Mount Etna is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy. It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate. It is the tallest active volcano on the European continent.
Mount Etna currently stands 10,922 feet high. However, this varies with summit eruptions. It is the highest mountain in Italy, south of the Alps. Mount Etna covers an area of 459 square miles with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy. Two hundred kilometers south of Mount Vesuvius, on the eastern coast of Sicily, towers the “burning mountain” Etna. It is older than Vesuvius, much higher, and grander, though less frequent, in its eruptions.
Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity. The fertile volcanic soils support wide-ranging agriculture. The vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south. Due to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations.
In June 2013, it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Immense lava flow from an eruption in 1928 led to the first destruction of a population center since the 1669 eruption. In the 1970s, Mount Etna erupted smoke rings, one of the first captured events of this type, which are extremely rare. This happened again in 2000.
Ferrovia Circumetnea Round-Etna Railway is a narrow-gauge railway constructed between 1889 and 1895. It runs around the volcano in a 110-km-long semi-circle, starting in Catania and ending in Riposto, 28 kilometers north of Catania. There are two ski resorts on Etna: one at the Sapienza Refuge, with a chairlift and three ski lifts, and a smaller one on the north, at Piano Provenzana, with three lifts and a chairlift.
A volcanic observatory 9,075 feet above the sea was built in 1880. At one time, this was the highest inhabited house in Europe, 1,000 feet higher than the shelter on the Great St. Bernard in the Alps. A fine highway leads from Catania to the lava fields. Much of the world’s sulfur is derived from craters. The Sicilians called the mountain “Mongibello,” a corruption of the Saracen Jebel Uttainat, “a mountain of fire.”
More than 80 Etna eruptions are on record, the earliest being about 479 B.C. In 1169 A.D., 15,000 inhabitants of nearby Catania were destroyed, and again in 1669, some 20,000 people perished. In the last hundred years, there have been more than a dozen major eruptions.
The colossal eruption of 1892 lasted six months. The eruption of 1928, while less violent than many others, caused an immense amount of damage. Despite these terrors, villages and farmhouses nestle close on Etna’s flanks. People take advantage of the fertile soil caused by ancient volcanic eruptions. The mountain rises through three zones.
First comes the cultivated region, at about 2,000 feet, where date palms, bananas, oranges, lemons, olives, figs, and almonds are grown. Next is a wooded area planted with chestnut, cork, beech, pine, maple, and oak. This contains the famous chestnut tree, one of the largest and oldest in the world. It is formed by seven trees grown together and is 163 feet long. At about 6,300 feet from the mountain base, a dreary waste of black lava, ashes, and sand begins. This waste is covered with snow.
Mount Etna is one of Sicily’s foremost tourist attractions, with thousands of tourists visiting every year. The most popular route is through the road leading to Sapienza Refuge, lying to the south of the crater at an elevation of 1910 meters. It hosts a big parking lot, several bars, and a hotel, and is a starting point for the cable car. From the Refuge, a cable way runs uphill to an elevation of 2500 m. From this point, visitors can take a drive with special terrain vehicles or take a long walk to the designated crater area at 2920 meters.
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