Miners’ Route

Miners’ Route

Experience: Folklore, Mines, History

Route: outdoor, out-and-back

Km: 3,5 (one way only)

Duration: 1h e 30’ (one way only)

Difficulty: easy

Terrain: mixed (dirt + asphalt)

Route suitable: on foot

Ascent / Elevation gain: 182

Descent / Elevation loss: 216

2 Minutes of reading

This itinerary, guided by an expert, retraces the path taken by miners at the end of the 19th century from the town center of Caltanissetta to the sulfur and rock salt mines.

From Piazza Tripisciano, where many young men would gather, the route passed by the Church of Santa Croce and continued along Via Xiboli, skirting what at the time was the Church of Santa Maria della Stella, before reaching the Chapel of the Madonna del Soccorso. This was the last sacred place encountered before entering the mines. In these lands, where each day’s work brought new dangers, entrusting not only their lives but also their very souls to religious icons was a deeply rooted tradition that still resonates today. After about 2 km, turning left leads to Via Santo Spirito, and immediately after, turning right, you join the SP202 up to Portella San Michele (552 m). From here, the miners would continue along the SP202 instead of climbing toward the Gibbara district, in order to reach the Gessolungo sulfur mine and the other mines.

The stages of the itinerary

 
Church of Santa Croce
Church of Santa Croce
The Church of Santa Croce, together with the adjoining Benedictine monastery, is one of the most historically rich places in the old town of Caltanissetta, nestled in the district commonly known as the “Badia.”
Gessolungo Sulphur Mine
Gessolungo Sulphur Mine
Amid the rolling gypsum-sulphur hills that frame Caltanissetta, the Gessolungo Mine appears like a lunar landscape streaked with saffron yellow.
 

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