TheOtranto Bauxite Quarry

There are places that look like they come from another planet. The Otranto Bauxite Quarry is one of them. The picturesque landscape is characterised by an emerald-green lake surrounded by irregular hills in shades of red and dense Mediterranean scrub, from which intoxicating scents of herbs and aromatic plants arise. Red and green, earth and water, industry and nature taking back what was hers.

It all begins with the discovery in the 1940s of this bauxite deposit, extracted and sent to the plants at Porto Marghera, where it was used to produce aluminium. It worked until 1976, when the site was abandoned due to high costs and water seeping in from an aquifer discovered while digging too deep. Time and the force of nature allowed the quarry to transform into an emerald-green lake, over which an intensely red landscape looks out.

A lakeside ecosystem where the green of the brackish water meets the vegetation, while the red of the bauxite fuses with the blue of the sky. Visiting the Otranto Bauxite Quarry is like taking a journey through an almost Martian landscape. Once there, the first thing that strikes you is the strong contrast between the red earth and the bright green of the small lake at the centre of the quarry. Around the lake you can observe herons, little egrets, falcons and blackbirds. Among the plants that have grown spontaneously, lizards, frogs and toads hide. In spring and summer, butterflies, bees and dragonflies fill the air with movement and colour.

Be careful not to wear white: the red of the quarry sticks to everything. A practical tip that says everything about the physicality of this place.