Mount Etna

About this place

Mount Etna is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, between Messina and Catania, about 28 km northwest of Catania in a straight line. It is one of the tallest active volcanoes in Europe and the highest peak in Italy south of the Alps, currently about 3,403 metres high, though this changes with eruptions. It sits above the meeting point of the African and Eurasian plates, covers 1,190 square kilometres and has a base circumference of 140 km. It is by far the largest of Italy's four active volcanoes, about two and a half times the height of Vesuvius. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013. The upper slopes are fields of black and red ash and lava, scattered with cone-shaped extinct side craters, with smoke sometimes rising from the summit. In winter white snow covers the black slopes, while lower down woods, vineyards and orchards grow on the rich volcanic soil. Visitors drive or take a bus to the Rifugio Sapienza area at about 1,900 metres, walk around the Silvestri craters, then go higher by cable car and mountain vehicles. The summit craters may be reached only with an authorised guide, depending on volcanic activity, and it is cold up high even in summer.