deturpare la marna bianca della #ScaladeiTurchi con della vernice rossa non è solo un atto criminale…ma anche da troglodita ignorante che non ha alcuna consapevolezza dell’unicità ed eccezionalità di un siffatto monumento naturale…#Agrigento #realmonte #Sicilia pic.twitter.com/DIsEGn3vnh
— Sirio (@siriomerenda) January 8, 2022
The famous snow-white rocky cliff of Scala dei Turki (“Turkish Staircase”) on the coast of Realmonte, in the south of Sicily in Italy, was attacked by vandals. On the night of January 8, unknown persons scattered red powder on the white limestone, which left “bloody smudges” on the natural monument.
An act of vandalism disfigures the section that preserves Milancovic #cycles in the #sediments of the south coast of #Sicily – “Deturpata la Scala dei Turchi con polvere d’intonaco rossa” https://t.co/KN7g8xCgiu
— Leonardo Sagnotti (@leosagnotti) January 8, 2022
The wonderful Scala dei Turchi (Sicily) – Trubi Fm , Pliocene – has been vandalised with red painting @UNESCO More photo here https://t.co/aNWHJ96QQX (only in Italian, sorry) pic.twitter.com/KQnXUl25XG
— Domenico Chiarella (@nocode_dc) January 8, 2022
Scala dei Turki is one of the most visited tourist sites in Italy. The head of Sicily, Nello Musumeci, said that this act of vandalism offends not only an object of rare beauty, but also the image of the entire island. Local authorities, together with the police, have launched an investigation into the incident. It has already been established that the red powder on the rock is iron oxide. Fortunately, it can be removed quite easily. It is reported that the lower stones were washed by sea waves, and volunteers have already started cleaning the rest of the rock.
Luigi Patronaggio, Agrigento’s chief prosecutor, said police were monitoring recent sales of red powder in the region and checking nearby CCTV cameras.
It should be recalled that Scala dei Turki was presented as a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage status in 2019. However, the monument was temporarily removed from consideration by the commission in early 2020 after numerous complaints about its poor preservation. It is clarified that the cliff has suffered from natural erosion, as well as due to the huge number of tourists, some of whom periodically steal parts of the stone from the cliff.
Ekaterina Gura
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