SAPONARO MINE
The name Saponaro Mine includes the five mines Saponaro Garibaldi, Saponaro Case Santi, Saponaro S. Francesco, Saponaro Redentore, and Saponaro S. Vincenzo, located in the same area of Caltanissetta. Today, of these five mines all is left is a power cabin and various mine entrances still open and walkable in the first part, an element that makes the site particularly interesting. The mine Saponaro Garibaldi was active from 1839 to 1966 and took the name of the access tunnel that the Count of Testasecca named after Giuseppe Garibaldi. Today, at the foot of the escarpment under which the mine unfolds, there is a portion of the furnace, while on a yard a few metres below, we find the calcaroni of an imposing battery, surmounted by the high towers of the brick stacks. Between these two structures, by now a mirage of the old activity, hidden by a dump site, the entrance to the Garibaldi opens under a nice chapel dedicated to Saint Barbara.
