Protected Area
Identity Card
- Land Surface Area: 64.70 ha
- Country: Switzerland
- Park Authority: Fondazione Parco delle Gole della Breggia
Gole della Breggia Geological Park
Gole della Breggia Park is situated in the Swiss southern calcareous Alps, towards the southernmost tip of Ticino. The gorges deriving from the erosion by the river Breggia, extending for one kilometer and a half at the mouth of Muggio Valley, show one of the most representative stratigraphic series of the Southern Alps.
These outcrops represent an extraordinary document almost unceasingly covering the geological events taking place in a period of about 100 million years, between the Jurassic and the Tertiary Age.
Further information (Italian text)
History of the park (Italian text)
Geographical Features
Arriving at the southernmost tip of Ticino, the traveler who is heading for Italy can already guess the presence of the Po Plain from the gentleness of the hills. The Park, situated a few steps from the border, is concealed among the folds of the last prealpine spurs, while the entrance of the gorges lies behind the big buildings that appeared in the latest decades of the millenary history of the Park.
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Geology
In the lower section of Muggio Valley, the stream Breggia naturally cuts and reveals along a stretch of one kilometer and a half a series of rocks which formed at the bottom of the Tethys Ocean in a period of time going from the Jurassic to the Cretaceous Age. These outcrops represent an extraordinary document almost unceasingly covering the geological events taking place in a period of about 100 million years. Considering also the most recent formations of the Tertiary and Quaternary periods in the area of Chiasso - Novazzano - Balerna, it is possible to have an almost complete geological overview going from the Jurassic Age to present times.
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Nature
The biocoenoses (species community) of Gole della Breggia Park are particularly varied and interesting for the presence of a great variety of different environments. The natural landscape is dominated by the river Breggia, which shaped it over the millennia.
The Park flora includes a high number of species with a south-alpine and submediterranean distribution, as well as species coming from all the other European floristic regions. As far as geobotany is concerned, the territory belongs to the calcicolous vegetation area of the southern Prealps and is characterized by a mainly forest-like potential natural vegetation.
(the following links all lead to Italian text)
