Testo in italiano

CAPO RAMA

Site of great beauty, the headland, where the ruins of a 15th century tower emerges consist of calcareous mesozoic age dating about 200 millions years ago, which settled on the seabed in an environment of carbonate platform and lagoon, and subsequently emerged as a result of the Armorican thrusts which led to the formation of Sicily.

The rocks are rich in fossils, including the shells of Bivalves, Jellyfish of typical size and indexs fossils of the Triassic and rests of organisms inhabiting the seabed.

The coast is high and rocky; in it they open some caves due to the concomitant action of marine eroison and dissolution.

Here they grow plants like milkweed, the brambles, ephedra, but especially the dwarf palm that made common crafts items such as brooms and hats.

To signal nearby  the Museum of natural sciences in Terrasini, which houses many important  collections botanical, Zoological, geological  and palaentological.

The beautiful path that winds in the reserve, from high cliffs (over 30 meters) above the sea bordering “Cala Porro” and below the cave.  To the West you can see Karst forms of carbonate rocks, typically engraved and sometimes even very sharp.  A little further on you can see the “gariga”, consisting of a mainly flow shrubs and herbaceous plants. We report the olive, variety of euphorbias, the peculiar dwarf Palm known locally as “scupazzu”. Interesting is the presence of a wild asparagus(Asparagus stipularis) that in Sicily is only present in Lampedusa.

CIANE RIVER

This is a natural reserve with not only great historical importance (having been the navigable river in the time of the Greeks) but that has within it a lush papyrus vegetation.

It is a paradise for lovers of canoeing and, needless to say, for thousands of birds.

In a half day “green” walk, among reeds and papyrus up to 4 meters high, with romantic wooden bridges that allow passage from one bank to another, you can visit this natural area.

The Ciane leads, after a distance of 8 kilometers, to the Great Harbor of Siracusa, at one time (5th century BC), the most important in the Mediterranean. The most important aspect of flora in the reserve is, of course, the presence of papyrus (Cyperus papyrus L.ssp.siculus), a plant typical of north-Africa, rather rare in Europe. It has an erect stalk, typically triangular in shape, with the bottom part submerged. It is from 3 to 6 meters high, and at the top has an umbrella-like blossom with long little branches and soft, spiky flowers at the end.

The fauna is clearly dominated by migratory birds: the grey heron, egret, black-winged stilt, water rail, coot flamingo, the cormorant and others