Top 6 Caves around Volano

A charming and fun via ferrata that ascends Corno Battisti, winding between the rocks of its southern face and continuing into its depths! It's officially designated an EEA via ferrata; but if you're sure-footed, familiar, and prudent, it can be tackled even without kit... otherwise, a harness. It's easy to lose your bearings at the forks and crossroads encountered in the darkness of the tunnel: a flashlight is essential. The entire route is characterized by surprising World War I structures: the stairs carved into the stone; the impressive, steep tunnel that pierces the promontory, endless, humid, claustrophobic, and completely dark; its entrance ('the Lion's Mouth'), marked by the original sign of the Mining Company that dug it; and a thrilling, challenging, and anxiety-inducing vertical metal ladder of about fifteen meters ('the Carrucola Shaft'), originally used to lower excavated material. The last section of the tunnel has currently (2025) collapsed - restoration work is underway - so you can reach the top of the Corno by exiting into the open and circumnavigating the bastion.

Spectacular tunnel from the First World War: endless, steep, humid, and completely dark. A flashlight is essential. Currently (2025), the summit is closed due to a collapse: from below, it is accessed via the Franco Galli Equipped Path; from above, by circumnavigating the Corno bastion and climbing a challenging vertical metal ladder about fifteen meters high. EE. Corno Battisti is a rocky outcrop dominating the Vallarsa Valley. Due to its strategic position, it was fiercely contested during the First World War. At the beginning of the conflict, it was in Italian hands, but with the Strafexpedition of 1916, the Austro-Hungarians occupied it; the Italian army, unable to retake it, dug a mine tunnel from below to pierce the Corno and blow up the summit; the Imperials, in turn, dug a countermine tunnel from above. Everything was ready for the detonation, but a coup by a few brave men allowed the Italians to conquer the summit, which they held until the end of the war!

Corno Battisti, an isolated rocky bastion of the Pasubio Group, overlooking the Vallarsa Valley, offers a spectacular view of the long valley and the surrounding mountains: Pasubio, Sengio Alto, Carega, and Monte Zugna. Precisely because of its strategic position, it was fiercely contested during the First World War: the ability to monitor all troop and supply movements along the valley floor from up there made Corno a crucial point to be occupied and defended at all costs... it was in fact nicknamed "the eye of Pasubio" or "the spy of Vallarsa." At the beginning of the conflict, it was a garrison of the Italian army, but with the Strafexpedition of 1916, it was occupied by the Austro-Hungarians. Unable to recapture it, the Italians dug a mine tunnel from below to pierce the Corno and blow up the summit; the Imperials, in turn, dug a countermine tunnel from above. Everything was ready for the detonation, but a coup by a few brave men allowed the peak to be retaken by the Royal Army, which held it until the end of the war. The Austro-Hungarian observatory still survives at the summit. The bowels of the promontory are instead carved out by a surprising and easily navigable labyrinth of dark, damp tunnels with steep steps (EE). In 1916, near the summit, the Austro-Hungarians captured the irredentists Cesare Battisti and Fabio Filzi. They were immediately taken to Trento and hanged at Buonconsiglio Castle as traitors. For this reason, the peak, known at the time as 'Corno della Vallarsa', was renamed 'Corno Battisti' after the war. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Corno_Battisti https://www.esercito.difesa.it/storia/pagine/monte-corno.aspx

The Vis Ferrata Giulio Segata is a short, tough via ferrata that is divided into two sections. The second section is even harder than the first section, but becomes easier again as you go up. It starts over long smooth steep walls (E). At the top you climb through a cave with all kinds of stepping aids (C).

A short walk from the baita car park. Take some time to think about those who fought and died here

Placed in the wrong location. It is actually the Caverna Damiano Chiesa just a short walk from the baita car park

A rock in whose niches many different cribs are built

'Tunnel dei Fucilieri' in the signage: Austro-Hungarian defensive tunnel from the Great War, which passes through the grassy hill of Smelzar, at the foot of Forte Dosso delle Somme, with posts at regular intervals aimed at the underlying Val Terragnolo. Upon exiting, you suddenly emerge onto an exposed but extraordinary panoramic balcony between Val Terragnolo and the Altopiano di Lavarone, before arriving with a steep climb to the fortress.