Monte Bonifato
| Monte Bonifato | ||
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 Monte Bonifato can be seen in the left background |
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| height | 825 m slm | |
| location | Trapani , Sicily , Italy | |
| Coordinates | 37 ° 57 '39 " N , 12 ° 57' 22" E | |
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The Monte Bonifato is a mountain in the northwest of Sicily in the free municipal consortium Trapani . Its highest point is 825 m slm
Dates and history
The mountain is known for its pine forest and the Bosco di Alcamo nature reserve . An early historical necropolis and traces of an ancient settlement were found on the slopes of the mountain relief . The remains of a cistern and a gate show that a border wall could also have existed here. On the top of the mountain you can also see the remains of a four-tower castle, built in the late 14th century by the Ventimiglia family, who were feudal lords in the Alcamo area at the time.
At the foot of the mountain lies the city of Alcamo . Until the early 1900s, only a few holm oaks and downy oaks grew on the mountain . In the 1930s the massive reforestation of Aleppo pines began , which today cover most of the top of the mountain. The mountain and the associated nature reserve can only be reached by a road on which numerous holiday apartments have been built, especially between the fourth and fifth hairpin bend. Most of the street is illuminated; only not on the last section before the nature reserve.
From the summit you have a wide view. You can see the mountains of Palermo, the island of Marettimo and on a clear day even as far as Ustica in the north and Monte Cammarata in the southeast.
Fossil finds
Between the mountain and the town of Alcamo there is an impressive deposit of travertine , which has been mined to the point of almost exhaustion in order to produce new panels for the construction of the buildings of the town and the surrounding area. However, the quarries are also an important site for paleontology , as remains of Sicilian pygmy elephants and the fossilized eggs of a large turtle were discovered in one of the quarries embedded in travertine . These two finds are currently kept in the Museo Geologico Gemmellaro in Palermo. In addition, a medium-sized species of elephant, the elephas mnaidriensis , was discovered that lived in the Pleistocene .
