Province Province of Biella | ||
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Address 13888 Zubiena, Province of Biella, Italy Similar Atl Biella, Trattoria Parco Burcina, Riserva Naturale Orientata, Camping il Salice, Acqua di Lago | ||
The Bessa Natural Reserve, established in 1985, is near Biella; it is 7.5 km² wide and it is part of the Baragge Natural Reserve.
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Goography and geology
The reserve is north delimited by the remains of a morainic hill of the Early Pleistocene and the Quaternary floods of the Elvo river; it is south delimited by another moraine and by the stream Olobbia.
The Bessa gold field was originated by the erosion and the sedimentation of the rivers and of the Aosta Valley glacier, which also transported the great glacial erratics that can be found in the park.
History
The gold field area, dating back to II-I century b.C., is made by two fluviale terracing covered with pebbles, sand and gravel, wastes of the mining activity.
On many glacial erratics petroglyphs can be found, especially cup marks. Since V-IV century b.C. the area was dominated by the Salassi.
Between 143 and 140 b.C. the area was conquered by the Roman legions commanded by Appius Claudius Pulcher and the mining activity was managed by the publicans.
The historian Strabo says that in the second half of the I centyry b.C. the gold fields were abandoned (or finished) and the Roman gold came from the Iberia and Gaul.