The Lago Sfondato Strict Nature Reserve is a protected natural area of Sicily, in the territory of Caltanissetta, a few kilometres from Marianopoli.
What to see
It was established in 1997 by the Sicilian Region to preserve the lake, of karst origin, and the surrounding environment. It is divided into two zones: zone A, of almost fourteen hectares, includes the lake and some stretches of the Stretto stream; zone B, of thirty hectares, is mainly pasture and cereal crops; it lies east of monte Mimiani, at an altitude of about 368 metres. The lake, about 17 metres deep, has a surface of about three thousand four hundred square metres and a perimeter of over two hundred metres. Its formation is recent: it dates from 1907, when the area collapsed through the erosive and dissolving action of the rocks beneath, gypsum-and-sulphur bearing like the rest of the area. It has no visible inflows and its level stays constant, so it is thought to be fed by springs or aquifers; according to some, the collapse was due to the digging at the end of the nineteenth century for the Marianopoli railway tunnel.
The lake is surrounded by a broad reedbed, of common reed and fool's watercress, which recreates a typical marsh environment. Over three hundred plant species and twenty-five species of wild orchid have been recorded in the area, among them the endemic Ophrys fusca subsp. obaesa; recently Ophrys phryganae, an orchid thought doubtful for Sicily, has been found. Among mammals are wild rabbit, hare, fox and porcupine; among birds of prey, by day kestrel, buzzard and lanner, by night barn owl and little owl, and a few Sicilian rock partridges survive, an endemic species at risk of extinction. The lake attracts water birds such as little grebe, coot and moorhen; during the migrations it is not rare to see grey heron, little egret, marsh harrier and honey buzzard. In the reeds live the green frog, the grass snake and the Sicilian wall lizard, and the reserve is home to many dragonflies and butterflies.
Visiting
The reserve is a few kilometres from Marianopoli. From Caltanissetta take the SP 44 towards Marianopoli and, after seven kilometres, the SP 42 San Cataldo-Marianopoli; a little past the seventeenth kilometre, on the right, a dirt track leads to the lake. The sources consulted give no opening hours or access rules for the strict reserve: check them.
Our editors' tip
The area, between monte Mimiani (855 metres), monte Trabona (536 metres) and the river Salito, has disused sulphur and rock-salt mines.
