The pebble, the grey, the smooth, the size of the fist, the picked from the bed of the Oglio River in the Val Camonica (the first UNESCO World heritage site in the Italy, the 1979, and the largest collection of the prehistoric rock the drawings in Europe: the 300,000 petroglyphs, the 8,000 years of the human history from the 8,000 BCE to the 1,000 CE, the carved into the 2,400 rocks across the 90 kilometres of the valley in the Lombardy region of the northern Italy), and the moment when the finger traces the outline of the Bronze Age warrior (the 3,000 years old, the sword, the shield, the simple figure that is the at the once the primitive and the deeply the human) carved into the sandstone slab in the Capo di Ponte (the largest concentration of the rock the art, the “Naquane National Park of the Rock Engravings,” the €6, and the most important prehistoric site in the Italy). Here is your guide.

Val Camonica, UNESCO Rock Drawings in Italy

• The essential Val Camonica, the rock art of the Naquane: The Naquane National Park in the Capo di Ponte is the essential Val Camonica experience: the 104 rocks that are the open to the public, the 14 hectares, the walk (the 2 km, the 1–2 hours, and the self-guided with the map, the €6 includes the map and the leaflet. The essential: the arrive at the 9am, the park is the quiet, the light is the low-angle on the rocks, and the petroglyphs are the most visible in the oblique morning light. The essential technique: the bring the mirror, the small, for the reflecting the light on the engravings at the angle, the essential for the photography), the themes of the engravings: the deer (the most common, the hunting the scenes, the 4,000-year-old), the warriors (the Bronze Age, the 2,000 BCE, the sword, the shield, the helmet), the houses (the Iron Age, the palafitta, the stilt-houses on the lake, the most detailed), the Camunian Rose (the most mysterious symbol, the 9 cups the arranged the around the central cup, the unknown meaning, the possibly the astronomical or the religious. The essential Camunian Rose: the see on the Rock 50, the most photographed engraving in the Val Camonica), the labyrinth, the ploughman, and the figures that the are the universal, the human need to the mark the rock and to say the “I was the here.” The Naquane is the walk in the silence of the ancient: the chestnut forest, the rock the covered with the moss and the lichen, the engravings that the appear the beneath the careful eye, and the essential Italian cultural experience that the few tourists the see. More Italy →
• The Val Camonica beyond the rock drawings, the essential: The Capo di Ponte and the MUPRE: the National Museum of the Prehistory of the Val Camonica (the MUPRE, the €5, and the essential: the visit the MUPRE before the Naquane for the context and the understanding of the symbols), the church of the “Rock Engravings”, the San Siro, the medieval, and the village that is the quiet base for the exploration. The Lago d’Iseo and the Monte Isola: the 30-minute drive from the Capo di Ponte, the Lago d’Iseo is the most beautiful lake in the Lombardy after the Lake Como: the Monte Isola (the largest lake-island in Europe, the 4.5 km², the car-free, the walk the 13 km around the island, the €5 for the ferry from the Sulzano, and the best day out in the Lombardy. The essential: the lunch at the Trattoria del Sole, the fresh fish from the lake, the €20 for the main, the terrace, and the best lake lunch in the Lombardy), the Christo (the 2016, the “Floating Piers”, the 3 km of the floating walkway, the temporary installation, and the most famous event in the recent history of the lake. The walkway is the gone, and the memory is the local). The essential Val Camonica itinerary (the 2 days from the Milan or the Verona): the day 1: the drive to the Capo di Ponte (the 2 hours from the Milan), the MUPRE, the Naquane in the afternoon, the dinner at the Osteria Antica Valeriana (the €25 for the 2-course, the local, and the best restaurant in the Capo di Ponte), the day 2: the Lago d’Iseo and the Monte Isola, the return. The essential accommodation: the Agriturismo Al Mignaghet (the €80/night, the farm, the view of the valley, and the best place to the stay in the Val Camonica).