Cervia's Park of the Salt Pans

Those flocking to Lido di Savio won't miss the opportunity to visit Cervia's Park of the Salt Pans, which is situated a short distance from the sea and the hinterland of Cervia and Milano Marittima, and develops only fifteen minutes far from Lido di Savio.

Cervia is the city of salt. Its story is strictly interwoven with that of its salt pans, which have been used to extract salt since the Etruscan Age. Today, Cervia's Park of the Salt Pans is an important production area of great naturalistic and cultural value. It gathers unique naturalistic settings which provide the ideal habitat for rare species of animals and birds.

Cervia's Park of the Salt Pans was declared a Wetland of National Importance by Ramsar Convention, and since 1979 it has been safeguarded by the government as a Faunal Reserve because the animals and plants which populate its territory demonstrated  a high resistance to extreme environmental conditions. In fact, water here is only few centimetres deep, and its salt percentage is very high (150%). Among the most important animal species which populate the park are black-winged stilts, avocets and flamingos.

The Salt Pans still produce salt; in 1959 the ancient techniques were replaced by modern industrial processes. The 827-hectare-large complex is crossed by 46 kilometres of channels. The extraction of salt is carried out through several evaporation processes; in April the salt pans are flooded with sea water, and salt is collected in August.

A single salt pan of the park, Camillone salt pan, keeps extracting salt according to the ancient techniques. It is managed by the members of the Cultural Group of Cervia's Salt Civilization, who extract a prestigious variety of salt. Visitors will have the opportunity to explore several paths and to take part in challenging educational activities while admiring ancient tools, traditional means of salt transport and the watchtowers that protected the salt agains thieves.

Visitors will have the opportunity to go for long walks across the park, undertake pleasant boat tours or perform exciting excursions. Over the past few years, some new initiatives have been inaugurated here, such as Salina sotto le stelle (Salt Pans under the stars) and Tramonto in salina (Sunset at the Salt Pans). In summer, it is possibile to admire rare species of flamingos while undertaking pleasant boat tours which lead visitors a short distance from these enchanting birds. Not to be missed are the interesting historic-naturalistic itineraries which give tourists the possibility to gain detailed information about the story of Cervia's salt collection.

The Park's visitor centre gives tourists the possibility to start their tour from here Large groups of people can also book special guided tours even out of the ordinary opening hours. They should wear comfortable clothes, sneakers, hat and sunglasses.