Neviere of mont Lauro
The neviere of Monte Lauro are natural caves, or man-made constructions, which had the purpose of storing the snow during the hot season.
The neviere are called by the locals caves, because they were, for the most part, caves dug into the girminu, lava rock typical of the Bucchero area which abounds in those places since Monte Lauro is an extinct volcano.
They are found, for the most part, on the so-called Alloro hills on Monte Lauro, which represent the highest in the Iblea region. There are also other neviere in the Piana Sottana district, not very far from the town, a fact that considerably lowered the costs of collection.
For the Iblea area, the collection, conservation and marketing of snow was an activity that allowed peasants, unemployed in the winter, to supplement their meager income, and to the owners or tenants of the neviere to obtain substantial earnings in the summer months.
Snow, which had become ice due to an accurate and tested method of conservation, made its way used in the seventeenth century, when it was used to freeze water and mint or lemon syrups, and to soothe the summer heat, in the form of exquisite sorbets. Ice was also an excellent remedy for some diseases with high fevers and was used in some medical interventions.
