Etna

Have you ever been on an active volcano on a scenic train ride, or skiing, or simply on a cable car that takes you past its craters?

If you haven’t, you’ve clearly never been to Mount Etna in eastern Sicily.

Etna volcano, also known as Mongibello, is a currently active stratovolcano, which formed in the Quaternary period and measures 3357 m above sea level and encompasses an area of 1190 square kilometers. It joined the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013.

The summit part consists of the Central Crater, itself formed by two mouths (the Voragine, the mouth created in 1945, and the New Mouth, formed in 1968) and the Northeast craters (1911) and the more recent Southeast of 1971, the protagonist of the last eruptions.

On the side slopes are the world-famous Valle del Bove, Valle del Leone and Val Calanna.

As the highest active volcano in Europe, Etna continues to this day to be the protagonist of numerous spectacular eruptions, the subject of study by the Etnean Observatory. It is precisely for this purpose that the Pizzi Deneri observatory rises, at 2818 meters above sea level. The observatory houses various instrumentation for monitoring the volcano.

Today, Mount Etna is frequented by tourists from all over the world and is one of the most popular destinations of the entire Sicilian tourism. It offers several possibilities, in addition to the winter skiing (either on the side of Rifugio Sapienza, or from the side of Piano Provenzana), it is an ideal destination for trekking sessions, mountain biking, quad biking, 4×4 off road and food and wine tourism.