The Volcano Etna

Etna is a Sicilian volcanic complex and it is the highest active volcano in Europe. In the course of centuries the volcanic eruptions have changed the landscape incessantly, often threatening the different communities settled around it.

Etna was formed over thousands of years through a process of construction and destruction started around 600,000 years ago , during the Quaternary . It is believed there was a large gulf in this point of contact between the euro-Asian and north African plates.

There is snow above 1000 m in winter, that often lasts almost until summer.
For this reason you can enjoy skiing, cross country skiing, ski touring and snowboarding. The territory of the volcano is divided into different environments, some are urbanized but the east and south slopes looks wild and barren.

The district has great features for agricultural production, due to the particular fertility of the volcanic debris . The regular eruptions of the mountain, sometimes tragic, have made it a subject of great interest to classical mythology and popular beliefs. It is said that Empedocle, an important pre-Socratic philosopher and Greek politician of the fifth century BC, threw himself into the crater of the volcano. Etna has inspired several literary works, like the satyr play by Euripides “The Cyclops”, inspired by the Homeric figure of Polyphemus and set on the cliffs of Mount Etna.