Madonie Natural Park, Italy

This geopark is located in Sicily, Italy, and covers an area of 400 km². It became a member of the Global Geoparks Network in 2004. The geopark contains unique geological heritage (magnificent, smoke-filled volcanoes), archaeological remains, magical landscapes and wildlife conservation areas. The natural history of the area began 200 million years ago with the deposition of terrestrial sediments in the current sea basin near Sardinia. Approximately 150 million years ago, the basin began to rise and fall, causing a variation in the elevation of the basin. Terrestrial sediments, evaporates and carbonates were deposited in the sea and were later covered with coral reefs and salt deposits.