Scala dei Turchi

The Scala dei Turchi (Italian: "Stair of the Turks") is a rocky cliff on the coast of Realmonte, near Porto Empedocle, southern Sicily, Italy. It has become a tourist attraction, partly due to its mention in Andrea Camilleri's series of detective stories about Commissario Montalbano.

Scala dei Turchi.

The Scala is formed by marl, a sedimentary rock with a characteristic white color. It lies between two sandy beaches, and is accessed through a limestone rock formation in the shape of a staircase, hence the name. The latter part of the name derives from the frequent raids carried on by Moors.

In August 2007, the municipality of Realmonte applied for the inclusion of the Scala dei Turchi (together with the nearby Roman Villa Aurea) in the UNESCO Heritage List.

In February 2020, following years of complaints about the poor environmental protection of the site from erosion and tourist vandalism, Italian prosecutors seized control of the site. They ordered its temporary closure for monitoring, and announced that they were investigating a man who claimed ownership of the site in a dispute with the Realmonte local authority.[1]

Scala dei Turchi.
Sand from the beach at Scala dei Turchi. It is primarily made of quartz and shell fragments.

References
  1. Tondo, Lorenzo (28 February 2020). "Prosecutors seize Italian Scala dei Turchi over conservation concerns". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 February 2020.


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