Rocca Di Cerere Geopark, Italy

This geopark is located in central Sicily, Italy, and covers an area of 1,298 km². It became a European geopark in 2001. It is a rich environment, and the largest part is the ‘gypsum-sulphur’ plateau. The plateau was formed by the Messinian crisis, when the Mediterranean Sea began to recede approximately seven million years ago. Chemical sedimentation formed a large deposit consisting of several types of salts, of which gypsum is the most important. The Erei Hills are composed of a flyschioid formation, and the morphology was sculpted by erosion into steps with large amounts of ‘Marne’ (clay) and chalk found in the Trubi Formation that are sometimes covered by calcarenitic plateaus with cuestas that are commonly collapsed on their sides. Since ancient times, miners have searched the area for sulphur minerals. Farmers, shepherds, miners, warriors, paupers, kings, women and men all lived here.