Riserva Naturale Integrale Lago Sfondato

Lago Sfondato Caltanissetta CL

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The Nature Reserve is located a few kilometers away from Marianopoli in the town of Caltanissetta and it was established in 1997 to protect an area of ​​great geological interest and natural beauty.

The Lake Sfondato is a karst formation whose origin is linked to the chemical-physical action of groundwater on chalky rocks, that characterize the surrounding lands.

The lake, in fact, is a basin of subsidence arising from the collapse and from sliding down of the chalk banks, an event that occurred in 1907.

In the area of the Reserve, as well as natural features, there are also interesting ethno-anthropological elements related to agricultural exploitation as the typical “Pagliari” and old farmhouses.

There are also many archaeological sites such as the Early Christian Necropolis on the southern slope of Mount Mimiami, the Necropolis of Dark Valley dating to the VI century BC and, not least, the presence of archaeological industrial areas such as the former salt mine of Trabona.

The lake is surrounded by a large reedbed typical of the swamp, but of particular interest there are many species of wild orchids.

The fauna is typical of rural areas and wetlands, therefore, along with rabbits, foxes and owls there are also frogs, snakes, nightingale of the river and moorhens.