MOUNT ETNA
NATURAL HERITAGE
The myth surrounding the most powerful expressions of nature makes no exception with Mt Etna, portrayed as a fiery giant dominating the landscape and culture of Eastern Sicily. It towers above the Ionian Sea, with the sea stacks in Aci Trezza protruding from its waters as an everlasting mark of the earliest volcanic activity. It is found in the heart of the villages on its slopes that feature churches, roads, and castles built of lava stone. As an active volcano, it is a witness to the most ancient geological eras just as it is an ever-changing protagonist of contemporary life. This is why almost 20 hectares of the most strictly protected area at higher altitude that form part of Etna Regional Nature Park have been listed among UNESCO world heritage sites. Flower diversity on Mt Etna is also impressive for its wide range of ecosystems, from Mediterranean maquis at low altitude due to the sea’s strong influence to almost naked ground around the cones. An iconic plant here is the Etna broom, unique in its kind for its capacity to adapt to extreme conditions and to the destructive force of the volcano, a sort of symbol of the determination of all Sicilians who chose to live and breathe symbiotically with “the Mountain”.
NOT TO BE MISSED
“They had told me much of the curious colours of dawn on the Ionian Sea, when beheld from the heights of Aetna. I decided to make the ascent of the mountain […] At the summit a shelter had been built for us to await the dawn. It came: an immense rainbow arched from horizon to horizon; on the icy crest strange fires blazed; earth and sea spread out to view as far as Africa, within sight, and Greece, which we merely guessed at. That was truly an Olympian height in my life.”
If the words of the Roman Emperor in Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar arouse your curiosity and you are craving for sublime experiences, making it to the top of Mt Etna and wondering at the view of summit craters will be a truly unforgettable height in your life.
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“Mt Etna is mighty; he looks like a wise giant.
At times, he can be dreadful, and even then
it’s as if he’s rattling his chains within the
inescapable mystery of a dark fate; […]
Etna is quintessentially male, he’s the
patriarch of crowds, villages, flocks
of tuna fish in the deep waters at his
feet.”
Fosco Maraini, orientalist, describes Mt Etna as a “patriarch”, thereby overlooking an essential trait of the local folklore culture according to which Etna is perceived and sensed as a feminine entity regardless of the correct grammatical gender in the Italian language. In Catania, and to be honest across the whole of Sicily, people say “she, the mountain” or Idda (she, her in Sicilian dialect), while the masculine pronoun Iddu (he, him) is used for Mt Stromboli. Indeed, Etna should be referred to as a matriarch, bringing life back into the soil after cataclysmic eruptions through volcanic dusts. There are also legends involving primordial gods in support of Etna’s supposed femininity. Uranus, the personification of the sky, and Gaia, Mother Earth, generated a nymph named Etna, who had a rebel creature inside her – a trapped giant for some, a monstrous son for others. Aside from the many versions, the myth explained volcanic eruptions as the efforts of this trapped creature to break free into the world.
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The Italian UNESCO Heritage sites tell their story through the words of great writers who have celebrated their history and beauty
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“A COLOSSAL FAMILY CAT SNOOZING BLISSFULLY. AT TIMES, IT WAKES UP, YAWNS, LAZILY STRECHES OUT, THEN SWIPES A PAW, CASUALLY BLOWING ONE VALLEY OR ANOTHER.”
READING RECOMMENDATIONS
Reading suggestions to discover “the” Mountain of Sicilian people.
- De Aetna, Pietro Bembo (1496). This early work written by Pietro Bembo in Latin is a dialogue with his father, as the author recounts his ascent of the volcano and his firsthand experience of an unexpected eruption. Bembo’s essay serves as a fascinating account of volcanic phenomena, notable for being one of the first descriptions based on direct observation, on-site information, and literary tradition, free from mythological connotations. Among various publications, the 1981 Sellerio edition includes notes by Leonardo Sciascia.
- Due viaggiatrici ‘indifese’ in Sicilia e sull’Etna. Diario di due lady vittoriane, edited by Stefania Arcara (2001). Autobiographical novel based on 1859 work by Emily Lowe Unprotected females in Sicily, Calabria and on the top of Mount Aetna, It narrates the Sicilian wanderings of the writer, an independent and unconventional traveller, accompanied by her mother. The ascent of Mount Etna in the snow is a key moment of their journey.
- • The Story of a blackcap (1871) e Nedda Giovanni Verga. The first is a novel set between Mt Ilice, on the southeastern flank of Etna, and Catania, the volcano slopes being often a destination for walks. Nedda is a novella whose protagonist is an olive-gatherer searching for a job among the various farms on the slopes of the volcano.
- Sabbia nera, Cristina Cassar Scalia (2019). The discovery of a mummified corpse in a villa on the slopes of Etna kicks off the investigation by deputy police commissioner Giovanna Guarrasi, known as Vanina, the protagonist of a detective series by Cassar Scalia. The plot unfolds in Catania and its surroundings, shrouded in the volcano’s ashes – sabbia nera, the “black sand” evoked in the title.
- Il vento dell’Etna, Anna Chisari (2022). Set in Belpasso, a village on the slopes of Mount Etna, this family saga recounts the vicissitudes of the Baruneddu dynasty all the way back to the 19th c. when Puddu, the forefather, was awarded the title of baronet.
- Una voce dal Profondo, Paolo Rumiz (2023). The pages of this book take us on a journey directly into the depths of Italy to analyse the roots of national identity of a restless land that trembles and erupts through geology, volcanology, myth and history.
- Abbecedario siciliano, Roberto Alajmo (2023). A witty, amusing glossary presenting a selection of Sicilian dialect entries and expressions to illustrate the character of this region. Prominent among the entries is “Idda”, literally “she/her”, referring to Mt Etna. “The” mountain is considered as a mother by the Sicilians, perhaps due to the fertility of the soil on its slopes.
Children’s books:
- L’Etna raccontata ai ragazzi, Giuseppe Riggio (2016). It is a book conceived to pass on the story of an ancient world to new generations.
- La bambina di nome Etna, Marinella Fiume (2023). A short story that introduces young people to the universe of Etna through the narrative device of the protagonist sharing the same name as the volcano.
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