| The first impact with the world of the Nebrodi Mountains is that of
entering a special, dimension: an enchanted world of unexpected sceneries, animated by
rugged mountains, by vast extensions of forest, by a thousand shades of color, by lakes
and meadows which remind one of the Alps rather than Sicily, by sheer cliffs overlooking
the shining sea, by wild gorges and torrents, by boundless horizons, suspended between sky
and sea, within sight of Etna. It is
a region of vast spaces. In reality it is exactly as one sees it from an aircraft, at six
thousand feet: a tiny piece of land which is the continuation of the Apennines, set
between the Peloritani Mountains, the Madonie Mountains, Etna and the Tyhrrenian Sea,
extending over an area of 443,500 acres, with 59 towns and 171,000 inhabitants.
The name derives from the Greek
"Nebros" which means fawn. Deer have returned there after centuries, thanks to
the initiative of learned farmers, but they are rare and it is difficult to see them. The
boundaries are not well defined as geographers and geologists do not agree. One thing is
certain: the physical, naturalistic and anthropological aspects, taken as a whole, make up
a homogeneous environment in which morphology, geology, vegetation, micro and macro fauna,
history, traditions, culture, are so united that to separate them is difficult: and to
what purpose? Only that of interrupting the harmony of an enchanted world when instead, it
would be opportune to recuperate such harmony and make it known, above all, to the
inhabitants of the Nebrodis, who are aware of the fact that they have known how to
preserve their identity through time and - in the words of a great historian, Benedetto
Croce, want "to interpret the present in its historical origin -now aim at
discovering in the past the roots of that which today unites them.
The text and photos should therefore be
considered as comments, the aim of which is to attract attention - thereby provoking and
stimulating research - to all that is hidden by the Nebrodis: an historic, artistic and
cultural inheritance of such importance as to contribute towards understanding the gradual
historic development of the island.
No systematic study of the Nebrodis has
ever been attempted, isolated, historiographical hot-beds in the conviction that the
economic and social renaissance of the Nebrodis could also derive from a revival of its
culture.
The idea which they convey is therefore
that of an extraordinarily rich and remarkable environment having all the elements
necessary to welcome throngs of tourists if the natural resources of the territory are
developed to exploit sea, hills and mountains. |
