Riserva naturale orientata Bagni di Cefalà Diana e Chiarastella
Riserva naturale orientata Bagni di Cefalà Diana e Chiarastella is a nature reserve in the metropolitan city of Palermo in northern Sicily .
location
The reserve is in the territory of the municipalities of Cefalà Diana and Villafrati . It was built in 1997 and has an area of around 137 hectares , of which 46 hectares are in the more protected zone A and 91 hectares in the less protected zone B.
geology
The most striking part of the site is the 658 m high Pizzo Chiarastella. It consists of limestone containing dolomite . There are numerous grottos on the south-eastern flank of the mountain, some of which date from 3500 to 2000 BC. Were used as burial places.
On the northeast side of the mountain, warm springs with a temperature of about 36 ° C arise at an altitude of about 380 m. The water contains a lot of bicarbonate . There are also cold springs nearby. Both were used in the Middle Ages to feed the Bagni di Cefalà Diana thermal baths .
vegetation
The reserve consists mainly of a grass steppe made of dissgras , which also contains lemongrass , asphalt clover and mountain mint . The sea onions and affodilla plants such as the yellow affodilla also grow there . Occasionally there are orchids such as ploughshare tongues , wasp ragwur and yellow ragwur .
Mountain fennel , eyelids , rock lips , cloves , capers and cinnamon herbs grow in the rock faces of Pizzo Chiarastella .
The slopes of Monte Pizzo are covered with Mediterranean scrub . It is mainly formed from wild olive tree , tree spurge , fringed diamond , artemisia , pointed-leaved asparagus , holm oak , common wormwood and rod bushes .
The less protected Zone B (Preriserva) of the reserve is used for agriculture. There is pasture and arable land, orchards and vineyards and olive groves.
fauna
The most common mammals in the nature reserve are the house mouse and the wood mouse . There are also foxes , weasels , wild rabbits and brown-breasted hedgehogs .
Of reptiles, especially coming grass snake , the yellow-green whip snake , the wall lizard and the spotted skink before.
Among the birds of prey , the kestrel and the Lanner falcon are represented. At songbirds come Crested Lark , Spanish Sparrow , Corn Bunting , Cirl Bunting and stonechat ago.
literature
- Museum Without Borders (Ed.): Arab-Norman Art - Sicily's Culture in the Middle Ages . International cycle of exhibition streets Islamic Art in the Mediterranean, Ernst Wasmuth Verlag Tübingen Berlin, 2004, ISBN 3803041023
Web links
- Bagni di Cefalà Diana e Chiarastella , brief description on www.naturasicilia.it (Italian)
Coordinates: 37 ° 55 ′ 34 ″ N , 13 ° 28 ′ 48 ″ E