[1] In the thirteenth century the fortunes of the Vestenanova area were closely tied to the Ghibelline Ezzelino III da Romano family, the Lords of Verona, whose estates were razed in 1260.
The Mezzagonella's castle of "Bubulka cum Vulpiana" was seized by Mastino I della Scala, Ezzelino da Romano's successor, from Ludovico count of San Bonifacio during the 1269-70 war between the Guelphs and Ghibellines.
[1] After the defeat of Napoleon, the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia became part of the Austrian Empire, during which time Francis I of Austria spent three days in Bolca.
The entire formation consists of 19 metres (62 ft) of lithographic limestone, all of which contain fossils, but interspersed in which are the lagerstätte layers that contain the highly preserved specimens.
The normal rearrangement of the specimens caused by mud-dwelling organisms in the layer before it turned to stone has been avoided—it is assumed that the mud in question was low in oxygen, preventing both decay and the action of scavengers.