Walker - 1967 - A geography of Italy

PART I I I ; REGION A L GEOGRAPHY
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Triassic limestone the northern limb o f which sweeps up to form a high scarp
(Cima Dodici 2341m) overlooking the Val Sugana fault. The southern limb rises
to 1400m then dips sharply to the plain where a few volcanic hills seem to be
breaking in vain against the formidable wall o f the Pre-Alps. The waterless surface
o f the limestone is pitted with dolines and deeply incised with a system of
gorge-like valleys, now completely dry, which once drained into the Astico. The
only permanent settlements are a few malghe where cattle, because o f the absence
o f springs, must be watered from clay-lined ponds filled with rain water. The
higher northern zone is a karstic desolation where no creature stirs; elsewhere
the hmestone surface has been planted with conifers to replace the more varied
woodlands razed in the First World War. Fortunately, in the centre o f the syncline
the Jurassic rocks are overlain by a marly Cretaceous chalk on which rye,
potatoes and fodder, but no tree crops, are cultivated; the farm units are small as
elsewhere in the Pre-Alps. T h e population is shared between half a dozen villages
and the pleasant town o f Asiago, which was rebuilt after its complete destruction
in 1916 and is now developing as a summer resort and winter sports centre. Its
main development problem is that o f satisfying the demand for water. In the past
the inaccessibiUty o f the plateau recommended it to refuge groups, and although
there is httle evidence to support the contention, a remnant o f the Cimbri is
said to have settled here after their defeat by the Romans; certainly many o f the
older place-names are non-Itahan (e.g. M . Kaberlaba) and the local Germanic
dialect was in common use a century ago. Another interesting by-product o f the
area’s inaccessibility was the immunity it gave from the repeated disturbances to
which the neighbouring plain was subjected. In the Middle Ages the seven communes
o f the plateau combined to oppose the ruthless tyranny o f Romano
d’Ezzelino and thereafter as the Sette Comuni managed to preserve a large
measure o f autonomy, even under the Venetians, until the Napoleonic reorganization
o f Italy. The tortuous roads which now penetrate the area were built at a
time when the Austrian frontier lay along the northern rim o f the plateau and in
the minds of older Italians the Altopiano d’Asiago will always be associated with
the desperate and bloody battles o f the war of’15.
Monte Grappa, which has a history no less tragic, is an anticline involving
rocks aged from the Triassic to the Miocene. Its crest forms an undulating
whaleback but the softer limestones o f the precipitous southern flank are scarred
by torrents. It is o f little value agriculturally and its sterile surface is now being
decently clothed with forests.
The Venetian Pre-Alps east o f the Piave Gap are very similar to Monte Grappa.
Karstic phenomena are well developed in the Cansiglio plateau where Lake
S. Croce is o f karstic origin. Like all the Pre-Alps this sector receives a heavy
rainfall but its benefits, in the form o f springs, are chiefly enjoyed by the plain;
the Livenza is the biggest o f several streams fed in this way.
The ample Belluno basin is a syncline in which Eocene and Miocene clays have
been preserved. It was completely occupied by the Piave glacier which forced its
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