Caltanissetta Mines Itinerary

Caltanissetta Mines Itinerary

Experience: Folklore, Mines, Landscapes

Route: outdoor, out-and-back

Km: 5,7 (one way only)

Duration: 3 h (one way only)

Difficulty: easy

Terrain: asphalt and dirt

Route suitable: on foot

Ascent / Elevation gain: 279

1 Minute of reading

This route requires a guide to access mines that are closed to the public.

The itinerary starts at the Cemetery of the Carusi, where time seems to have stopped and the lives it holds feel crystallized. This place takes us back to a not-so-distant past in which survival was a struggle against darkness and hard rock from an early age, in bleak, desolate places where even breathing was an exhausting, crushing labor. From here, head along the SP202 toward Caltanissetta and turn left onto a semi-paved path. The first mine you encounter is Juncio Tumminelli (formerly Testasecca), followed by the Juncio–Santa Teresa Mine. Staying on the path, after about 770 m you reach the Saponaro Mine, and after roughly another 1.5 km you skirt the Stretto Mine. The route ends near a farmhouse.

The stages of the itinerary

 
Stretto Mine
Stretto Mine
The Stretto Mine, also known as Solfara Stretto Giordano, is an old sulfur mine located in the Imera Valley basin, active since 1839 and permanently closed in 1966.
Cimitero dei Carusi
Cimitero dei Carusi
The Cimitero dei Carusi is a memorial dedicated to the miners who lost their lives during the tragic accident of November 12, 1881, in the Gessolungo mine, one of the deepest in Sicily.
Juncio Tumminelli Mine (former Testasecca)
Juncio Tumminelli Mine (former Testasecca)
The Juncio Tumminelli Mine (former Testasecca) is located northeast of Caltanissetta, in the heart of the renowned Sicilian sulphur basin.
 

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