VOLCANO ETNA

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Etna is the highest European volcano and with its 3,330 m a.s.l. it is the highest peak in Sicily. Etna is part of the world heritage sites protected by UNESCO.

Every year a destination for tourists due to the spectacular lava flows that can be observed live.

It originated in the Quaternary.

Over the millennia, with its eruptions it has helped to shape the surrounding area, modifying the landscape and also threatening the populations that inhabit the area.

The volcano has also contributed to creating numerous legends both in Greek and Latin mythology and in later periods.

The territory is vast and varied: urban areas, wooded areas and vast desolate areas that are subject to lava flows or to become ski slopes during the winter when the snow falls.
Several myths associated with its volcanic nature are associated with the Etna volcano.

The giants Enceladus and Typhon were confined inside the volcano, and for this reason they cause frequent eruptions.

The other associates the lava fire with the work of Hephaestus skilled in the art of metalworking with which he forged the weapons of gods and heroes.
According to tradition, the eruption of Etna in 396 BC. - which historically invested and distorted the Acese territory - would also have put to flight the Carthaginian fleet commanded by Imilco who was preparing to land during the second Punic war.
Famous is the legend according to which Empedocles in 433 BC. he reached the central crater to study it closely by jumping into it.

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