Parco dei Gessi Bolognesi e Calanchi dell'Abbadessa

Large doline in which swallow hole access to several cavities open. The largest cavity (Grotta Novella) is used as a subterranean laboratory and is characterized by imposing limestone calcite blades. The cool and wet microclimate near the swallow holes favors the presence of Moss (Minimum spp), Ferns (Polypodium vulgare), Maidenhair Spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes). The presence of Delphinium fissum, extremely rare above all at low altitudes, is worth a mention. The northern slope, once characterized by cultivated fields, is covered today with a thick shrub formation extending in the woodland covering the rest of the large doline.