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"...that mountain, which ends so
abruptly in a high steep cliff, has the appearance of having suffered some
great cataclysm during which a chunk of it suddenly detached and plunged into
the Turritecava river. The entrance to the great cavern that I wish to speak
about is at the foot of this precipice."
... "But the road which leads to Cardoso is not the ordeal which it at first appears to be: it goes up, certainly, but in the end for a mountain mule trail it is remarkably well-kept and smooth." ... "On this subject Francesco Bertacchi stated, in the manuscript which I mentioned at the beginning, that the journey from Cardoso to the Tana is rather splendid as one can traverse almost all of it on a pony, as he did, up to a little rivulet of water which issues from the cave. I, who had to do it on Shanks's pony, now know well that the journey is a damned hard one. Seeing the blessed cave from Cardoso it seems almost that you can touch it with your finger and that it sits right next to the bell-tower, but in reality the string of bends, turns, and switchbacks that lead up to it never seems to come to an end." |
The road to Cardoso and the Tana
Cardoso from the path to Vallico
« Serchio ferry
Tana »