Mount Etna

Europe's tallest and most active volcano

Etna erupts almost every year — it's the most active volcano in Europe! It is 3,300 metres high, but the summit changes with every eruption. Towns sit on its slopes, and people grow grapes and oranges there — volcanic ash makes the soil very fertile. Ancient Greeks believed the blacksmith god Hephaestus worked beneath Etna. In winter you can even ski on Etna!

Etna is a stratovolcano in Sicily, 3,357 m (3,403 m in 2021 — eruptions change its height), the highest peak in Europe south of the Alps. It results from the African plate subducting beneath Eurasia; active for 500,000 years, with 2,700 years of written records — the longest in the world. Four summit craters and over 300 flank cones; effusive (lava) and Strombolian eruptions, with ash columns up to 10 km (Catania airport often closes). 1669 was the most destructive eruption, with lava reaching Catania; in 1992 lava was diverted with explosives. A million people live on its slopes thanks to fertile soil (Etna DOC wine, pistachios, oranges). A UNESCO site since 2013, with a national park, ski resorts, obsidian and Greek myths (Hephaestus, Typhon).

Fun facts

• Etna's eruptions have been recorded for 2,700 years — longer than any other.
• Etna's height changes with each eruption — it grew 50 m in 2021.
• A million people live on Etna's slopes, and people ski there in winter.