The Two Brothers Rocks (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: ''Scoglio Due Fratelli''; Sicilian ''I Ru' Frati'') are a rock formation in the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

to the north-east of

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. Mimmo Martinucci: ''Dreaming of the Italian islands. Help for amateur radio. Vol 3 - All the islands of Sicily''. 2007, Sandit Books,

Geography

The two rocks are located between the districts of Grottasanta, Mazzarona and Tunis Avenue, in a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

called "Coast of Piliceddi". The coasts in the area are jagged, except for a small

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from Rock (geology), rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle beach, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological s ...

formed by the disintegration of the

rocks In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...

. The depth of the

sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

does not exceed 20 meters.

The rocks

* The "Big Rock" is 70 meters from the coast and is over 12 meters high. It is called the ''

elephant Elephants are the largest living land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant ('' Loxodonta africana''), the African forest elephant (''L. cyclotis''), and the Asian elephant ('' Elephas maximus ...

'' or ''

mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...

'' because of its shape. It is divided in half by a narrow fissure which starts at

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

and extends to the top of the rock, forming two

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s. The back is exposed to the open sea and is composed of sharp rocks and holes caused by wave erosion. The front is perpendicular to the sea and is exposed to the

. It is one of the best-known sets of rocks near

, because of the legend of the two brothers and also because of the actual death of a boy around 12 years old. He died trying to get into the lower part of the rock (the footbridge). * The "Little Rock" is approximately 50 meters from the coast and is 5 meters high. It has the form of a small

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

. It is roughly 12 meters from the big rock, thus there is space for boats to pass between them. The highest part of the rock, on the left, is flat and perpendicular to the sea. On the right, it slides down to sea level and has many holes and sharp points because of its exposure to the open sea.

Legend of the two brothers

Three versions: # One day, two brothers came to go

spearfishing Spearfishing is fishing using handheld elongated, sharp-pointed tools such as a spear, gig, or harpoon, to impale the fish in the body. It was one of the earliest fishing techniques used by mankind, and has been deployed in artisanal fishi ...

. One of them dove under the water and became stuck in a crack. The other dove in to save him, but both

drowned Drowning is a type of Asphyxia, suffocation induced by the submersion of the mouth and nose in a liquid. Submersion injury refers to both drowning and near-miss incidents. Most instances of fatal drowning occur alone or in situations where othe ...

. # One sunny day, two brothers decided to jump from the bigger rock. The two brothers climbed the rock but before they jumped, the sea became turbulent and agitated. They jumped and were drowned in the waves. # The third version compares the two rocks to two brothers; an older brother and younger brother.

Flora and fauna

Both the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

are typical of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. There are several species of

aquatic plants Aquatic plants, also referred to as hydrophytes, are vascular plants and non-vascular plants that have adapted to live in aquatic environments ( saltwater or freshwater). In lakes, rivers and wetlands, aquatic vegetations provide cover for aquat ...

, mostly neptune grass. The fauna is composed of

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

sea urchins Sea urchins or urchins () are echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species live on the seabed, inhabiting all oceans and depth zones from the intertidal zone to deep seas of . They typically have a globular body covered by a spiny p ...

octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

starfish Starfish or sea stars are Star polygon, star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class (biology), class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to brittle star, ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to ...

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

of various species,

moray eel Moray eels, or Muraenidae (), are a family (biology), family of eels whose members are found worldwide. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera which are almost exclusively Marine (ocean), marine, but several species are regu ...

s, and there can be

stingrays Stingrays are a group of sea rays, a type of cartilaginous fish. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae (deepwater stin ...

. In 2005, there was an influx of

jellyfish Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies or simply jellies, are the #Life cycle, medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animal ...

, mostly

Pelagia noctiluca ''Pelagia noctiluca'' is a jellyfish in the family Pelagiidae and the only currently recognized species in the genus ''Pelagia''. It is typically known in English as the mauve stinger, but other common names are purple-striped jelly (causing pot ...

. Other seaside towns saw an increase in jellyfish. The Pelagia noctiluca is very irritating and has hurt many people whom have tried to swim.

Tourism

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

is mainly present in the

summer Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

, between the months of June and September. The

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

s who come to visit this place are particularly attracted by the beauty of the sea and the

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

of jagged

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...

s. There are boat tours driven by

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

s, which take tourists to visit the sea and rocks. The tour, lasting about half an hour, begins from the

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

Ortigia Ortygia ( ; ; ) is a small island which is the historical centre of the city of Syracuse, Sicily. The island, also known as the (Old City), contains many historical landmarks. The name originates from the Ancient Greek (), which means "quail". ...

, then passes from the coast of sea grottoes of Syracuse, and finally arrives at the "Two Brothers", where it stops for a few minutes to give tourists the possibility to swim. Afterward, they repeated the same round, bringing the tourists to Ortigia. This is a particularly suitable place to spend some time in contact with marine nature, repose and also for fun. The two rocks are also a great place for diving. There is also practiced

, given the abundance of the fauna.

How to reach the rocks

The two rocks are accessible through the Via Sicilia, situated in the district of Grottasanta. Going from this to its end, and turning right, there is a destroyed wall, and immediately after the

bike path A bike path or a cycle path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses '' shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or ...

. After this there is a large

lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

, bounded by cliffs overlooking the sea ("Coast of Piliceddi"), and from there the two rocks are visible. Walking centrally towards the cliff, you will reach a cliff with a short, steep descent, where you can see the stairs carved into the rock of ancient origin. Going down toward the reef closest to the sea, one arrives at a small peninsula, where the rocks of "Two Brothers" are only accessible by the sea. Somewhere between the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

and the rocks there are around 60 meters of distance.

References

{{authority control Syracuse, Sicily Islands of Sicily Ionian Sea Mediterranean islands