This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

Several small canyons naturally carved in the rock and inappropriately called “quarries”, can be found on the Iblei Mountains Plateau, in Val di Noto. In 2020, this area was included in the UNESCO World Heritage catalogue thanks to its splendid late Baroque cities of Caltagirone, Militello in Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo, Ragusa and Scicli; those cities were thriving in the Middle Ages but after the 1693 earthquake, they were rebuilt with the new aesthetic and architectural taste of that time.

In many of those small canyons, there are dozens of enchanted small lakes with crystal-clear freshwater; they’re fed by nearby waterfalls and surrounded by the typical Mediterranean vegetation, including wild figs, oleanders, carob trees, and ferns.

Among the most evocative lakes, there is “Laghetto del Dragone” and the “Blue Lagoon” inside the Tortorone quarry. It’s also worth mentioning “Laghetti della Cava di Cultrera” (“the small lakes of Cultrera quarry”), in which flows the Santa Chiara Stream, the ponds around Cava Carosello (still featuring traces of the tanneries dating back to 1000 A.D.), Cava Petrosino, Cava Baulì, the lakes of Avola in Cavagrande del Cassibile, and many others.

Visitors are strongly recommended to reach and explore this area only with the help of local guides – water-trekking, canyoning and guided tours are, in fact, available thanks to many local associations, such as:

Acquanuvena Association
(via A. De Gasperi 31 – Avola (SR) 2013
Tel. 3476014087
info@acquanuvena.org
www.acquanuvena.it

and

Natura Sicula
piazza Santa Lucia 24c, 96100 Siracusa
Tel. 328 8857092
www.naturasicula.it/ns

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)