In Narni, Umbria, the banks of a river with clear water have been a source of conflict between the municipality, which has managed it for around ten years, and local families, who have claimed ownership of it, going as far as installing nets and barriers to block visitor access. The area is debated not only for its beauty, but also for the income opportunities it offers: access is charged, although it is subject to quotas, and in recent years the number of tourists has increased, after the area became famous on social media and after the swimming ban was lifted last summer.
The location in question is the Mole di Narni, a pool of turquoise water created by an artificial bend in the Nera river, a tributary of the Tiber. It is located in the municipality of Narni, in the province of Terni, not far from the Marmore waterfall, renowned as one of the highest waterfalls in Europe. Along with Cala del Mulino and Sorgente della Morica, other natural pools located further upstream, near the small village of Stifone (a fragment of Narni), Mole is known and visited for the color of its water and the beauty of the surrounding nature.
Starting in 2013, when the pools were not yet well known, the Mole and other natural pools have always been managed by the municipality of Narni, which has made several investments to rebuild them and make them more accessible. The most important improvements were made thanks to the “Gole del Nera Green Route”, a project financed by the European Union with which a bicycle/pedestrian path was created along the Nera river. The municipality then finances a series of services: car parks, information points and sunbed rental businesses near the river bank. Alle Mole also installed a wooden solarium built on an artificial concrete bank.
The first large influx of tourists, Narni Mayor Lorenzo Lucarelli said, came after the pandemic, when many Italians chose not to leave home during the holidays, exploring or rediscovering small villages and surrounding destinations. Among the visitors are also many influencers and content creators who, especially on TikTok and Instagram, give a lot of visibility to the natural pool.
In a short time even natural ponds, as is the case in many other places, experienced the effects mentioned excessive tourismThe phenomenon of excessive tourist presence causes damage to the environment and its inhabitants. The density of tourists at the pool causes a buildup of rubbish and traffic difficulties for Stifone residents, due to the large number of cars. Therefore, the municipality decided to limit access to the natural pool with a reservation system, and require visitors to pay an entrance fee, which currently amounts to eight euros (free for residents).
In June, the management of the swimming pool and bicycle/pedestrian path was entrusted for one year on an experimental basis to Parco gole del Nera, a social cooperative formed by Stifone residents, one of whose goals is to employ disadvantaged people. In addition to managing the entrance, the cooperative also offers several services such as guided trekking, bicycle tours, archaeological visits and workshops for schools, as well as reinvesting its profits into the maintenance of the park itself.
Last summer, an additional reason for attractiveness was added for tourists: the possibility of swimming in the Mole, where a bathing ban has been in place for several years. In fact, the pool is located near the Enel Green Power hydroelectric power plant (an Enel group company operating in the field of renewable energy), which in some cases suddenly releases large amounts of water, increasing the flow of the river. Despite the ban and sirens sounding as a sign of approaching floods, there have been dangerous situations in the past: in 2020, for example, several children were at risk of being swept away while bathing.
After dialogue with the municipality lasting several years, Enel invested around 3 million euros to create an alternative water drainage system. Work began in May 2025 and will end in June 2026, but the Mole will be able to swim again between June and August 2025, thanks to some initial modifications to the power plant and a series of safety measures.
In short, things seemed to be going better and better in the management of Mole, at least until a few days ago: when the Caponis, a family from Narni who own an archaeological and naturalistic park near Mole, also claimed ownership of the area managed by the municipality, where the solarium is located. It is true that most of the Mole area belongs to the Caponi family (the rest, located on the river bank, belongs to the state): however, there are several disputes regarding the right to use the land, with the versions of the family and the municipality conflicting.
The dispute began in November, when Le Mole Srl, Caponis’ company, issued a statement saying it wanted to hire 20 people for the park development project. Among the planned works, as stated in the notes, is also the “pacification of the Mole basin”, an area “belonging to the Caponi family”. The company wrote that it intends to “regulate public access to the basin and wooden solarium area,” which has been managed by the municipality since 2013.
Family consultant, Francesco Bartoli, said Umbrian Courier that Caponis realized they had a solarium area when they were examining land registry plans to present the project. After announcing this discovery publicly, they decided to install a temporary fence to prevent anyone from accessing the Mole.
At that point the mayor of Narni intervened: in a statement he said that it is true that the Le Mole solarium was largely built on land belonging to the family, but that the family gave it to the municipality to manage in December 2013 with a twenty-year permit (therefore valid until 2033) signed by Alvaro Caponi, grandfather of the current administrator of Le Mole Srl, Francesco Bussotti Caponi.
However, part of the solarium also occupies the river bank, which is state property. It was about ten meters away from the water, which was equivalent to the height the river could reach at maximum flood. In fact, said the Mayor, apart from Caponi’s permit, in February 2016 the Narni Municipal Government also received a state concession from the Umbria region.
To claim ownership of the Mole, the family refers to more recent documents. In 2021, Caponis has signed a loan to give the municipality the use of a small area bordering the Mole (different from where the solarium is located), then given to the owner of a van selling sandwiches and drinks. Last October the family ordered the city government to vacate a plot of land they owned and the government agreed. However, according to Caponis, the area that the city government plans to abandon is not only the pickup truck parking area, but also the entire Mole area, which also has a solarium.
But the city government said the agreement only applies to a small area outside the Mole land. The mayor of Narni issued an ordinance asking Caponis to remove the barriers placed on the Mole, and sent them an official notice requesting compensation of one million euros for reputational damage to the municipality, which was accused of acting without authorization.
