The La Timpa nature reserve, established in 1999, protects the great escarpment that runs behind the coast of Acireale. It is a rugged strip, on average about eighty metres high, that follows the sea for about six kilometres, from Acquaranni, north of the fishing village of Capo Mulini, to the foot of Santa Maria degli Ammalati. In all the reserve covers about 225 hectares, between the reserve proper and the buffer zone.
What to see
La Timpa is made of volcanic rock arranged in steps and cut by faults, with layers of lava, sand and tuff that seem to rise from the sea in a great cliff below the town of Acireale. Precisely because it is so hard to reach, it has remained largely untouched, on a coast that is otherwise heavily built up. On the slopes grow tree spurge, reddish with yellow-green flowers, sea fennel, downy oak, terebinth, holm oak and prickly pear, among scrub, woodland and lemon groves.
The birds include small raptors such as the peregrine falcon, buzzard and kestrel, night raptors such as the barn owl and little owl, and also the Sardinian warbler, which nests here, the little egret, heron, cormorant, kingfisher and hoopoe. Among the mammals are the fox, rabbit, hedgehog, weasel and porcupine.
Visiting
At the foot of the central stretch of the Timpa lies the fishing village of Santa Maria La Scala, which can also be reached on foot from Acireale along the «chiazzette», a series of zigzag ramps built from 1687 onwards. Open access points and paths should be checked with the reserve's managing body.
Our editors' tip
The headland in the middle of the Timpa, above Santa Maria La Scala, was used for centuries as a military post against pirate raids: its defence relied on the Fortezza del Tocco.
