The five lakes

Leaving the town centre, the landscape changes dramatically. Ivrea is immersed in one of Europe's most unusual geological formations: the morainic amphitheatre, created by the retreat of the Balteo glacier. Here, the Park of the Five Lakes (Sirio, San Michele, Pistono, Nero and Campagna) offers kilometres of paths through woods and smooth rocks. But the real magical phenomenon can be found in the area of Lake Coniglio: the 'Dancing Lands'. On what was once a lake bed, a forest now grows that rests on a layer of elastic peat. As you walk on it, the ground literally bounces under your feet, causing the surrounding trees to sway in a surreal dance that enchants children and geologists alike. It is precisely the particular geological structure of the area that gives the surrounding soil an incredible elasticity that makes it possible to jump on it like on a giant elastic mattress. A few years ago, following the discovery of traces of a pile-dwelling settlement dating back to the Neolithic period on the shores of the lake, an archaeological park was inaugurated with a full-scale reconstruction of a pile-dwelling to explain the techniques used to build such structures.