THE MINES

If you think you know Sicily you will give up in front of this "invisible" world. Invisible now and invisible once, even when you dug all day. But one day they raised the voice our greats of the past, such as Guttuso, Buttitta, artists and thinkers who denounced it exploitation of their work, claiming their rights and dignity as human beings. The mines in Sicily they fascinate from a geological point of view, because in Sicily there are mines of salt, gypsum, of sulfur, (in the past also of gold, silver, iron, lead) but also of pitch! Yes, there are also pitch mines in Sicily, more fascinating than ever with open-air machinery, another place that conquers you already only by the road you take to get there. The variety of minerals fascinates and carries to visit a mine, but what has stuck in my mind is the helmet with the light and the overalls that were used to work, the photos that testify the work that was carried out and the life that miners led. I was at the Tallarita mine and it was nice to meet a boy who lives abroad and was there because he wanted to know the workplace of a relative of his, e I thought of the many ties, intertwining, stories of families who have emigrated for years, but despite the distance and time, that boy was there, in search of his roots, an instinct that is always sought, and yes found right in these places.