In Sicily, recent decades have in general seen a trend to deruralization and the abandonment of agricultural activity. As the population lives for the most part in complex agglomerations, according to the custom of most of southern Italy, with isolated houses having a subsidiary place, rural dwellings in Sicily can be divided into those of the plains and those of the mountains: around Palermo, especially along the coastal strip, there are groups of houses built in rows with an external loggia or terrace; the settlements in the Madonita area, in keeping with the mountainous terrain, have buildings with spires and steeples, often decorated with majolica tiles, and in the solitude of the country, the farms almost always retain the look of fortification. Finally, to the east of Etna, building is in mainly regular form with roofs of two or four sides. Particular here is the use of lava rock, both in the block walls and in windowsills and decoration.