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118-511: The village of Valstagna runs along the right side of the Brenta river and comprehend several district (or contrade): Collicello, Costa, Valgadena, Giara Modon, Sasso Stefani, San Gaetano, Ponte Subiolo, Col Mezzorigo, Londa and Oliero. Geographically, the Brenta river valley is a typical valley of the southern rim of the Alps. The particularities of the territory are its limestone mountains crossed by

236-844: A Cimbrian chieftain who is enslaved by the Romans after the Battle of Vercellae. Cimbri is referenced in Italo Calvino 's novel If on a Winter's Night a Traveller as a fictional country that warred with a similarly fictionalised version of Cimmeria , thus imposing its own written language onto the Cimmerians. Jeff Hein's historical fiction series The Cimbrian War tells the story of the Cimbri and their migration across Iron-Age Europe. Proteus anguinus The olm ( German: [ɔlm] ) or proteus ( Proteus anguinus )

354-454: A baby dragon . Heavy rains of Slovenia would wash the olms up from their subterranean habitat, giving rise to the folklore belief that great dragons lived beneath the Earth's crust, and the olms were the undeveloped offspring of these mythical beasts. In his book Valvasor compiled the local Slovenian folk stories and pieced together the rich mythology of the creature and documented observations of

472-625: A central town square in Aalborg , the capital of the region of North Jutland . A German ethnic minority speaking the Cimbrian language , having settled in the mountains between Vicenza, Verona, and Trento in Italy (also known as Seven Communities ), is also called the Cimbri . For hundreds of years this isolated population and its present 4,400 inhabitants have claimed to be the direct descendants of

590-461: A common ancestry, recalled from two hundred years previous, but that is not certain. Henri Hubert states "All these names are Celtic, and they cannot be anything else". Some authors take a different perspective. Countering the argument of a Celtic origin is the literary evidence that the Cimbri originally came from northern Jutland , an area with no Celtic placenames, instead only Germanic ones. This does not rule out Cimbric Gallicization during

708-428: A fabrication, for when the ocean is affected in this way it is subject to increases and diminutions, but these are regulated and periodical. On the map of Ptolemy , the "Kimbroi" are placed on the northernmost part of the peninsula of Jutland, i.e., in the modern landscape of Himmerland south of Limfjorden (since Vendsyssel-Thy north of the fjord was at that time a group of islands). Some time before 100 BC many of

826-508: A female-attracting pheromone . When the female approaches, he starts to circle around her and fan her with his tail. Then he starts to touch the female's body with his snout, and the female touches his cloaca with her snout. At that point, he starts to move forward with a twitching motion, and the female follows. He then deposits the spermatophore , and the animals keep moving forward until the female hits it with her cloaca, after which she stops and stands still. The spermatophore sticks to her and

944-619: A few galleries. The same road was part of the semi-final stage of the 2017 Giro d'Italia and is a quite popular up-hill training area for local cyclists. Additionally, the Valsugana Cycle Path which connects the Levico Lake with Bassano del Grappa , passes through Valstagna. The Valsugana Cycle path is overall 80 km long and is specifically designed for road cycling. However, the smooth surface of its road enables to perform activities such as rollerskating, especially in

1062-688: A few hours a day, but could not cause them to change to a land-dwelling adult form, as she and others had done with axolotl . The basis of functional morphological investigations in Slovenia was set up by Lilijana Istenič  [ de ] in the 1980s. More than twenty years later, the Research Group for functional morphological Studies of the Vertebrates in the Department of Biology (Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana ),

1180-518: A handful of towns that were subject to the Venetian rule. The beautiful Lion with a closed book and a raised sword that can be seen in the town square means that there was some sort of delegation of sovereignty and there was also justice. In other worlds, that meant that the town and the people were under jurisdiction of the Venetians, but were otherwise free, even from having to pay taxes. This Lion

1298-458: A large Roman army was routed. Rome was in panic, and the terror cimbricus became proverbial. Everyone expected to soon see the new Gauls outside of the gates of Rome. Desperate measures were taken: contrary to the Roman constitution, Gaius Marius , who had defeated Jugurtha , was elected consul and supreme commander for five years in a row (104–100 BC). In 104–103 BC, the Cimbri had turned to

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1416-634: A large Roman army was routed. They then raided large areas in Gaul and Hispania . In 101 BC, during an attempted invasion of the Italian peninsula , the Cimbri were decisively defeated at the Battle of Vercellae by Gaius Marius , and their king, Boiorix , was killed. Some of the surviving captives are reported to have been among the rebellious gladiators in the Third Servile War . The origin of

1534-534: A layer of skin. The olm breathes with external gills that form two branched tufts at the back of the head. They are red in color because the oxygen-rich blood shows through the non-pigmented skin. The olm also has rudimentary lungs , but their role in respiration is only accessory, except during hypoxic conditions. Cave-dwelling animals have been prompted, among other adaptations, to develop and improve non-visual sensory systems in order to orient in and adapt to permanently dark habitats. The olm's sensory system

1652-571: A northern homeland point to Greek and Roman sources that associate the Cimbri with the Jutland peninsula. According to the Res gestae (ch. 26) of Augustus , the Cimbri were still found in the area around the turn of the 1st century AD: My fleet sailed from the mouth of the Rhine eastward as far as the lands of the Cimbri, to which, up to that time, no Roman had ever penetrated either by land or by sea, and

1770-993: A number of cave systems as opposed to being continuous, and what they consider a decline in extent and quality of its habitat, which they assume means that the population has been decreasing for the last 40 years. Zagreb Zoo in Croatia houses the olm. Historically, olms were kept in several zoos in Germany, as well as in Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovenia and the United Kingdom. At present they can only be experienced at Zagreb Zoo, Hermannshöhle in Germany and Vivarium Proteus (Proteus Vivarium) within Postojnska jama (Postojna Cave) in Slovenia. There are also captive breeding programs in places like France. The olm

1888-449: A present to Augustus the most sacred kettle in their country, with a plea for his friendship and for an amnesty of their earlier offences, and when their petition was granted they set sail for home; and it is ridiculous to suppose that they departed from their homes because they were incensed on account of a phenomenon that is natural and eternal, occurring twice every day. And the assertion that an excessive flood-tide once occurred looks like

2006-417: A prophecy, while still others would split open the body and from an inspection of the entrails would utter a prophecy of victory for their own people; and during the battles they would beat on the hides that were stretched over the wicker-bodies of the wagons and in this way produce an unearthly noise. If the Cimbri did in fact come from Jutland, evidence that they practiced ritualistic sacrifice may be found in

2124-527: A typical phenomenon in a karst landscape and they have been created by the chemical erosion given by rainfalls and by the waters of the Frenzela torrent. Lake Subiolo lies behind the houses in the locality of Ponte Subiolo and is one of the deepest Valcusian springs in Europe. A passage up to a depth of 186 meters under the lake surface has been discovered, but to date no one has yet reached the end. The spring

2242-472: A typical, very stable temperature of 8–11 °C (46–52 °F), infrequently as warm as 14 °C (57 °F). There have also been observations in northeastern Italy where they swim to the surface in springs outside the caves, even in daylight, where they occasionally feed on earthworms. The black olm may occur in surface waters that are somewhat warmer. The olm swims by eel-like twisting of its body, assisted only slightly by its poorly developed legs. It

2360-479: A variety of industrial processes and in the manufacture of many kinds of materials; and metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and arsenic. All of these substances persist in the environment, being slowly, if at all, degraded by natural processes. In addition, all are toxic to life if they accumulate in any appreciable quantity. The olm is nevertheless noted for its capability of surviving higher concentrations of accumulated PCBs than related aquatic organisms. The olm

2478-528: A visit and was greeted as their king. The population, which kept its independence during the time of the Venice Republic, was later severely devastated by World War I . As a result, many Cimbri have left this mountainous region of Italy, effectively forming a worldwide diaspora. The Cimbri are depicted as ferocious warriors who did not fear death. The host was followed by women and children on carts. Aged women, priestesses , dressed in white sacrificed

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2596-406: Is a predatory animal, feeding on small crustaceans (for example, Troglocaris shrimp, Niphargus , Asellus , and Synurella amphipods, and Oniscus asellus ), snails (for example, Belgrandiella ), and occasionally insects and insect larvae (for example, Trichoptera , Ephemeroptera , Plecoptera , and Diptera ). It does not chew its food, instead swallowing it whole. The olm

2714-424: Is a behavioral adaptation to life underground. Reproduction has only been observed in captivity so far. Sexually mature males have swollen cloacas, brighter skin color, two lines at the side of the tail, and slightly curled fins. No such changes have been observed in the females. The male can start courtship even without the presence of a female. He chases other males away from the chosen area, and may then secrete

2832-442: Is a symbol of Slovenian natural heritage. The enthusiasm of scientists and the broader public about this inhabitant of Slovenian caves is still strong 300 years after its discovery. Postojna Cave is one of the birthplaces of biospeleology due to the olm and other rare cave inhabitants, such as the blind cave beetle . The image of the olm contributes significantly to the fame of Postojna Cave, which Slovenia successfully utilizes for

2950-529: Is actually a Tax Free Zone sign, and this was a rather big favour; an honour in fact, bestowed by La Serenissima only to those who fought really valiantly on the side of Venice. The glorious status was granted to Valstagna after its inhabitants managed to stop an attempt of invasion made by the captain Calepino in 1514, who has been sent by the Emperor of Austria with the purpose to conquest Venice. In addition to

3068-481: Is also adapted to life in the subterranean aquatic environment. Unable to use vision for orientation, the olm compensates with other senses, which are better developed than in amphibians living on the surface. It retains larval proportions, like a long, slender body and a large, flattened head, and is thus able to carry a larger number of sensory receptors . Although blind, the olm swims away from light. The eyes are regressed, but retain sensitivity. They lie deep below

3186-551: Is also known from Germanic, but with an a (* mari- ), whereas a cognate of marbh is unknown in all dialects of Germanic. Yet, given that Pliny had not heard the word directly from a Cimbric speaker, it cannot be ruled out that the word he heard had been translated into Gaulish. The known Cimbri chiefs have Celtic names, including Boiorix (which may mean "King of the Boii" or, more literally, "King of Strikers"), Gaesorix (which means "Spear King"), and Lugius (which may be named after

3304-459: Is an aquatic salamander which is the only species in the genus Proteus of the family Proteidae and the only exclusively cave-dwelling chordate species found in Europe; the family's other extant genus is Necturus . In contrast to most amphibians , it is entirely aquatic , eating, sleeping, and breeding underwater. Living in caves found in the Dinaric Alps , it is endemic to

3422-437: Is around 68.5 years. When compared to the longevity and body mass of other amphibians, olms are outliers , living longer than would be predicted from their size. Olms from different cave systems differ substantially in body measurements, color, and some microscopic characteristics. Earlier researchers used these differences to support the division into five species, while modern herpetologists understand that external morphology

3540-433: Is called močeril (from * močerъ 'earthworm, damp creepy-crawly'; moča 'dampness'). The olm's body is snakelike , 20–30 cm (8–12 in) long, with some specimens reaching up to 40 centimetres (16 in), which makes them some of the largest cave-dwelling animals in the world. The average length is between 23 and 25 cm. Females grow larger than males, but otherwise the primary external difference between

3658-533: Is derived from Brittonic *Kombrogi (cf. Allobroges ), meaning "compatriots", and is linguistically unrelated to Cimbri. Scholars generally see the Cimbri as originating in Jutland , but archaeologists have found no clear indications of any mass migration from Jutland in the early Iron Age . The Gundestrup Cauldron , which was deposited in a bog in Himmerland in the 2nd or 1st century BC, shows that there

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3776-468: Is evidence that a small number of olms were introduced to the United Kingdom in the 1940s, although it's highly likely that the animals perished shortly after being released. The olm was used by Charles Darwin in his seminal work On the Origin of Species as an example for the reduction of structures through disuse: Far from feeling surprise that some of the cave-animals should be very anomalous...as

3894-435: Is not reliable for amphibian systematics and can be extremely variable, depending on nourishment, illness, and other factors; even varying among individuals in a single population . Proteus anguinus is now considered a single species. The length of the head is the most obvious difference between the various populations – individuals from Stična, Slovenia, have shorter heads on average than those from Tržič , Slovenia, and

4012-526: Is one of the leading groups studying the olm under the guidance of Boris Bulog . There are also several cave laboratories in Europe in which olms have been introduced and are being studied. These are Moulis, Ariège ( France ), Choranche cave ( France ), Han-sur-Lesse ( Belgium ), and Aggtelek ( Hungary ). They were also introduced into the Hermannshöhle ( Germany ) and Oliero ( Italy ) caves, where they still live today. Additionally, there

4130-660: Is possible only for research purposes by permission of the National Administration for Nature and Environment Protection. As of 2020 the Croatian population has been assessed as ' critically endangered ' in Croatia. As of 1999, the environmental laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro had not yet been clarified for this species. In the 1980s the IUCN claimed that some illegal collection of this species for

4248-482: Is regulated by the hormone thyroxine , secreted by the thyroid gland. The thyroid is normally developed and functioning in the olm, so the lack of metamorphosis is due to the unresponsiveness of key tissues to thyroxine. Longevity is estimated at up to 58 years. A study published in Biology Letters estimated that they have a maximum lifespan of over 100 years and that the lifespan of an average adult

4366-730: Is resistant to long-term starvation, an adaptation to its underground habitat. It can consume large amounts of food at once, and store nutrients as large deposits of lipids and glycogen in the liver . When food is scarce, it reduces its activity and metabolic rate , and can also reabsorb its own tissues in severe cases. Controlled experiments have shown that an olm can survive up to 10 years without food. Olms are gregarious , and usually aggregate either under stones or in fissures. Sexually active males are an exception, establishing and defending territories where they attract females. The scarcity of food makes fighting energetically costly, so encounters between males usually only involve display . This

4484-463: Is situated in a geographically active area. This can be observed in the frequent collapses of sedimentary rocks from adjacent cliffs and takes its name from the particular calcareous structures hidden in its depths. Subiolo represents another important hydro-geological feature of this spring which becomes evident during the rainy season. Then the placid blue surface of the lake changes to a tumultuous cauldron of impetuous waves. The sound produced resemble

4602-468: Is the case with blind Proteus with reference to the reptiles of Europe, I am only surprised that more wrecks of ancient life have not been preserved, owing to the less severe competition to which the scanty inhabitants of these dark abodes will have been exposed. An olm (Proteus) genome project is currently underway by the University of Ljubljana and BGI . With an estimated genome size roughly 15-times

4720-537: The Battle of Noreia , where they defeated the Romans. Only a storm, which separated the combatants, saved the Roman forces from complete annihilation. Now the road to Italy was open, but they turned west towards Gaul . They came into frequent conflict with the Romans , who usually came out the losers. In 109 BC, they defeated a Roman army under the consul Marcus Junius Silanus , who was the commander of Gallia Narbonensis . In 107 BC they defeated another Roman army under

4838-582: The European Union in 2004, Slovenia had to establish mechanisms for protection of the species included in the EU Habitats Directive. The olm is included in a Slovenian Red list of endangered species, thus its capturing or killing is allowed only under specific circumstances determined by the local authorities (e.g. scientific study). In Croatia, the olm is protected by the legislation designed to protect amphibians – collecting

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4956-681: The Haraldskær Woman discovered in Jutland in the year 1835. Noosemarks and skin piercing were evident and she had been thrown into a bog rather than buried or cremated. Furthermore, the Gundestrup cauldron , found in Himmerland, may be a sacrificial vessel like the one described in Strabo's text. In style, the work looks like Thracian silver work, while many of the engravings are Celtic objects. A major problem in determining whether

5074-581: The Istrian peninsula, for example. The black olm ( Proteus anguinus parkelj Sket & Arntzen, 1994 ) is the only recognized subspecies of the olm other than the nominate subspecies . It is endemic to the underground waters near Črnomelj , Slovenia, an area smaller than 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi). It was first found in 1986 by members of the Slovenian Karst Research Institute , who were exploring

5192-554: The Second Punic War and destroyed Rome , but Carthage proved unable to rule Italy – which fell into utter chaos. Thus, there was no one to stop the Cimbri two hundred years later. They filled the vacuum, conquered Italy, assimilated the local population to their own culture and by the equivalent of the 20th century had made of Italy a flourishing, technologically advanced kingdom speaking a Germanic language. He also wrote an unrelated historical novel "The Golden Slave", about

5310-682: The axolotl and the mudpuppies ( Necturus ). The word olm is a German loanword that was incorporated into English in the late 19th century. The origin of the German Olm or Grottenolm 'cave olm', is unclear. It may be a variant of the word Molch 'salamander'. It is also called the "human fish" by locals because of its fleshy skin color (translated literally from Slovene : človeška ribica , Macedonian : човечка рипка , Croatian : čovječja ribica , Bosnian : čovječija ribica , Serbian : човечја рибица ), as well as "cave salamander" or "white salamander". In Slovenia, it

5428-413: The black olm , is always pigmented and dark brownish to blackish when adult. The olm's pear-shaped head ends with a short, dorsoventrally flattened snout. The mouth opening is small, with tiny teeth forming a sieve to keep larger particles inside the mouth. The nostrils are so small as to be imperceptible, but are placed somewhat laterally near the end of the snout. The regressed eyes are covered by

5546-479: The dermis of the skin and are rarely visible except in some younger adults. Larvae have normal eyes, but development soon stops and they start regressing, finally atrophying after four months of development. The pineal body also has photoreceptive cells which, though regressed, retain visual pigment like the photoreceptive cells of the regressed eye. The pineal gland in Proteus probably possesses some control over

5664-492: The sperm cells swim inside her cloaca, where they attempt to fertilize her eggs. The courtship ritual can be repeated several times over a couple of hours. The female lays up to 70 eggs, each about 12 millimetres (0.5 in) in diameter, and places them between rocks, where they remain under her protection. The average is 35 eggs and the adult female typically breeds every 12.5 years. The tadpoles are 2 centimetres (0.8 in) long when they hatch and live on yolk stored in

5782-620: The 12th Century took place along the river Brenta to reach Venice and other local towns. The competition involves 9 rafts, each one representing a contrada, which sail along the river with the aim to reach the Rialto Bridge in Valstagna in a winning position. In the historical novel The Trusted Servant by Alison Macleod, the 16th Century protagonist - making a perilous journey over the mountains, with armed robbers waiting for him in ambush - passes through Valstagna. The book gives

5900-569: The 1st century AD, according to the sources quoted above. Some of the surviving captives are reported to have been among the rebelling gladiators in the Third Servile War . Justin 's epitome of Trogus has Mithridates the Great send emissaries to the Cimbri to request military aid during the Social War (91-88 BCE). Justin also states that the Cimbri were again in Italy at this time, i.e. over ten years later. According to Julius Caesar ,

6018-462: The Alps into northern Italy. The consul Quintus Lutatius Catulus had not dared to fortify the passes, but instead he had retreated behind the river Po , and so the land was open to the invaders. The Cimbri did not hurry, and the victors of Aquae Sextiae had the time to arrive with reinforcements. At the Battle of Vercellae , at the confluence of the river Sesia with the Po , in 101 BC, the long voyage of

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6136-561: The Belgian tribe of the Atuatuci "was descended from the Cimbri and Teutoni , who, upon their march into our province and Italy, set down such of their stock and stuff as they could not drive or carry with them on the near (i.e. west) side of the Rhine , and left six thousand men of their company there as guard and garrison" ( Gall. 2.29, trans. Edwards). They founded the city of Atuatuca in

6254-686: The Brenta Valley. There has been a collection and classification of tools and the transcription of interviews and oral witness. What you can find here goes from breeding to cultivation of tobacco, from terraces called “masiere” to the wooden rafts of river Brenta tradition. Rafting , kayak and freestyle kayaking are practiced in the area of Valstagna. Valstagna hosts several national and international competitions for both Kayak slalom and canoeing, and many professional athletes train here. The presence of numerous immersed caves in Valbrenta offers

6372-514: The Celtic god Lugus ). Other evidence to the language of the Cimbri is circumstantial: thus, we are told that the Romans enlisted Gaulish Celts to act as spies in the Cimbri camp before the final showdown with the Roman army in 101 BC. Jean Markale wrote that the Cimbri were associated with the Helvetii , and more especially with the indisputably Celtic Tigurini . These associations may link to

6490-429: The Cimbri also came to an end. It was a devastating defeat. Two chieftains, Lugius and Boiorix , died on the field, while the other chieftains Caesorix and Claodicus were captured. The women killed both themselves and their children in order to avoid slavery. The Cimbri were annihilated, although some may have survived to return to the homeland where a population with this name was residing in northern Jutland in

6608-515: The Cimbri and Charydes and Semnones and other peoples of the Germans of that same region through their envoys sought my friendship and that of the Roman people. The contemporary Greek geographer Strabo testified that the Cimbri still existed as a Germanic tribe, presumably in the "Cimbric peninsula" (since they are said to live by the North Sea and to have paid tribute to Augustus): As for

6726-789: The Cimbri and the Tigurines were to take the northern route across the Rhine and later across the Central Eastern Alps . At the estuary of the Isère , the Teutons and the Ambrones met Marius, whose well-defended camp they did not manage to overrun. Instead, they pursued their route, and Marius followed them. At Aquae Sextiae , the Romans won two battles and took the Teuton king Teutobod prisoner. The Cimbri had penetrated through

6844-489: The Cimbri retreating to this area after the Roman victory over their tribe. However, it is more likely that Bavarians settled here in the Middle Ages. Most linguists remain committed to the hypothesis of a medieval (11th to 12th century AD) immigration to explain the presence of small German-speaking communities in the north of Italy. Some genetic studies seem to prove a Celtic, not Germanic, descent for most inhabitants in

6962-424: The Cimbri succeeded in first defeating the legate Marcus Aurelius Scaurus and later inflicted a devastating defeat on Caepio and Maximus at the Battle of Arausio . The Romans lost as many as 80,000 men, according to Livy ; Mommsen (in his History of Rome ) thought that excluded auxiliary cavalry and non-combatants who brought the total loss closer to 112,000. Other estimates are much smaller, but by any account

7080-516: The Cimbri were speaking a Celtic language or a Germanic language is that, at that time, the Greeks and Romans tended to refer to all groups to the north of their sphere of influence as Gauls, Celts, or Germani rather indiscriminately, and not based upon languages. Caesar seems to be one of the first authors to distinguish the Celtae and Germani , and he had a political motive for doing so, because it

7198-690: The Cimbri, as well as the Teutons and Ambrones , migrated south-east. After several unsuccessful battles with the Boii and other Celtic tribes , they appeared c. 113 BC in Noricum , where they invaded the lands of one of Rome's allies, the Taurisci . On the request of the Roman consul Gnaeus Papirius Carbo , sent to defend the Taurisci, they retreated, only to find themselves deceived and attacked at

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7316-412: The Cimbri, some things that are told about them are incorrect and others are extremely improbable. For instance, one could not accept such a reason for their having become a wandering and piratical folk as this that while they were dwelling on a Peninsula they were driven out of their habitations by a great flood-tide; for in fact they still hold the country which they held in earlier times; and they sent as

7434-534: The Iberian Peninsula where they pillaged far and wide, until they were confronted by a coalition of Celtiberians . Defeated, the Cimbri returned to Gaul, where they joined their allies, the Teutons . During this time, C. Marius had the time to prepare and, in 102 BC, he was ready to meet the Teutons and the Ambrones at the Rhône. These two tribes intended to pass into Italy through the western passes, while

7552-510: The Republic of Venice. Wood was once transported from the plateau of Asiago towards Valstagna along a mountain path specifically built for this purpose by Gian Galeazzo Visconti in 1400. This path, called the Calà del Sasso , originally counted 4444 steps and it is easily accessible even today. From Valstagna wood was then loaded into rafts and transported to Venice along the river Brenta. Today

7670-448: The Republic of Venice. This meant that Valstagna had to be faithful to the latter in the defence of its borders and also meant that villagers had to sustain the Venetian supremacy through the supply of coal and wood. This role is reflected in the symbol of Valstagna, the St. Marco’s lion with a close book and a risen sword to remind the privilege that Valstagna’s villagers had not to pay taxes to

7788-529: The accidental overflow of various liquids. The reflection of such pollution in the karst underground waters depends on the type and quantity of pollutants, and on the rock structure through which the waters penetrate. Self-purification processes in the underground waters are not completely understood, but they are quite different from those in surface waters. Among the most serious chemical pollutants are chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides , fertilizers , polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are or were used in

7906-474: The animal was able to adapt to the slightly different living conditions, but never discovered the results as the olms were forgotten, until they were rediscovered by cave divers in 1967. The waterfalls are located few meters from Valstagna main square and can be reached by taking the ancient stone stairs that connects the town centre to Contrada Torre. The Calieroni geosite consists of an almost vertical sequence of three natural pools. These ponds, or marmite , are

8024-459: The area of frequencies of sound waves between 10 and more than 12,000 Hz, while the greatest sensitivity is reached between 1,500 and 2,000 Hz.The ethological experiments indicate that the best hearing sensitivity of Proteus is between 10 Hz and up to 12,000 Hz. The lateral line supplements inner ear sensitivity by registering low-frequency nearby water displacements. A new type of electroreception sensory organ has been analyzed on

8142-539: The area sawmill and water mills to facilitate tobacco plantation, which lead to the village expansion and to a significant population increase. The architectural style of houses in Valstagna is a mix of Venetian-style palaces and rural hoses. It was not unusual for influential Venetian people to build their own "summer palace" along the river in Valstagna, and many of these are present today along "the Riviera" in Valstagna (palace Perli). Rural houses can be found instead in

8260-479: The cells of the digestive tract for a month. At a temperature of 10 °C (50 °F), the olm's embryonic development (time in the eggs before hatching) is 140 days, but it is somewhat slower in colder water and faster in warmer, being as little as 86 days at 15 °C (59 °F). After hatching, it takes another 14 years to reach sexual maturity if living in water that is 10 °C (50 °F). The larvae gain adult appearance after nearly four months, with

8378-523: The coast". Finally, since Antiquity, the name has been related to that of the Cimmerians . The name of the Danish region Himmerland (Old Danish Himbersysel ) has been proposed to be a derivative of their name. According to such proposals, the word Cimbri with a c would be an older form before Grimm's law ( PIE k > Germanic h ). Alternatively, Latin c- represents an attempt to render

8496-627: The consul Gaius Cassius Longinus , who was killed at the Battle of Burdigala (modern day Bordeaux ) against the Tigurini , who were allies of the Cimbri. It was not until 105 BC that they planned an attack on the Roman Republic itself. At the Rhône , the Cimbri clashed with the Roman armies. Discord between the Roman commanders, the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio and the consul Gnaeus Mallius Maximus , hindered Roman coordination and so

8614-527: The duration of development strongly correlating with water temperature. Unconfirmed historical observations of viviparity exist, but it has been shown that the females possess a gland that produces the egg casing, similar to those of fish and egg-laying amphibians. Paul Kammerer reported that female olm gave birth to live young in water at or below 13 °C (55 °F) and laid eggs at higher, but rigorous observations have not confirmed that. The olm appears to be exclusively oviparous . Development of

8732-399: The following account: Valstagna had over its gate stone Lion of St. Mark . But it was a very old lion, its tail half crumbled away, as the power of Venice was crumbling along these edges of its empire. The sight gave me no comfort. Yet Valstagna had walls and turrets enough. The people of those parts take their danger for granted. However far the peasants may scatter by day to their fields on

8850-416: The glorious recognition, the inhabitants of Valstagna got rewarded with the captain's flag pole, which is now kept in the town hall, and his gold stem glass which is preserved in the town main church and is still used during the main religious ceremonies. [REDACTED] One of the many privileges Valstagna had in change of its active role within the Republic of Venice is that of being the first district in

8968-509: The head of Proteus , utilizing light and electron microscopy . These new organs have been described as ampullary organs . Like some other lower vertebrates , the olm has the ability to register weak electric fields . Some behavioral experiments suggest that the olm may be able to use Earth's magnetic field to orient itself. In 2002, Proteus anguinus was found to align itself with natural and artificially modified magnetic fields. The olm lives in well-oxygenated underground waters with

9086-471: The heirs of the ancient Cimbri. The adventures of the Cimbri are described by the Danish Nobel Prize–winning author Johannes V. Jensen , himself born in Himmerland, in the novel Cimbrernes Tog (1922), included in the epic cycle Den lange Rejse (English The Long Journey , 1923). The so-called Cimbrian bull (" Cimbrertyren "), a sculpture by Anders Bundgaard , was erected on 14 April 1937 in

9204-649: The land of the Belgic Eburones , whom they dominated. Thus Ambiorix king of the Eburones paid tribute and gave his son and nephew as hostages to the Atuatuci ( Gall. 6.27). In the first century AD, the Eburones were replaced or absorbed by the Germanic Tungri , and the city was known as Atuatuca Tungrorum, i.e. the modern city of Tongeren . The population of modern-day Himmerland claims to be

9322-804: The language of the Cimbri: referring to the Northern Ocean (the Baltic or the North Sea ), Pliny the Elder states: "Philemon says that it is called Morimarusa, i.e. the Dead Sea, by the Cimbri, until the promontory of Rubea, and after that Cronium." The contemporary Gaulish terms for "sea" and "dead" appear to have been mori and *maruo- ; compare their well-attested modern Insular Celtic cognates muir and marbh ( Irish ), môr and marw ( Welsh ), and mor and marv ( Breton ). The same word for "sea"

9440-823: The local naturalist Valvasor in his Glory of the Duchy of Carniola , who reported that, after heavy rains, the olms were washed up from the underground waters and were believed by local people to be a cave dragon 's offspring. This cave salamander is most notable for its adaptations to a life of complete darkness in its underground habitat. The olm's eyes are undeveloped , leaving it blind, while its other senses , particularly those of smell and hearing , are acutely developed. Most populations also lack any pigmentation in their skin . The olm has three toes on its forelimbs, but only two toes on its hind feet. It exhibits neoteny , retaining larval characteristics like external gills into adulthood, like some American amphibians,

9558-417: The more modern names today. These indicate a different origin (e.g., Asiago is known also by its original Cimbro name of Sleghe ). The Cimbrian origin myth was popularized by humanists in the 14th century. Despite these connections to southern Germany, belief in a Himmerland origin persisted well into modern times. On one occasion in 1709, for instance, Frederick IV of Denmark paid the region's inhabitants

9676-409: The mountainside, they come together at night in a huddle of stone. Ex comuni Cimbri The Cimbri ( Greek : Κίμβροι , Kímbroi ; Latin : Cimbri ) were an ancient tribe in Europe. Ancient authors described them variously as a Celtic , Gaulish , Germanic , or even Cimmerian people. Several ancient sources indicate that they lived in Jutland , which in some classical texts

9794-540: The music of traditional flutes that legend tells us played by the “ Anguane ”, the water fairies that tied to enchant unwary travellers. A museum about caves, speleology and the geology of the area. There is also a vast collection of shells, see-, earth- and fresh-water molluscs from Veneto and fossils from the Paleozoic to the Quaternary. The museum contains the results of an ethnographic surveying of Valstagna and

9912-556: The name Cimbri is unknown. One etymology is PIE *tḱim-ro- "inhabitant", from tḱoi-m- "home" (> English home ), itself a derivation from tḱei- "live" (> Greek κτίζω , Latin sinō ); then, the Germanic * himbra- finds an exact cognate in Slavic sębrъ "farmer" (> Croatian, Serbian sebar , Belorussian сябёр syabyor ). The name has also been related to the word kimme meaning "rim", i.e., "the people of

10030-539: The narrow road that connects Valstagna to the town of Foza, hosts an important stage of the race "Rally Città di Bassano". Considering the difficulty to complete the road in a good time (and without crashes), the road is often referred to as the "University of the Rally". Historically, this road was built by WW1 soldiers in order to provide the Italian army with supplies, and comprehends a sequence of approximately 20 turns and

10148-400: The normal four, and the rear have two digits instead of five. Its body is covered by a thin layer of skin, which contains very little of the pigment riboflavin , making it yellowish-white or pink in color. The white skin color of the olm retains the ability to produce melanin , and will gradually turn dark when exposed to light; in some cases the larvae are also colored. One population,

10266-413: The olm and other troglobite amphibians is characterized by heterochrony  – the animal does not undergo metamorphosis and instead retains larval features. The form of heterochrony in the olm is neoteny  – delayed somatic maturity with precocious reproductive maturity, i.e. reproductive maturity is reached while retaining the larval external morphology . In other amphibians, the metamorphosis

10384-401: The olm as "Barely a span long, akin to a lizard, in short, a worm and vermin of which there are many hereabouts". The first researcher to retrieve a live olm was a physician and researcher from Idrija , Giovanni Antonio Scopoli , who sent dead specimens and drawings to colleagues and collectors. Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti , though, was the first to briefly describe the olm in 1768 and give it

10502-527: The olm were eventually included in the Slovenian, Italian and Croatian parts of the Natura 2000 network. The olm was first protected in Slovenia in 1922 along with all cave fauna, but the protection was not effective and a substantial black market came into existence. In 1982 it was placed on a list of rare and endangered species. This list also had the effect of prohibiting trade of the species. After joining

10620-402: The oral cavity are used for tasting food, where those near the gills probably sense chemicals in the surrounding water. The sensory epithelia of the inner ear are very specifically differentiated, enabling the olm to receive sound waves in the water, as well as vibrations from the ground. The complex functional-morphological orientation of the sensory cells enables the animal to register

10738-567: The park is Grotta Parolini, originally called Covolo dei Siori ("Cave of the Lords"), later renamed Grotta Parolini in honour of its first explorer Alberto Parolini (1822). It is home to olms ( Proteus anguinus ), an amphibian who can live about 90 to 110 years. This animal is endemic in the Triestine Karst and along the Croatian coast, and was bought from Postojna Caves in Slovenia by Alberto Parolini in 1830. Parolini aimed to test whether

10856-602: The period when they lived in Gaul. Boiorix, who may have had a Celtic if not a Celticized Germanic name, was king of the Cimbri after they moved away from their ancestral home of northern Jutland. Boiorix and his tribe lived around Celtic peoples during his era as J. B. Rives points out in his introduction to Tacitus' Germania ; furthermore, the name "Boiorix" can be seen as having either Proto-Germanic or Celtic roots. The science fiction story " Delenda Est " by Poul Anderson depicts an alternate history in which Hannibal won

10974-484: The pet trade took place, but that the extent of this was unknown: this text has been copied into subsequent assessments, but by now the anecdotic claims are not considered to be indicative of a major threat. Since the 1980s until the most recent assessment in 2022 the organisation has rated the conservation status for the IUCN Red List as ' vulnerable ', this because of its natural distribution being fragmented over

11092-434: The physiological processes. Behavioral experiments revealed that the skin itself is also sensitive to light. Photosensitivity of the integument is due to the pigment melanopsin inside specialized cells called melanophores . Preliminary immunocytochemical analyses support the existence of photosensitive pigment also in the animal's integument. The olm is capable of sensing very low concentrations of organic compounds in

11210-534: The possibility of cave diving explorations. Starting from the south, in the area of Solagna, the karst spring of Fontanazzi is a destination for caving enthusiasts. Continuing north and entering the town of Valstagna, the underground system of the Caves of Oliero is the widest karst feature in the whole valley, followed by the Lake Subiolo caves, located a few kilometers to the north. Valstagna, and specifically

11328-511: The prisoners of war and sprinkled their blood, the nature of which allowed them to see what was to come. Strabo gives this vivid description of the Cimbric folklore: Their wives, who would accompany them on their expeditions, were attended by priestesses who were seers; these were grey-haired, clad in white, with flaxen cloaks fastened on with clasps, girt with girdles of bronze, and bare-footed; now sword in hand these priestesses would meet with

11446-399: The prisoners of war throughout the camp, and having first crowned them with wreaths would lead them to a brazen vessel of about twenty amphorae; and they had a raised platform which the priestess would mount, and then, bending over the kettle, would cut the throat of each prisoner after he had been lifted up; and from the blood that poured forth into the vessel some of the priestesses would draw

11564-494: The region that is reinforced by Gaulish toponyms such as those ending with the suffix -ago < Celtic -*ako(n) (e.g. Asiago is clearly the same place name as the numerous variants – Azay , Aisy , Azé , Ezy – in France, all of which derive from *Asiacum < Gaulish *Asiāko(n) ). On the other hand, the original place names in the region, from the specifically localized language known as 'Cimbro' are still in use alongside

11682-553: The river Brenta, which confers a fertile floor and steep walls to the surrounding territory. The most plausible hypothesis about the origin of the name "Valstagna" is that the name derives from the Cymbrian , a Germanic dialect, such as many other toponyms in the area. According to this theory, "Valstagna" is therefore composed by the union of the terms “Wall" – "wall", "channel", or "valley" - and "Steine" - "stones" or "mountains". The 16th century coat of arms reminds that Valstagna

11800-732: The scientific name Proteus anguinus . It was not until the end of the century that Carl Franz Anton Ritter von Schreibers from the Naturhistorisches Museum of Vienna started to look into this animal's anatomy. The specimens were sent to him by Sigmund Zois . Schreibers presented his findings in 1801 to The Royal Society in London , and later also in Paris . Soon, the olm started to gain wide recognition and attract significant attention, resulting in thousands of animals being sent to researchers and collectors worldwide. A Dr Edwards

11918-400: The sexes is in the cloaca region (shape and size) when breeding. The trunk is cylindrical, uniformly thick, and segmented with regularly spaced furrows at the myomere borders. The tail is relatively short, laterally flattened, and surrounded by a thin fin. The limbs are small and thin, with a reduced number of digits compared to other amphibians: the front legs have three digits instead of

12036-434: The size of human genome, this will likely be the largest animal genome sequenced so far. The olm is extremely vulnerable to changes in its environment, due to its adaptation to the specific conditions in caves. Water resources in the karst are extremely sensitive to all kinds of pollution. The contamination of the karst underground waters is due to the large number of waste disposal sites leached by rainwater, as well as to

12154-569: The sound sources. As this animal stays neotenic throughout its long life span, it is only occasionally exposed to normal adult hearing in air, which is probably also possible for Proteus as in most salamanders. Hence, it would be of adaptive value in caves, with no vision available, to profit from underwater hearing by recognizing particular sounds and eventual localization of prey or other sound sources, i.e. acoustical orientation in general. Behavioural (ethological) tests have shown that its sensitivity for detecting underwater sound waves reaches into

12272-524: The surrounding mountains. An example of this are the clusters in “Giaconi”, “Pra Negro” and “Postarnia”. The River Oliero is a tributary of the River Brenta. It is only a few hundred meters long. The Grotte di Oliero is a series of caves housing the springs of this short river. As part of the Parco Naturale delle Grotte four caves can be visited on paths through the park. The main cave of

12390-467: The tract between Collicello (north of Valstagna) and Levico. This Cycle Path can easily connect with the larger itineraries "Munchen-Venezia cycle route" which connect Munich to Venice and the "Toblach to Tarvisio cycle route" which links Italy, Austria and Slovenia. Since 1986, the Palio delle zattere ("Rafts competition") is held every last Sunday of July to commemorate the wood transport system that since

12508-548: The unfamiliar Proto-Germanic h = [x] (Latin h was [h] but was becoming silent in common speech at the time), perhaps due to Celtic-speaking interpreters (a Celtic intermediary could also explain why one proposed etymology for the Teutons, Germanic *Þeuðanōz , became Latin Teutones ). Because of the similarity of the names, the Cimbri have been at times associated with Cymry , the Welsh name for themselves. However, Cymry

12626-406: The valley to obtain concession to cultivate tobacco . The plant, imported in the area in the 17th century by the monks of Campese (1124-1796), required the modification of the territory into a step-like plantation system. As a consequence, terracing transformed the harsh territory around Valstagna into smooth layers of narrow flat fields across the mountains. The monks of Campese also installed in

12744-463: The water from Dobličica karst spring in the White Carniola region. It has several features separating it from the nominotypical subspecies ( Proteus a. anguinus ): A potential species, Proteus bavaricus , is speculated to be closely related to P. anguinus . The species was described from a single bone by George Brunner, and the holotype is housed in his private collection. It

12862-467: The water. They are better at sensing both the quantity and quality of prey by smell than related amphibians. The nasal epithelium , located on the inner surface of the nasal cavity and in the Jacobson's organ , is thicker than in other amphibians. The taste buds are in the mucous epithelium of the mouth, most of them on the upper side of the tongue and on the entrance to the gill cavities. Those in

12980-454: The waters that flow underground through the extensive limestone bedrock of the karst of Central and Southeastern Europe in the basin of the Soča River ( Italian : Isonzo ) near Trieste , Italy , southern Slovenia , southwestern Croatia , and Bosnia and Herzegovina . Introduced populations are found near Vicenza , Italy, and Kranj , Slovenia . It was first mentioned in 1689 by

13098-605: The yearly Palio delle zattere ("Game of Rafts") recalls this event, and rafts from each of the districts compete between each other in the river. During the years of the Serenissima, towns and cities that were somehow subject to the Venetian rule shared a common symbol: the St. Mark's lion. Lions differs mainly for the position of their sword and the book they hold: Lions like the one found in Valstagna (Combination 4) are not found in Venice at all, and can only be seen today in

13216-480: Was an argument in favour of his push to set the Rhine as a new Roman border. Yet, one cannot always trust Caesar and Tacitus when they ascribe individuals and tribes to one or the other category, although Caesar made clear distinctions between the two cultures. Some ancient sources categorize the Cimbri as a Germanic tribe, but some ancient authors include the Cimbri among the Celts. There are few direct testimonies to

13334-650: Was called the Cimbrian peninsula. There is no direct evidence for the language they spoke, though some scholars argue that it was a Germanic language, while others argue that it was Celtic . Together with the Teutones and the Ambrones , they fought the Roman Republic between 113 and 101 BC during the Cimbrian War . The Cimbri were initially successful, particularly at the Battle of Arausio , in which

13452-581: Was found in Bavaria 's Devil's Cave , in the Pleistocene layer. In his 1998 book, J. Alan Hollman described the species as a "problematic" taxon, saying that Brunner's drawing of the bone does not adequately show the differences between P. bavaricus and P. anguinus . The first written mention of the olm is in Johann Weikhard von Valvasor 's The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (1689) as

13570-604: Was included in annexes II and IV of the 1992 EU Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC). The list of species in annex II, combined with the habitats listed in annex I, is used by individual countries to designate protected areas known as 'Special Areas of Conservation'. These areas, combined with others created by the older Birds Directive were to form the Natura 2000 network. Annex IV additionally lists "animal and plant species of community interest in need of strict protection", although this has little legal ramifications. Areas inhabited by

13688-462: Was once an important trading point for commerce and food trade within the Republic of Venice . The Republic of Venice (or Serenissima) facilitated the socio-economic growth of Valstagna by offering tax relief and other benefits to the municipality. In fact, Valstagna was once part of the "Federazione Dei Sette Comuni" (literally the “Federation of the seven municipalities”), which was itself part of

13806-499: Was quoted in a book of 1839 as believing that "...the Proteus Anguinis is the first stage of an animal prevented from growing to perfection by inhabiting the subterraneous waters of Carniola." In 1880 Marie von Chauvin began the first long-term study of olms in captivity. She learned that they detected prey's motion, panicked when a heavy object was dropped near their habitat, and developed color if exposed to weak light for

13924-539: Was some sort of contact with southeastern Europe, but it is uncertain if this contact can be associated with the Cimbrian militia expeditions against Rome of the 1st Century BC. It is known that the peoples of Northern Europe and the British Isles participated in annual partial population seasonal Winter migrations southward to what is now central Iberia and southern France where goods and resources were traded and cross-culture marriages were arranged. Advocates for

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