Etna - An Active Volcano

The Etna or Mongibello Volcano is located on the East coast of Sicily, just North of Catania. Etna is an active volcano, sending frequent streams of lava and pyroclastic flows down its slopes.

Mount Etna is 3.326 meters high, making it the tallest European active volcano, with a circumference of 140 kilometers.

Etna has erupted several times, more recently in 1949, 1971, 1981, 1983, 1991-1993 and 2001. Since 2002 Etna has had almost continuous eruptions of various kinds until September 2007.

Because of Mount Etna's frequent eruptions and its proximity to Catania and several villages, it has been declared a Decade Volcano by the U.N., and is part of an attempt to control eruptions from volcanoes worldwide.

The Silvestri Crater on the Southern slope is one of the recent ones, and is quite cold today and a popular tourist site.

In spite of its partial destruction in the 1983 eruption, the visitor station on the South slope was rebuilt and serves visitors year round, not least skiers. A cold lava flow makes an excellent ski slope.