The Agrigento court has handed down two convictions for damaging the Scala dei Turchi, one of Sicily’s most photographed tourist destinations. The judges found two men, both from Favara, responsible for the incident in January 2022, when the white cliff was daubed with red powder. They are Domenico Quaranta, 51, and Francesco Geraci, 47, believed to be the material author of the act and his accomplice, respectively.
According to what investigators have reconstructed, Quaranta allegedly spread an iron oxide-based powder, a pigment commonly used to color plaster, on the cliff surface. Geraci, on the other hand, allegedly acted as a lookout during the action. The choice to use iron oxide, rather than paint, did not, however, prevent visible and widespread damage to the entire rocky ridge. Initially it was feared that it was real paint, which is more difficult to remove, but analyses conducted by the Cultural Heritage Service confirmed that it was pigmented powder, which is more easily washed off.
The sentences handed down to the two defendants differ. Forty, with a criminal record for an attempted bombing in the Milan subway in 2002, received a sentence of three months and five days. The sentence was reduced following recognition of a partial mental defect, which emerged from a psychiatric report. Geraci, on the other hand, an incensed offender, was sentenced to four months and 15 days. Both were found guilty of damaging property of scenic interest.
The damage to the Scala dei Turchi had provoked widespread public reaction at the time of the events. The cliff, formed by white marl and characterized by an undulating shape with no edges, is one of the landscape symbols of the Agrigento coast, located in the municipality of Realmonte, between two beaches not far from Porto Empedocle. In addition to its naturalistic value, the cliff enjoys great notoriety for having been mentioned several times in the novels of Andrea Camilleri ’s Commissario Montalbano and for having been used as a film location in several movies, including Giuseppe Tornatore ’s Malèna and Pif’s In guerra per amore.
Immediately after the defacement, the Agrigento prosecutor’s office had opened an investigation against unknown persons for damaging property with landscape value. Although Quaranta and Geraci’s action was carried out using a soluble material, part of the cliff had taken on a clearly visible reddish tint, as reported in the video published by Mareamico Agrigento. Contributing to the removal of the dust were, initially, weather conditions: wind and sea waves had already dispersed some of the pigment. In any case, the complete cleanup was only possible thanks to the intervention of technicians from the municipality of Realmonte, the Superintendency of Cultural Heritage and numerous volunteers, who had mobilized spontaneously in the days following the act.
The site hit by the vandalism has long been at the center of initiatives to enhance and protect it. In 2007 the municipality of Realmonte submitted an official request toUNESCO for the Scala dei Turchi, along with the nearby Roman villa, to be included among the World Heritage Sites. The cliff, composed of a particular sedimentary rock of a calcareous and clayey nature, is distinguished by its stepped shape and intense white color. The name Scala dei Turchi recalls both the stepped appearance of the cliff face and the past Saracen raids, which in the 16th century landed in the area taking advantage of the protected conformation of the coast.
In any case, the site is no stranger to conservation issues and anthropogenic pressure. In the 1980s, its landscape integrity had been compromised by the presence of a construction site for the construction of a hotel complex, which was later halted thanks to complaints from Legambiente. In 2008, FAI - Fondo per l’Ambiente Italiano - included the Scala dei Turchi among the assets to be saved, supporting the battle for the demolition of the so-called ecomoster, which was later effectively removed.
Today, the Scala dei Turchi remains one of the most visited places in Sicily, and despite periodic banning orders for safety and protection reasons, it continues to attract thousands of visitors every year. Precisely because of the scenic and symbolic value the site represents, the 2022 episode sparked widespread outrage among citizens, institutions, and environmental associations.
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| Two men convicted for damaging the Scala dei Turchi with iron oxide |
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