Valguarnera Caropepe

Mud volcanoes, known in Arabic as maccalube (from maqlub, meaning ‘overturning’ or ‘upturned earth’) and by the more generic names salse or salinelle, are not true volcanic phenomena, although they resemble volcanoes in that they involve the expulsion of fluid material and gases from the subsoil. This process gives rise to mud flows that form small, cold, grey cones topped with craters. The phenomenon is generally caused by the emission of gases from the subsoil – primarily methane, but also carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulphide, oxygen, nitrogen, and helium. Under high pressure, these gases escape through fissures in the ground, carrying with them clay and sand saturated with groundwater as they rise. These gases originate from the decomposition of organic matter interspersed within the clay and sand grains. In other cases, expulsion occurs due to the liquefaction of clay caused by the gradual absorption of water over time; the clay, swollen with absorbed water, erupts upwards, breaking through the surface layer. These phenomena are widespread throughout the Sicilian gypsum-sulphurous formation basin, particularly in the Aragona area, and are linked to cycles whose timing is still not well understood, involving periods of intense activity followed by phases of disappearance (for example, the salse of Villarosa have vanished). Today, within the Floristella mining park, the phenomenon occurs consistently, especially after rainy periods, and includes several emission structures from which water rises to the surface with a gentle gurgling sound. Coloured by oxides, the water then begins its descent along rivulets that radiate outward from the ‘eye’ (in Sicilian, ucchiu), the water’s exit point.

The most significant evidence of the Messinian epoch in the Geopark area is the emergence of large hills made up entirely of layers of gypsum. Gypsum appears in various forms, including gypsarenite, which shifts in colour from white to smoky grey, as well as a compact variety known locally as balatino and selenite gypsum. Selenite gypsum, also known as ‘moonstone’, consists of slabs so transparent that they were once used as glass. In many cases, the crystal layers have a twinned shape.
Gypsum with germinated crystallisation attracted geologists’ attention not only for its shape. In the 19th century, Sebastiano Mottura formulated a rule that bears his name and is still in use by mining experts searching for sulphur deposits. He discovered that the tip of the crystal, or ‘spear’, always points towards the layer containing sulphur, which lies between the underlying limestone and the gypsum. If the tip is directed perpendicularly to this layer, the sulphur lies beneath it; otherwise, it has been displaced by tectonic activity. There is only one known exception to this rule: Spain. At Floristella, cut through by a railway, a spectacular sequence of layers of germinated gypsum is exposed.

The park covers a vast area at the junction of roads connecting Enna, Valguarnera, Aidone and Piazza Armerina. It is located near the two sulphur mines of the same name, which were active until the 1980s. Floristella, in particular, was the last mine in the province of Enna to be abandoned, in 1986. The park is one of the most significant industrial archaeological sites in southern Italy, revealing the history of different eras, as well as the sulphur extraction and smelting systems that date back to the late 18th century.
The sulphur, embedded in limestone, was separated by smelting. Given that sulphur’s melting point (about 113 °C) is much lower than that of limestone, heating the material allowed the sulphur to flow away in liquid form. The calcarelle (rudimentary furnaces from before 1850), calcaroni (circular furnaces for melting and separating sulphur from inert material), castelletti (vertical shafts used for underground descent in recent times) and Gill furnaces (the most modern system for melting sulphur) are still clearly visible and dramatically evocative, as are dozens of descending mining shafts known as discenderie.
Although sulphur deposits were first exploited in Sicily during the Bronze Age, it was only between the late 18th and early 19th centuries that miners began digging tunnels to reach the deepest veins. These veins were identified using the ‘Mottura rule’, whereby twin gypsum crystals at the end indicated the position of the vein. There, miners began digging narrow, steeply angled tunnels to reach the sulphurous limestone, which was then picked and extracted manually over the shortest possible distance. This is how the discenderie were created, often equipped with stairways featuring scaluni rutti – steps where the left and right sides are alternately missing to facilitate passage for those carrying dozens of kilos of material to the surface. These descending passages were carved into extremely soft rock layers and often lacked any reinforcement. Only the most modern of the discenderie in Floristella have a stable masonry structure to support the vault. Nevertheless, they are extremely difficult to use, and their instability, combined with their steepness and minimal size, makes it impossible to open them to the public. Only the advent of photography allowed the brutal conditions endured by the miners inside to be captured. Often referred to as carusi, the children or young boys forced into gruelling labour in the mine worked half-naked to endure the suffocating heat, and in pitch darkness, lit only by the flickering flame of carbide lamps known as citaleni.
Three extraction shafts can also be seen in the park. From the second half of the 19th century onwards, especially in mines with considerable extraction depth, inclined planes with cart systems and extraction shafts complete with hoisting towers and winches were introduced, marking a significant technological evolution. The first castelletti were built of wood, then of masonry, and finally of steel. An internal railway line crossed the Floristella and Grottacalda mines, passing by factories, a well-preserved brick chimney, shafts, and mining technology. Wagons transported minerals along this route.
The 19th-century buildings in the park also hold considerable historical and artistic interest. These include Palazzo Pennisi, which contains engineering structures for water collection. Dating to the late 19th century, the palace stands on an artificial terrace overlooking the Floristella valley. It consists of two floors and a large basement. Inside are several service rooms, mine management offices, garages formerly used as coach houses, a coal cellar, granaries, cellars and an octagonal chapel. The upper floor is accessed via a monumental staircase opening onto an octagonal central entrance hall. Separate, hidden walkways for servants run around the entire building. The ground floor houses a permanent photographic exhibition and a rich collection of objects and tools illustrating the enormous social divide between miners and owners, alongside the history and significant descriptions of the Sicilian workers’ movement, the Fasci Siciliani.
More recently restored, the former wine press of the Pennisi family stands at the entrance to the park and is linked to the palace by a long and picturesque stone staircase. Legend has it that, in ancient times, a terracotta channel ran along the side of the staircase, allowing the must to slide down after grape pressing to reach the cellars where the barrels were stored. The wine press currently hosts a photographic exhibition on the wheat cycle as a system of symbolic, social and economic relations. The display also explores traditional crafts and offers a reflection on forms of labour ranging from folk art to artistic craftsmanship.
The park also features pleasant landscapes and natural elements, with plant and animal species adapted to soils altered by mining activity. Wetlands are fed by naturally emerging waters from the poorly permeable clay substrate, including a sulphurous spring that feeds the Floristella River.

The Caripa museum house is dedicated to preserving and promoting the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Valguarnera, showcasing two hundred years of local history. Located in a watchtower that once defended the nearby Porta di Piazza, one of the town’s main entrance ways, the house was inhabited from the early 19th century by a middle-class family who spent the majority of their lives there. Over time, the building gradually became not only a private residence but also a repository of historical memory. In 2014, a family from Valguarnera acquired the building with the intention of opening it to the public while maintaining its original condition and authenticity. Inside, visitors can admire objects, documents, magazines and artefacts that recount centuries of daily life, craft traditions, significant events, and aspects of local culture that have defined the Valguarnera community.

These simple desserts are often served at the Tables of Saint Joseph. Pagnuccata is made with flour, eggs, lard, lemon zest and honey, while pasta cu meli is made with angel hair pasta, honey and breadcrumbs.

As an expression of devotion and community spirit, charitable intentions and a desire for redistribution – but also as a means of survival, a search for connection with the cycle of production, and a request for protection and abundance – the richly decorated altars set up on 19th March in honour of the saint highlight the symbolic and social value of food. Artisanal breads are the central feature and take on artistic, but primarily allegorical, forms (for example, they represent the carpenter’s tools such as saws, ladders, or pincers, with references to Saint Joseph, or the staff symbolising wisdom and craftsmanship). Each one is dedicated to a saint, while the picciddati reproduce garlands of flowers. Catholic symbols such as the monstrance, the fish, Mary’s braid, grapes, and references to the Trinity also appear, along with oranges – once the only fragrant fruit of the season – which are opened during the ritual meal as a tangible gesture of food sharing. The long preparation, which can take up to twelve days and involves extensive collaboration, continues today to strengthen social ties.

The pagliolo, made of straw bushes assembled with wire, is about one metre in diameter and five metres high. On the evening of 12th December, the eve of the feast, it is lit at the top and carried through the streets of the village (a strata e’Sant), accompanied by the painting of the saint and the marching band. Along the route, devotees – although this is now increasingly rare – set up burgi, large bonfires built to mark the pagliolo’s passage. During the festival, panucci are blessed and shared, and cuccìa is prepared: a traditional dish made with boiled wheat and seasoning. These foods evoke the same chthonic symbolism.

For nine evenings, known as Sir’ rù Signur, the Blessed Sacrament is carried in procession through the streets of the village under a rich, gold-embroidered canopy. Along the route, l’Autara are set up – altars prepared by the neighbourhoods involved, decorated with flowers and embroidered fabrics. These are days of conviviality and gathering together for the different districts engaged in constructing the altars. At the end of the procession, people come together to share traditional peasant dishes such as broad beans and chickpeas, along with desserts contributed by those who helped prepare the altars.