Luogo - Museum
MUSEO DI SPELEOLOGIA 'V. RIVERA' E GROTTE DI STIFFE
Where
GROTTE DI STIFFE, Via del Mulino, San Demetrio ne' Vestini (L'Aquila)
Stiffe's Caves are located on the State Road 261, in the surroundings of San Demetrio ne' Vestini and originate from a hypogean karstic phenomenon, which causes the draining of superficial waters in the uplands above. The caves were discovered in 1906, during the building of a power plant. Further explorations were carried out in the Eighties, when a circuit for visitors was inaugurated. The most suggestive places of interest are the "silence hall", the only dry space inside the caves, the waterfalls (more than thirty meters high), the pool named "Black Lake" and the area of concretions, with a huge number of stalactites and stalagmites. The society that manages Stiffe's Caves organizes guided visits to the Rivera Speleological Museum, at present under restoration. The sightseeing includes sections dedicated to paleontology, mineralogy, geology and speleological photography.
