Pirrera Sant'Antonio - Melilli Baroque Quarry

Pirrera Sant’Antonio – Melilli Baroque Quarry

Detail

In the heart of the Climiti Mountains, among the limestone folds of southeastern Sicily, lies one of the island’s most evocative and little-known places: La Pirrera Sant’Antonio, an ancient stone quarry that seems to have come straight out of an epic tale.

A monument of rock and memory

This impressive underground quarry, active since the 17th century, boasts tunnels more than 280 meters long and vaults touching 27 meters in height. It was not just a workplace, but a stone sanctuary, carved over the centuries by the pirriaturi, the quarrymen who shaped these walls with patience and toil.

The stone that rebuilt the Val di Noto

After the 1693 earthquake, it was from here that limestone blocks left to rebuild the baroque cities of the Val di Noto. “Melilli stone” has embellished sacred buildings and monuments from Syracuse to Messina, from Catania to Genoa and even Malta.

An immersive experience

Today the Pirrera can be visited and is one of the symbolic places of Melilli’s geological and cultural heritage. A journey into the belly of the earth, where silence and light create a mystical atmosphere, among natural columns and walls that tell centuries of history.

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