Description

The reserve was created with Regional Law no 42 on 30 September 1996. It comprises a high and steep limestone cliff, a narrow strip of karst plateau and the stretch of sea opposite, and covers 107 hectares. The landscape features are also of considerable note: the white limestone is the protagonist of the reserve, both as single towers along the coast and as outcrops along the cliff-top, shaped by surface karst phenomena such as, for example, the grooves caused by rainwater. Winding along the ridge of the cliffs, between the new castle of Duino and Sistiana’s bay and passing remains of military outposts, the Rilke trail was inaugurated in 1987 and offers sweeping views of the Gulf of Trieste, from Grado to Punta Savudrija in Croatia. Today, the path is not open over its entire length for safety reasons, apart from the initial portions from Sistiana and Duino. The cliff is covered with bushes of Mediterranean scrub, including holm oak, terebinth, phillyrea and rough bindweed, along with hornbeam and vegetation favouring rocky areas and scree, such as sage, campanula and featuring endemic species limited to this site, like the Centaurea kartschiana  or Karst cornflower. Peregrine falcons, thrushes and warblers nest on the cliffs. The symbol of the reserve is a lizard, the Dalmatian algyroides (or Blue-throated keeled lizard), dark brown in colour with black spots, blue throat and red belly. A really unexpected curiosity is the opportunity to spot some chamois on the nearby southern slopes of Mount Ermada.