back to the Tertiary and Quaternary eras. But what fascinates visitors most is the landscape, shaped by the gullies, deep furrows that cut through the clay rocks, forming evocative scenery.

One of the most spectacular areas is Monte La Ciocca (station 9), where the gullies clearly reveal the transition from grey-blue clays to yellow-ochre sands. This change reflects the retreat of the sea that occurred during the Pliocene era, transforming the deep seabed into sandy beaches.

During spring, the landscape is coloured by the blossoming of buttercups, crocuses and orchids. But it is the bright yellow patches of broom that lights up the slopes at the end of May.

In 1986, the skull of a baleen whale was found at the Rio Carbonaro station (station 3), which is now on display at the Geological Museum of Castell’Arquato. The spectacular Voragine di Montezago (station 4), known as Buca della Balena, a canyon deeply cut into the Pliocene clays, is also worth visiting. No less impressive is the gully amphitheatre of Monte Giogo (station 7), which dominates the village of Lugagnano with its jagged ridges. A panoramic path connects this area to the Padova and Falcone Mountains (station 8), characterised by high ridges and deep furrows.

For an unforgettable experience, we recommend the walk among the vineyards and shell walls of Rio Stramonte (station 5), an immersion into the geological history of the Piacenza region.