- AREA_3
- T_GENNAIO
- T_FEBBRAIO
- T_MARZO
- T_APRILE
- T_MAGGIO
- T_GIUGNO
- T_LUGLIO
- T_AGOSTO
- T_SETTEMBRE
- T_OTTOBRE
- T_NOVEMBRE
- T_DICEMBRE
- PASSION_TREKKING
- SKILL_FACILE
- SKILL_MEDIA
Ceci and conche
- Status Open
- Area Finalese
Crossing the San Bernardino plateau
A hike with not too much elevation gain on the ancient municipal road connecting Finale to Orco, up to the "Ciappi", subhorizontal Pietra del Finale (Finale stone) slabs, with carved hollows and several petroglyphs from different eras. The San Bernardino plateau is part of the Finale Ligure highlands, which originated from karstification: rainwater runs through the Pietra del Finale limestone without reaching the surface, creating a landscape of gentle hillocks and valleys.Follow the red square signpost. Leaving the last few houses behind you (Diamante residence), walk for 1km along a trail that will then turn into a large forest track, recently built for forest cutting. This plateau has one of the most continuous holm oak forests. Following the forest track to the end, after a clearing, you finally return to the trail.
In a small, sheltered spot in the rocks, you can see a picturesque permanent nativity scene. From here you will soon reach Ciappo dei Ceci, the first suggestive rocky slab; after walking another km and a half through the woods, you will find Ciappo delle Conche surrounded by panoramic hillocks. There are different types of rock engravings: letters, crosses, stylized human figures, subdivided rectangles (probably land maps), and above all small canals and hollows (conche).
According to some researchers, these hollows would have been used to collect the blood of animals sacrificed to Mother Earth, but perhaps it could have also been a system to water livestock and attract wild prey with these small ponds in an area where there was not much water at all. On Ciappo delle Conche there are also 3 distinctive drawings, that seem to recall a train, a ship, and a flower, but which likely have a more complex meaning.
