Here comes the Hyblaean Plateau. Here comes a new chapter of the trip that will lead us through enchanted towns like Ragusa and Syracuse.
What are the Hyblaean Mountains?
Despite not forming a real mountain chain like the Alps or the Apennines, they’re the southernmost Italian mountains.
Geologically speaking, it’s an area belonging to the African continental crust which, in its northernmost part, split up in several micro-plates 100 million years ago. Today we find these fragments under the main seas of the central Mediterranean: Aegean, Adriatic, Ionian. The seas give name to the underlying tectonic blocks.
Below the Hyblaean Plateau we find the Pelagian Block - named after the Pelagie Islands, Italy’s southernmost territory - which extends across the Strait of Sicily and reaches as far as Tunisia.
Since 10 million years ago this area has been uplifted due to the Africa-Eurasia collision, the geological event still active today that, to put it simply, has created the mountainous and boot-shaped aspect of Italy.
So we begin the third chapter of the Adagio Walk in Sicily: “In African terrain”.
This landscape, however, certainly does not remind of Africa. Lush woods, turquoise lakes, carved canyons: these features would rather evoke alpine valleys. The sun shines for just a short time, gets swiftly covered by clouds and mist.
This terrain hosts a diverse flora, spanning from holm oak, poplar and pine trees to very mediterranean species such as almond, olive and carob trees.
In one day walk we switched from clayey, cultivated land of Caltagirone to the white wall-bounded pastures of Ragusa.
The landscape changes, takes on a geometrical order. A patch of wood here, a pasture there. The number of grazing cows increase in proportion with the rural, elegant stone-built houses.
Sometimes, the first impression overturns expectations.
Our walk continues into the mist. Wet, cold air from the Mediterranean bites. The European continent comes to claim its territory.
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