Top of the World
Since the 1800s, the gorge near Ponte Alto has fascinated residents and visitors to the city of Trent. The Orrido is a deep canyon carved by the tumultuous waters of the Fersina stream over thousands of years. Some of the oldest hydraulic works in the world were built here in the 1500s to ward off flooding in the city.
The two weirs give rise to spectacular waterfalls more than 40 meters high that make their way through the layers of red rock, creating spectacular plays of light. In fact, the undoubted natural beauty of the places is combined with the presence of one of the oldest hydraulic works of arrangement in Europe, the so-called "Serra di Ponte Alto," built at the behest of Prince-Bishop Bernardo Clesio in 1537 and, after countless reconstructions and consolidations, still present after the last reconstruction carried out in 1850.
It consists of a barrage for the interception of solid material transported by the Fersina and gives rise to two spectacular jumps: the first at the historical work proper, the second "born" in 1882 following the construction of a second work to consolidate the first, the "Controserra Madruzza."
