CavaGrande is a deep valley, called canyon by some people, formed by the non stop erosionof the Cassibile river during the passing of the centuries, the river created over the centuries a series of deep canyon in the limestone of the hyblean mountains. In the valley, has come to form a complex system of small waterfalls and natural reservoirs where often it’s allowed to swim in. It is about ten kilometers long, a maximum width of more than one thousand meters (at the confluence with the valley Passetti), and a maximum depth of over 300 meters. The highest altitude reached the plateau on the bed of the river is 520 m above sea level, but it is close to the viewpoint of Avola Antica, with its 507 meters, that the river reaches its maximum depth. In this section it reaches its maximum width of 1200 meters. In the 10 km length of the canyon, as mentioned, you can admire lots of lakes, with fresh and clear water, among which stand out for their beauty small lakes near Avola Antica accessible to the public through a historical scale, called Scala Cruci. Cava Grande is known almost entirely for the lakes accessible from the path “cruci-scale” from the viewpoint that goes down to the valley floor. But Cava Grande, in fact, it has dozens of trails that allow you to reach every part of it. Defended by inaccessible sheer cliffs of the quarry and the proximity of water, the Sicilians, who were maybe the first inhabitants of this place, built two rock villages, still difficult to reach and which now became part of the landscape. Around the thirteenth century BC, some citizens of south-eastern Sicily, perhaps driven by the more aggressive Italic citizen, preferred to take refuge in these inaccessible and well defended places. At least two rock settlements are known, the northern one that you can notice as soon as you get a view from the lookout, and the southern, in the almost opposite side. The first dates back to the XI-X BC, according to suggestion only second after Pantalica, where there are hundreds of cave tombs and early Christian tombs carved into the walls, arranged side by side, on six different parallel levels. The mouth of the river Cassibile is a hystorical place, as the captain Demosthenes in 413 BC with 6,000 Athenians had to surrender to the city of Siracusa. These places were exploited until the first half of the last century. In fact, just above the ponds there was a monastery, which you can still see the ruins of and the homes of some families of Canicattini as Bombaci and Bird, who drew sustenance from the production of olive, carob and almond. On the north side you can see a small cluster of cave dwellings. In the south there is a complex system of houses dug into the rock, placed side by side on six different parallel levels, connected by a system of tunnels and galleries. While the edge of the reserve, north-east, there are several ancient necropolis, in which were found rich grave goods and ceramic material: its unique decoration, called feathered or marbled, is part of the Ausonia culture which lived in the Aeolian islands and in eastern Sicily around the 1000 BC.
To learn more: http://www.cavagrandedelcassibile.it
Indirizzo: SS115 – 96013 Avola Siracusa
Coordinate: N 36.967587 – E 15.093988
Visiting the necropolis of Pantalica, located in the north east of Palazzolo Acreide (ancient Akrai) is not only a trip in an archaeological site, because its characteristics are really unique. It is a place where history is as nature, in which archeology is done for listening and silently observing the presence of ancient people. It does not matter if the news about the Sicilians, who lived in Sicily since prehistoric times, are not sufficient for getting a clear view of the city existed between the thirteenth and eighth century B.C., and indeed, the absence of reliable data and increases the number of curiosities, assumptions, questions, desire and pleasure to investigate, even with his eyes, the whys and hows of those repeated and evocative buildings: the necropolis . Long before the Greeks first settled on the island to consecrate the history, the commercial and cultural development, it was inhabited by peoples inside to shores lapped by the sea preferred, or were “induced” to choose from, the inner regions. Between the beginning of the story and the unification under the rule of Rome many people were, next to the Etruscans, the Phoenicians and Greeks, Italic civilizations. It is so that we can acknowledge the existence of people whose knowledge is still under construction because only recently has the attention of the studies. Certainly, in view of these cultures in the making Italic, where the Sicilians should be placed, the cultural and artistic events more frequent and obvious are those funeral related mostly to the tombs and funerary objects. The visit of Pantalica can have as a starting point the town of Ferla, which unfolds before a journey traveled by car through a gradual ascent curves pan, then walked to a rest at the entrance to the ancient city (saddle Filiporto). From here you glimpsed traces of the fort and takes the path that leads to the ruins of the Byzantine era and the valley floor.
VISIT AND BOX OFFICE TIME:
Everyday from 7.00 a.m to 07.00 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday only under reservation, with tour guide.
NOTE: In case of rain or bad weather, the whole area will remain closed for the three days after.
I testi di questa scheda sono stati validati dalla Soprintendenza ai Beni Culturali di Siracusa
Indirizzo: Pantalica 96010 Sortino SR
Coordinate: N 37.125257 – E 15.016598
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