Mount Bonifato
| Mount Bonifato | |
|---|---|
| Monte Bonifato (Italian) | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 825 metres (2,707 ft) |
| Coordinates | 37°57′N 12°57′E / 37.950°N 12.950°ECoordinates: 37°57′N 12°57′E / 37.950°N 12.950°E |
| Geography | |
| Location | Alcamo, Sicily, Italy |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | by car |
Mount Bonifato (825 metres high) is a mountain in north western Sicilly in the province of Trapani.
It is famous for the pine forest and the Nature Reserve Bosco di Alcamo. On its slopes they have found a proto-historic necropolis and traces of an ancient settlement. If you go up to the peak you can see the remains of an old water reservoir (called Funtanazza) and a gate (called Porta della Regina), which implies the existence of surrounding walls. Besides, on the top there are the remains of a castle with four towers, that was built at the end of the 14th century by the Ventimiglia family, feudal lords of the territory of Alcamo for a certain period.
Mount Bonifato is located in the hinterland of Golfo di Castellammare, between the valley of Fiume Freddo (a river on the west) and Fiume Jato (a river on the east).
It shows quite steep faces on the south, while the declivity is more gradual in the northern part of the mountain, in proximity of Alcamo.
Until the first decades of the 19th century the mountain was covered with an oak wood of ilex and downy oak. In the thirties they began a massive reforestation prevalently with Aleppo’s pine that is the prevailing essence nowdays. The access to the mount and the Nature Reserve is provided by a town street: Via per monte Bonifato. Along this road there is a large number of holiday houses, especially concentrated between the fourth and fifth hairpin bend from the valley floor, and it is illuminated for a large part of its course (with the exception of the last mile, before the entrance into the Reserve area).
From the peak you can admire a landscape with the mountains of Palermo on the east and the island of Marettimo in the west; on clearer days you can also see Ustica in the north and mount Cammarata in the south-east.
The stratigraphy of Mount Bonifato is quite complex as this mountain is made up of many layers of rock, dating back to geological periods. They have found, in particular, the following formations:
From the idrogeological point of view, there are a deep aquifer in corrispondence with the Triassic limestones, a superficial one near the peak and secondary aquifers in corrispondence with the layers of debris.
...
Wikipedia