Due to a firedamp explosion, triggered by an oil lamp, 65 workers died. The small white crosses commemorate the young victims - nineteen carusi between the ages of eight and sixteen - forced to push heavy carts underground, like the one recovered for the memorial. The stone monument from Sabucina, created by contemporary Nisseno artist Lorenzo Lomonaco, depicts a caruso carrying a basket full of sulfur on his shoulder. In the two decades following the Gessolungo tragedy, the survivors, as an act of devotion, commissioned Neapolitan artists Francesco and Vincenzo Biangardi to create the sacred groups of the Vare, which still parade today through the streets of Caltanissetta’s historic center on Holy Thursday evening.
Opening hours: Free access.