The Madonie (;
Sicilian: ''Madunìi'') are one of the principal
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
s on the island of
Sicily
Sicily ( it, Sicilia , ) is the list of islands in the Mediterranean, largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. The Strait of Messina divides it from the region of Calabria in Southern Italy. I ...
, located in the Northern part of the island.
Its name comes from the feud of Madonìa which belonged to the noble family of La Farina from Palermo and then to the Marquises Crescimanni of Madonìa.
Geography
The range is located within
Palermo Province of Sicily. It is part of the Sicilian extension of the
Apennine Mountains
The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...
System that runs along the
Italian Peninsula.
The range includes the next highest elevation mountain summits of Sicily after
Mount Etna
Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( it, Etna or ; scn, Muncibbeḍḍu or ; la, Aetna; grc, Αἴτνα and ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina ...
. The highest peak of the range is
Pizzo Carbonara at , followed by neighboring Pizzo Antenna at .
Madonie Regional Natural Park
The mountains were safeguarded in 1989 by the formation of the
Madonie Regional Natural Park, a regional natural park.
Madonie Geopark is a member of the
European Geoparks Network and the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Global Network of National Geoparks.
Features
Within the park area, there are outcrops of rocks that have been dated over a 200-million-year period and represent all aspects of the
geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
of Sicily apart from present-day volcanic activity. There is a wide range of
fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
s present within the mountains' rocks.
Buildings made from these rocks in the Madonie's towns often show visible fossils.
The area was famous for the
Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, where the
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 195 ...
race was held from 1906 to 1977.
See also
*
*
References
External links
*�
Official Madonie Regional Natural Park website*�
UNESCO.org: Madonie Natural Park
Mountain ranges of Sicily
Mountain ranges of the Apennines
Province of Palermo
Mountain ranges of Italy
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