|
Sicily is directly adjacent
to the Italian region of Calabria, via the Strait of Messina to the east. The early Roman name for Sicily was Trinacria, alluding to its triangular shape. Sicily has been noted for two millennia as a grain-producing territory. Citrons, oranges, lemons, olives, olive oil, almonds, and wine are among its other agricultural products. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta district became a leading sulfur-producing area in the 19th century but have declined since
the 1950s. Administratively Sicily is divided into nine provinces; Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Catania, Enna, Messina, Palermo, Ragusa, Syracuse and Trapani. Also part of various Sicilian provinces are small surrounding
islands: Aeolian Islands of Messina, isle of Ustica (Palermo), Aegadian Islands (Trapani), isle of Pantelleria (Trapani) and Pelagian Islands (Agrigento). The island of Sicily is drained by several rivers, most of which flow through the central
area and enter the sea at the south of the island. The Salso River flows through parts of Enna and Caltanissetta before entering
the Mediterranean Sea at the port of Licata. To the east the Alcantara in the province of Messina, it exits at Giardini Naxos. The other two main rivers on the island are to the south-west
with Belice and Platani. Sicily and its small surrounding islands are highly significant
in the area of volcanology. Mount Etna, located in the east, is the only volcano on mainland Sicily; with a height of 3,320 m (10,900 ft)
it is the tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. As well as Etna, there are several non-volcanic
mountain ranges in Sicily: Sicani to the west, Eeri in the central area and
Iblei in the south-east. Across the north of Sicily there are three others: Madonie, Nebrodi and Peloritani. The Aeolian Islands to the north-east are volcanically significant with Stromboli currently active, also in the Tyrrhenian Sea are the three dormant volcanos of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari. Off the Southern coast of Sicily, the underwater volcano
of Ferdinandea, which is part of the larger Empedocles last erupted in 1831. It is located between the coast of
Agrigento and the island of Pantelleria (which itself is a dormant volcano), on the Phlegraean Fields
of the Strait of Sicily.
| |
Spazi Pubblicitari Liberiper la V/s Aziendaa soli EUR 11.00 +IVAal Mese x 12 MesiIl 13° Mese è Gratuito!Contatta Easylandiaspecificando richiestee citando il seguenteRiferimento: ADV/Italy-Resorts Click Here
|
|
| |
|
|
SOUTH SICILY Capo Passero or Cape Passero
(Greek: Πάχυνος;
Latin: Pachynus or Pachynum) is a celebrated promontory of Sicily, forming the extreme southeastern point of the whole island,
and one of the three promontories which were supposed to have given to it the name of "Trinacria." (Ovid, Fast. iv. 479, Met. xiii. 725; Dionys.
Per. 467-72; Scyl. p. 4. § 13; Pol. i. 42; Strabo vi. pp. 265, 272, &c.; Plin. iii. 8. s. 14; Ptol. iii. 4. § 8; Mela, ii. 7. § 15.) (Courtesy Wikipedia) Historical significance:
All the ancient geographers correctly describe
it as extending out towards the south and east so as to be the point of Sicily that was the most nearly opposite to Crete and the Peloponnese. It is at the same time the southernmost point of the whole
inland. The headland itself is not lofty, but formed by bold projecting rocks (projecta saxa Puchyni, Virg. Aen. iii. 699), and immediately off it lies a small rocky island (the Isola di Capo Passero) of considerable elevation, which appears to have been generally
regarded as forming the actual promontory. This explains the expression of Nonnus, who speaks of the island rock of the seagirt Pachynus. (Dionys.
xiii. 322.) Lycophron also has a similar phrase. (Alex. 1181.)We learn from Cicero (Verr. v. 34) that there was a port in the immediate
neighborhood of the promontory to which he gives the name of Portus Pachyni (modern Portopalo di Capo Passero): it was here that the fleet of Verres was stationed under his officer Cleomenes, when the news that a squadron of pirates was in the neighbouring
Port of Ulysses (Portus Odysseae) caused that commander to take to flight with precipitation.
Ptolemy gives the name of Promontory of Ulysses (Ὀδυσσεία
ἄκρα, Ptol. iii. 4. § 7) to a point on the south coast of the island, a little to the west
of Cape Pachynus. It is therefore probable that the Portus Pachyni was the one now called Porto di Palo, immediately adjoining
the promontory, while the Portus Odysseae may be identified with Pantano Longarini.[1] The convenience of this port at the extreme southeast point of the island caused it to be a frequent place of rendezvous
and station for fleets approaching Sicily; and on one occasion, during the Second Punic War the Carthaginian commander Bomilcar appears to have taken up his post in the port to the west
of the promontory, while the Roman fleet lay immediately to the north of it. (Livy xxiv. 27, xxv. 27, xxxvi. 2.) In 1718, the seas off the promontory were the site of a great naval
battle (called the Battle of Cape Passero) between the British and Spanish fleets.
|
