Incredible as it may seem, I am standing beneath a torrent of two 40-metre waterfalls created by the Romans thousands of years ago. The Orrido Canyon, just outside Trento is a spectacular narrow limestone gorge some 40 metres high created by the Fersina River on its way down from the Alpine peaks and it is unmissable.

The Romans quickly realised their fledgling settlement of Trento, then called Tridentum, was in danger of being flooded and battered by rocks brought down by the Fersina. So, they tried damming it and failed as the waters rose higher and became a waterfall.