Description of the attraction
The Olo Nord Park is located where the Olo River flows out of Lake Iseo and flows towards Gabbioneta and Ostiano in the Italian region of Lombardy. The river flows among steep banks covered with forests and surrounded by cultivated fields. Here you can also find coastal areas with forests of special biological significance, as well as river bends with aquatic vegetation. The historical and architectural heritage of the park is no less interesting, for example, the Castel Pumenengo castle with towers and a characteristic square courtyard and the ruins of the Paratico and Roccafranca castles located on its territory.
Despite the fact that the landscape of the park has been significantly changed as a result of land drainage, deforestation and intensive cultivation of poplars, there are still areas of untouched nature. The flat part of Olo Nord is a dense interweaving of artificial reservoirs, thickets of forests, roads and farms. In ancient times, a freshwater sea splashed between the rivers Adda, Serio and Olo, which was sometimes called a lake, and today there are thickets of maple, chestnuts, ash, poplars, hop grabs, alder, willows and reeds. The forests are inhabited by hazel dormouse, hedgehogs, hares, moles and toads. If you're lucky, you might spot a weasel, stone marten, badger, or fox. The bird kingdom is represented by white and gray herons, owls, tawny owls, coots, woodpeckers, blackbirds and swallows.
Recently, a huge necropolis with the remains of fortifications, dating from the 2nd to 1st centuries BC, was discovered on the territory of the Olo Nord Park, between the communes of Cividino and Pontoglio. And since in the 10-11th centuries the Olo River served as the border between the administrative regions, a number of corresponding structures were built along its banks, some of which have survived to this day in one form or another. Also in the park you can see 16 irrigation canals, dug in the 13-16th centuries and still in use today. The main one is located on the left bank of the river and is called Fuzia.
