The Alcantara Gurne and the medieval village of Francavilla di Sicilia- Trekking in Sicily

#alcantara #sicily #gurne
We are in the territory of Francavilla di Sicilia, in the province of Messina, the coast of Naxos and Taormina is a few kilometers away. Here the Alcantara river, one of the most evocative Sicilian rivers, has dug rounded basins called Gurne in the lava bed with the force of its waterfalls. To visit them you have to embark on an exciting trekking path, managed by the Alcantara River Park, which starts right from Francavilla, descending to the bottom of the canyon where the river has flowed for millennia.
It is a spectacular itinerary, immersed in the typical fluvial vegetation of the Sicilian hinterland, in a beautifully landscaped area, with varied flora and rich aquatic fauna. The area is equally interesting from a historical and monumental point of view due to its proximity to the medieval village of Francavilla and the vestiges of a Greek settlement from the 5th century BC.

In reality there are at least 16 Gurne dell'Alcantara but the route I propose allows you to visit the most significant, the "Passerella" lakes with the waterfalls and the Enel lock and "A Ciappa", where at the end of the nineteenth century a water mill supplied electricity on an experimental basis to the municipality of Francavilla and Castiglione (among the first in Italy). The route is well marked, already in the village you will find the red tourist signs indicating the starting point, and is accompanied by illustrative panels along the entire route.
Easily accessible and not particularly long or demanding, the route has a circular development. In my opinion it is better to proceed counterclockwise to go down to the river in the first part and maybe in season take a nice "cooling" bath. In the second part, you will skirt the river to the ruins of an ancient bridge and reach the Ciappa mill, keeping to your left the ruins of the old Norman Castle, which dominate the area from the top of a cliff. After a wooden bridge that crosses a saja (an ancient irrigation system of Arab origin), the path climbs up the sides of the hill, passing a magnificent basin, up to the "summit" from which you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the town of Francavilla and on the underlying plateau where in 1719 a bloody battle took place between the Spaniards and the Austro-Hungarian army.
The last stretch of the trek passes through the beautiful medieval village of Francavilla (Contorado district), a cluster of typical Sicilian-style houses gathered around the Matrice church and overlooking the valley with Etna volcano in the background.

Francavilla di Sicilia can be easily reached during a seaside stay in Taormina or Giardini Naxos. The visit of the Gurne can be easily completed in a day but the area, between the Peloritani mountains and the Nebrodi mountains offers numerous attractions. Therefore, consider staying overnight in some farmhouse in the area and calmly dedicate yourself to exploring the lesser-traveled beauties of rural Sicily.

Shooting for this video was completed in 2020. For the most part, I used the good old Canon Legria, companion of many adventures. River shots were shot with a GoPro Hero 7 and aerial shots with the Mavic Air.
For post-production and editing, I used the Cyberlink PowerDirector suite.
The photos are by Francesca Sparatore using a Nikon D7500.
The music pieces are:
"Denouement" by Kai Engel and "Phase IV" by Lo-Fi is Sci-Fi. Both are available on the Free Music Archive.

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