Description of the attraction
National Park "Madoni", located in Sicily between the cities of Palermo and Cefalu, covers an area of 162 square kilometers. It includes the Madoni mountain range and some of the highest mountains in Sicily, covered with snow from late December to mid-March: six peaks of the park are more than 1,500 meters high, even more than those that rise a thousand meters. The highest peak is Pizzo Carbonara (1979 meters), only Etna is higher than it.
Madoni is an extension of the Nebrodi Mountains and the Peloritan Mountains, which together form part of a majestic ridge that stretches across Calabria through Sicily towards Tunisia.
Despite the fact that Madoni is a protected natural area, there are a dozen small villages and towns, many of which were founded in the Middle Ages. Here you can also see many castles and ancient churches. Wolves, forest cats, porcupines, foxes, hares, eagles and hawks live on the mountain slopes, overgrown with forests, and among the vegetation, it is worth highlighting a rare species that is on the verge of extinction - the Nebrodi fir, giant holly (some of them are more than three hundred years old), wild olives and blooming white ash.
Park "Madoni" was created in 1989. On its territory, rock outcrops were discovered that are more than 200 million years old and which allow tracing the entire geological history of Sicily. The cooperation of the park administration and the European Network of Geoparks made it possible to organize research works of students of the University of Palermo here, as a result of which a number of articles were published, and educational routes were laid in the park itself and information stands were installed.
Like most Italian micro-regions, Madoni is renowned for its cuisine and measured rural lifestyle. In recent years, the inhabitants of many local towns have left for mainland Italy or other countries, but the picturesque mountains still attract tourists, especially the residents of Palermo, who like to spend their holidays in the mountains. The park is especially popular with hikers. In January and February, you can go skiing in the resort town of Piano Battaglia, because Madoni is the only mountains in western Sicily where snow lasts longer than a few days. Another attraction of these places is the Tiberio Gorge near the village of San Mauro Castelverde.
