Macalube di Aragona Nature Reserve

For some years now it is no longer possible to enter the fenced area, created to protect the very rare evidence of the so-called "cold mud volcanoes". It is an unreal place, a lunar landscape, fantastic.
The photo of me with my bike next to a macaluba is not from today, but from a few years ago, before the area was closed to the public.
legambienteriserve.it/macalube-di-aragona

The site is still closed in 2025, but you can approach the fence where you can observe one of the most distant volcanoes. Furthermore, there seems to be a possibility of a "soon" reopening.
The macalube (or maccalube) are small mud volcanoes formed by a rare geological phenomenon called sedimentary volcanism: methane gas pressure causes gas, water, and clayey sediments to escape from the subsurface, forming mud cones very similar to volcanoes.
The term likely derives from the Arabic maqlùb, meaning "overturning" or "upside down," referring to the lifting and overturning of older materials brought to the surface during eruptive phases (from the web).