Beneath our feet lies a world of hidden beauty. We are standing at the entrance of Grotta della Neve. It is a cave located in the Carso Triestino. Its entrance was once a barely accessible hole. It was almost completely blocked by debris and stones.
The Grotta della Neve’s main entrance sits at 373 meters above sea level. The cave stretches 256 meters in length. It reaches a depth of 34 meters.
Imagine discovering this hidden entrance. You would find yourself at the top of a shaft. At the base is a beautiful chamber. To reach it you would descend a slippery slope. The walls are covered in short columns.
A collapse on the northeast side leads to a corridor. Its left wall is heavily corroded. After a short walk you come to a narrow passage. The calcitic floor has a small hole. It leads to a modest side passage. A T-shaped meander is of great interest. A stream flows through it. The stream disappears into an impassable well.
The tight passage marks the start of a difficult horizontal section. It was likely once a forced pipe. It opens into a gravity-profile gallery. The slope increases before dropping into a calcified well. About one and a half meters from the bottom is a beautiful ring of concretions. It marks an ancient water level.
To go beyond the well’s opening you must cross the right wall. Be sure to use a rope. There aren’t many good footholds. This leads to a low chamber. Its floor is full of rocks and slabs. Some are covered in calcitic crusts. On the right side a stalagmitic crust hides some bare chambers. They are filled with clay. The floor rises in front of you. It forms a scattering of small concretions. It touches the vault giving the impression there is no way forward.
However the passage opens between the ceiling and a muddy slide. For a few meters you have to crawl. The vault slowly rises. The following gallery is quite low. Its floor is a sloping bank of dry clay. Many small fragile hyaline stalagmites have grown on it. Squeeze through the many stalactites. You will soon reach a clearing. Three more galleries meet here from opposite directions.
The gallery on the right ends in a chamber. It has collapsed rocks and mud deposits. The walls are bare and cracked. The other two galleries go upwards. They are heavily calcified. The largest ends with a steep flow. Above it is a chimney blocked by stones. The other gallery is steeper. It has a sharp bend. The ceiling approaches the crust covering the ground. This blocks the passage.
Halfway along this gallery there is a low scarp. It is covered in a layer of sparkling concretion. At its base is a small pile of stones. They are bound and covered by calcitic deposits. This is a step. It was clearly built by man. You can see the regular arrangement of the stones from the side.
Near the crossroads you can find more evidence of human presence. At the start of the low gallery leading to the central cave is a small group of stalagmites. They are no more than one and a half meters high. Some sections of stalactites are carefully placed among them. They were clearly collected from the ground and placed there long ago.
The original entrance was likely a chimney blocked by stones. It comes within three meters of the surface. A horse tooth was found below it. Grotta della Neve offers a glimpse into the earth’s hidden wonders. It also shows traces of human history.