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The Mount Cofano Reserve lies mostly in the Custonaci Municipality, covering about 537 hectares and is a place of extraordinary scenic beauty and wildlife, but also, and this is not to be underestimated, it is an important site of historical interest.
In the reserve there are many caves showing traces of the presence of past civilizations, from prehistoric times, shown by the various fossils, weapons and utensils which have been found and which date back to the Palaeolithic Age, to the 1800s when the caves were the refuge for hermits, up to the Second World War, when the caves of the Nature Reserve of Mount Cofano gave shelter to people who were made homeless after the bombings. Today they are used as places of shelter for animals or for the storage of work tools.
The caves of the Natural Reserve of Mount Cofano are also of scientific value due to the fact that artefacts from past civilizations have been found there. These are now kept in the Pepoli Museum of Trapani. Most of the caves are located within the Nature Reserve of Mount Cofano and are a must for visitors to the area.
They are:
- Mangiapane Cave where Living Crib is staged;
- The "Grotta del Crocefisso" - Cave of the crucifix, which takes its name from a small shrine that holds a crucifix within it - a pilgrimage destination;
- Miceli Cave, named after the family that owns the property;
- Buffa Cave, which is considered to be one of the most important caves in the Trapani area due to the numerous findings and for this reason in this site there are many illegal excavations.
In the Nature Reserve of Mount Cofano there are many species of birds such as the buzzard, the kestrel, rock doves, the common raven and the swallow. As for the flora, the Reserve of Mount Cofano is home to several plants, among which we must mention the dwarf palm.
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