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Mount Etna
- Casa del Vescovo
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Mount Etna (also known locally as Mongibeddu in Sicilian and Mongibello in Italian) is an active volcano on the
east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. It is the largest
volcano in Europe, currently standing about 10,991 ft (3,350
m) high, though it should be noted that this varies with summit
eruptions (the mountain is 71 ft (21,6 m) lower now than it
was in 1865). It is the highest mountain
in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of 460 square
miles (1190 km²). This makes it by far the largest of
the three active volcanos in Italy, being nearly three times
the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius.
Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes
in the world and is in an almost constant state of eruption.
Although it can occasionally be very destructive, it is not
generally regarded as being particularly dangerous, and thousands
of people live on its slopes and in the surrounding areas.
The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture,
with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes
of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south.
Etna is an isolated peak about 18 miles
(29 km) from Catania which
dominates the eastern side of Sicily. Its shape is that of
a truncated cone with a ragged top, which is actually a complex
of large volcanic cones hosting four summit craters. Around
260 smaller craters, formed by flank eruptions, occupy the
slopes. On the southeastern side of Etna lies an immense gully,
the Valle del Bove, which is between
2000-4000 ft (600-1200 m) deep and over 3 miles (5 km) wide.
Many of Etna's subsidiary craters reside within this cleft,
which is thought to have been created around 3,500 years ago
by the collapse of an ancient caldera. The height of the mountain
varies with its eruptions; until 1911, there was only one
large cone and crater at the summit, but subsequent eruptions
have created new craters and cones.
The slopes of Etna form three distinct
zones. The lower zone, extending up to about 4000 ft (1200
m) are densely populated and planted with vineyards, citrus
fruits, and groves of olives, figs and almonds. The middle
zone (up to about 6900 ft / 2100 m) is heavily wooded, mostly
with pine and chestnut trees. At the top of the mountain is
a volcanic wasteland, dominated by old lava flows, screes
and volcanic ash. Few plants grow there, as it is covered
by snow for much of the year.
Etna is an extremely complex volcano, presenting
considerable difficulties in classification. It has features
of both a shield volcano and a stratovolcano, and displays
behavior typical of both plinian and strombolian volcanoes.
It stands at the convergent boundary where the African Plate
is being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate, deforming the
latter and forcing plumes of magma upwards into weak points
in the crust such as under Etna. It is perhaps most accurate
to describe Etna as being a mixture of overlapping shield
and strato volcanoes partially destroyed by repeated collapses
and partly buried under subsequent volcanic edifices. |
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A View of
Mount Etna
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Etna was known in Roman
times as Aetna, a name thought to have derived either
from the Greek word aitho ("to burn") or
the earlier Phoenician word attano. The Arabs called
the mountain Gibel Utlamat ("the mountain of
fire"); later, this name evolved into Mons Gibel (translating from its Roman and Arab parts as 'Mountain Mountain',
since such repetition in Sicilian denotes largeness or greatness)
and subsequently Etna's current local name Mongibeddu.
The mountain's regular and often dramatic
eruptions made it a major subject of interest for classical
mythologists and their later successors, who sought to explain
its behavior in terms of the various gods and giants of Roman
and Greek legend. Aeolus, the king of the winds,
was said to have imprisoned the winds in caves below Etna.
The giant Typhon was confined under Etna, according
to the poet Aeschylus, and was the cause of the mountain's
eruptions. Another giant, Enceladus, rebelled against
the gods, and was killed and buried under Etna. Hephaestus or Vulcan, the god of fire and the forge, was said to have
had his forge under Etna and drove the fire-demon Adranus
out from the mountain, while the Cyclopes maintained a smithy
there where they fashioned lightning bolts for Zeus to use
as a weapon. The Greek underworld, Tartarus, was
supposed to be situated beneath Etna.
Empedocles, a major pre-Socratic
philosopher and Greek statesman of the 5th century
BC, was said to have met his death in the volcano's
crater. Etna supposedly erupted in sympathy with the martyrdom
of Saint Agatha in 251 AD, prompting Christians
thereafter to invoke her name against fire and lightning.
Historic Eruptions
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Mount Etna
- Lava flow
Copyrights EtnaSci |
About 3,500 years ago, the eastern flank
of the mountain experienced a catastrophic collapse, generating
an enormous landslide in an event similar to that seen at
Mount St. Helens in 1980. The eruption, which is thought to
have caused this collapse, was recorded by Diodore of
Sicily, and is the first known record of an eruption at Etna.
The landslide left a large depression in the side of the volcano,
known as 'Valle del Bove' (Valley
of the Oxen). The steep walls of the Valle have suffered
subsequent collapse on numerous occasions. The strata exposed
in the valley walls provide an important and easily accessible
record of Etna's eruptive history.
The most recent collapse event at the summit
of Etna is thought to have occurred about 2,000 years ago,
forming what is known as the Piano Caldera. This
caldera has been almost entirely filled by subsequent lava
eruptions, but is still visible as a distinct break in the
slope of the mountain near the base of the present-day summit
cone.
The Roman poet Virgil gave what was probably
a first-hand description of an eruption in the Aeneid:
The port capacious,
and secure from wind,
Is to the foot of thund'ring Etna joined.
By turns a pitchy cloud she rolls on high:
By turns hot embers from her entrails fly,
And flakes of mounting flames, that lick the sky.
Oft from her bowels massy rocks are thrown,
And shivered by the force come piece-meal down.
Oft liquid lakes of burning sulphur flow,
Fed from the fiery springs that boil below.
In 396 BC, an eruption of Etna is said to have thwarted
the Carthaginians in their attempt to advance
on Syracuse during the First Sicilian War.
Recent Eruptions
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Mount Etna
- Lava flow
Copyrights EtnaSci |
Another very large lava flow from an eruption
in 1928 led to the first destruction of a
town since the 1669 eruption. In this case,
the town of Mascali was destroyed in just two days,
with the lava destroying every building. The event was used
by Mussolini's Fascist regime for propaganda purposes, with
the evacuation, aid and rebuilding operations being presented
as models of fascist planning. Mascali was rebuilt on a new
site, and its church contains the Italian fascist symbol of
the torch, placed above the statue of Christ.
Other major twentieth century eruptions
occurred in 1949, 1971, 1983, 1992, and 2000.
The 1992 eruption saw the town of Zafferana
threatened by a lava flow, but successful diversion efforts
saved the town with the loss of only one building a few hundred
metres outside it.
In 2002-2003, the biggest
series of eruptions for many years threw up a huge column
of ash that could easily be seen from space and fell as far
away as Libya, on the far side of the Mediterranean Sea. Seismic
activity in this eruption caused the eastern flanks of the
volcano to slip by up to two meters, and many houses on the
flanks of the volcano experienced structural damage. The eruption
also completely destroyed the Rifugio Sapienza, on
the southern flank of the volcano. The Rifugio was
the site of a cable car station which had previously been
destroyed in the 1983 eruption. |
By
Bus
One bus runs daily to and from Catania and Nicolosi to Rifugio Sapienza, about 1400m below the summit on the south side, giving you
enough time for a trip up the mountain and sightseeing.
By
Tour Bus
Many agencies in Taormina offer
organized trips to and around the mountain. Tours can also
be arranged by contacting the Parco Regionale dell'Etna,
Via Etnea 107, Nicolosi, tel: +39 095 91 45 88.
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You can sleep in Rifugio
Sapienza itself. There is a youth hostel in Nicolosi. |
From Rifugio Sapienza during good weather, you can pay
for a trip on a 4-wheel-drive vehicle about 800m nearer the
top. In bad weather, you can walk if you are experienced and
prepared for freezing weather.
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There are cafes/restaurants
around Rifugio Sapienza. |
Spring and fall are the best seasons
to visit Mount Etna. July and August are the hottest months
with temperature up to 104F. For more information, visit the Weather page. |
There are many
souvenir shops around Rifugio Sapienza. |
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