Naquane, the Carved Stones That Tell Eight Thousand Years of the Camunni

In the Valle Camonica, on the left bank of the Oglio, a chestnut wood hides something that resembles no other Italian monument. At Naquane, a hamlet of Capo di Ponte, sandstone rocks smoothed by glaciers rise to the surface, covered in engraved figures: warriors, deer, huts, geometric symbols. They are neither paintings nor statues, but signs carved into the stone by generations of Camunni over the course of millennia.

The first archaeological park

The National Park of Rock Engravings of Naquane was established in 1955, the first archaeological park in Italy, and in 1979 the rock art of the Valle Camonica became the first Italian site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Within the area there are one hundred and four engraved rocks, spread along five trails traced through the wood for about three kilometres. The chronology of the figures runs from the Neolithic, between the fifth and fourth millennia BC, to the Iron Age, with a few additions from the historical era.

The Great Rock

The most famous piece is the Great Rock, a slab bearing over two thousand engravings layered like the pages of a notebook used for generations. On another surface in the park, the so-called Rock 60, appears instead the Camunian rose, the symbol Lombardy would later choose as its own emblem. To walk among these boulders is to read, with the naked eye, the thoughts of those who lived here before writing.

Along the deserted trails

And yet the place remains surprisingly quiet. Most visitors pass through quickly, photograph the Great Rock and leave, abandoning the side paths and the minor rocks, the "forgotten" ones that often offer the best surprises. You need at least three or four hours and patient eyes: the raking light of morning or late afternoon brings out signs that disappear at midday.

Go on a weekday, bring hiking shoes and respect the stone, never touching or treading on it. A few minutes away you'll find the valley's other engraving parks, such as Foppe di Nadro and Seradina-Bedolina, to extend your journey far from the crowds of the nearby lakes.

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How to get there

The National Park of Rock Engravings of Naquane is located at Capo di Ponte, in the Valcamonica. By train you take the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo line, with a stop right at Capo di Ponte, from which the park is reached on foot with a short twenty-minute climb. By car you arrive along the Valcamonica state road, with car parks near the park.