Time of the walk: 4 hours
Length of the route: about 10 km (10930 yd)
Steepness: 500 m (547 yd)
This route – among the most demanding – starts from the Vallone Castagno area, at S. Marina Salina, and goes up towards the high ground near Serro dell’Acqua. The caves were clearly exploited by a rock settlement during the pirate invasions in the Middle Ages. Hidden to any external look inside a valley, whose different colors indicate the various eruptive phases of Serro del Capo, the caves can be reached by relying on the skilled guides in the area
Some sources date these caves back to the 7th century. A.D., but most agree in identifying as a reference period the following century, in which this hidden part of Salina was a refuge for those fleeing from Lipari due to the eruptions of Monte Pelato. Being artificial caves built inside other natural ones, those of the Saracens are shown as a series of tunnels concealed one inside the other, whose clues – like the engraving of a cross on the sandy wall and the small niches in the walls themselves – make people think of a place of worship. There is also talk of a cave, now collapsed, in which there was water that flowed from a source, as the toponym seems to suggest. Probably, the caves have been re-opened during the destruction by Areadeno “Barbarossa” occurred in the sixteenth century.
This path is one of those that in ancient times led to Monte Fossa delle Felci; continuing in rising, precisely, you will enter the roadway leading to the top. You will have the opportunity to descend towards Pizzo Capo, to admire some of the best perspectives ever with the view of the other islands. You will then go back to go towards Valdichiesa, passing through the path where the dense wood of Salina breathes through the heather and eucalyptus, among the mountain peaks reminiscent of the fairytale. A type of route that is recommended especially in autumn, both for the enveloping smells of humus and for the moderate temperature, and preferably in the early morning.
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