Explorers for a day
A long time ago (between 50,000 and 30,000 years ago), bears lived
in caves on Monte Generoso. On the Italian side of Monte Generoso, just a few hundred meters from the summit (1,704m above MSL), a cave was discovered a few years ago (1988), which today is called “Grotta dell’orso” [Bear’s Cave] (its real name is Caverna Generosa). The remains of more than 500 bears of the species Ursus spelaeus have been found in this cave, animals that could weigh up to 1,000 kg and lived up to 14,000 - 15,000 years ago and then became extinct. The cave is over 200 metres long, 70 metres of which can be explored. The 40,000 exhibits that make this one of the most important sites in Europe include not only the remains of bears, but also those of other small mammals of the time.
