Rocca di Cerere Geopark in Enna
The Rocca di Cerere UNESCO global Geopark is a gypsum sulfur plateau with sandstone peaks located in the Enna area. The name Rocca di Cerere derives from the ancient consecration of the territory to the goddess Ceres. From the geological point of view, the geopark is particularly interesting for the gypsum and sulphide deposits left about 5/6 million years ago probably following the Messina salinity crisis, when the Mediterranean dried up due to a long period of particularly dry climate and the connection with the ocean was closed through the shallow Strait of Gibraltar.
The site par excellence of the park is the Rocca di Cerere , a part of the vast limestone slab that supports the ancient city of Enna.
In the park there are abandoned mines and the Mining Park of Floristella-Grottacalda which represents one of the most significant industrial archeology sites in southern Italy.
Inside the park there is also the Canyon of Cateratta del Serieri , created by the waters of the San Giovannello river. The long valley carved by its course is located among calcarenite rocks of the Pliocene age characterized by interesting crossed laminations and by the evidence of transgression and regression phenomena of the Mediterranean Sea during the formation phase of the younger calcarenites. The walls of the canyon are at times vertical, very high, with natural caves and evident signs of the modeling force of the waters. Spectacular is the large cave of San Tommaso , in which a village has settled which began in the Copper Age and was used until the Second World War. Along the river the waters were used to give motive power to several mills that are now abandoned.
