There are multiple reasons that make the source of the Gorgazzo an enchanting place: the color of its waters is certainly the most significant. Shades of emerald green and turquoise, combined with the reflections of the sun, create a unique chromatic play. The source is fed by waters that descend to the valley through the cracks of the limestone rock, gather in an underground conduit that flows beneath the mountain, and resurface to form a "pool" of water whose level varies depending on weather events. The source has been explored to a depth of 212 meters (Luigi Casati - 2008).

The water from the source gives rise to a stream, the Gorgazzo, which flows through the historic center of Polcenigo where the ancient buildings reflecting in the water enhance its charm.

Gorgazzo is also the name of the village that has developed along the banks of the stream. It is characterized by a spontaneous type of urban aggregation, enhanced by the use of local materials such as stone and wood.

Excerpt from borgocreativopolcenigo.it

The Gorgazzo spring, located at an altitude of about 50 meters above sea level, is situated near the village of the same name, about a kilometer from Polcenigo.

The waters of the Gorgazzo emerge at the southeastern base of the Cansiglio plateau. The spring, also called “Buso,” appears as a wide and deep pool, hidden among trees and rocks, fed by clear and icy waters that take on an intense blue color with remarkable reflections.

In 1877, the geographer Giovanni Marinelli composed a sonnet in which he described the water mirror of the Gorgazzo as a “liquid sky”:

« Take the color of emerald, that of turquoise, those of beryl, throw them in a bath of lapis lazuli, so that everything melts and at the same time retains its own originality, and you will have that portion of liquid sky called the Gorgazzo »

(Giovanni Marinelli, geographer, 1846-1900)

The cave consists of a resurgence, one of the deepest ever explored in the world and the second deepest siphon karst spring in Europe after the Fontaine de Vaucluse in Provence.

Near the entrance of the cavity, at a depth of 9 meters, a statue of Christ has been placed, which, thanks to the exceptional clarity of the waters and the bottom, is perfectly visible from the outside.

Every year for the Christmas holidays, the statue of Christ is first cleaned and then a floating nativity scene is set up. On Christmas Eve night, Holy Mass is celebrated and after the reading of the diver's prayer, a votive wreath is placed.

From the spring, the Gorgazzo stream heads towards the center of Polcenigo, which it reaches after about 1750 meters of winding path. Here it gives life to a series of small but characteristic waterfalls.

It then continues its journey and after another 1500 meters ends its short course by flowing into the Livenza river, whose source is visible in the locality of Santissima, not far away.

ORIGIN OF THE WATERS

The research on the origin of the waters of the three Livenza springs (Santissima, Gorgazzo, and Molinetto) and a series of geological studies that scholars and speleologists from all over Italy have conducted over 16 years have led to a result.

Hydrogeologist Valentina Vicenzi from the University of Ferrara has unveiled part of that mysterious path that the waters travel from the Cansiglio plain to the Polcenigo springs of the Livenza, a result achieved through a long survey work that began on September 20, 2008 (with the injections of fluorescent tracer that speleologists carried out from the Col de la Rizza abyss and the Bus de la Genziana) and concluded the following year after more than a thousand samples, with a frequency of three samples per week and three 'stations' for each sample.

The two tracers used were Uranine (injected into the Col de la Rizza) and Tinopal (injected into the Bus de la Genziana), both non-toxic chemical agents that can be detected even when diluted in water up to a billion times. The fact that only Uranine was found at Santissima and Molinetto leads to the conclusion that the waters of the Bus de la Genziana do not flow into any of the three Polcenigo springs, as it has been established that neither the Col de la Rizza abyss nor the Bus de la Genziana bring their waters to the Gorgazzo. The hypothesis that Vicenzi has put forward is that the waters of the Gorgazzo may come from Monte Cavallo.

THE DIVES

The first dives of which there is news date back to the second half of the 1960s and were carried out by the Associazione XXX Ottobre of Trieste, the Gruppo Pordenonese Sommozzatori, and the divers of the USAF base in Aviano.

In 1968, the Centro Italiano Soccorso Grotte of Udine reached a depth of -80 meters.

At the end of 1972, a large group of divers belonging to the Centro Italiano Soccorso Grotte and the Circolo sommozzatori Proteus, both from Treviso, began a systematic series of studies and surveys. The explorations concluded in August 1974 when the leading team, consisting of R. Carbonere and A. Fileccia, reached a depth of -90 meters.

Subsequently, surveys were conducted by J. J. Bolanz, then head of the Swiss Speleo-sub Rescue.

In 1987, Bolanz reached a depth of 108 meters, in 1988 -117m, and in 1992 he went down to -131 m.

In the fall of 1995, yet another fatal accident prompted the authorities to close access to the spring with a municipal ordinance. Currently, dives are allowed under the conditions established in the regulations.

In 2008, speleonaut Luigi Casati reached a depth of -212 meters, a limit still unbeaten due to the danger and strong internal currents. As of 2016, the Gorgazzo is the deepest explored Italian spring.

In 2015, 2016, and 2017 Luigi Casati attempted to break his record, unfortunately without success.

In the last dive, however, at -100 meters he discovered a giant basin that rises upwards, so far unexplored, opening new scenarios from a geological point of view.

ART

The springs of the Gorgazzo are an important geosite of Friuli and their extraordinary and unique colors have inspired numerous artists, including Luigi Nono, who in 1872 painted “Le sorgenti del Gorgazzo,” one of his most famous paintings, with which he participated in the triennial exhibition of the Accademia di Brera the following year. The work was then purchased by the Venetian Michelangelo Guggenheim.