Mount Calanna is a small portion of a much larger volcanic system that developed between 130 and 110,000 years ago. It is currently believed that this is the first proper volcanic structure after the phase of the Timpe, with displacement of the eruptive mouths inland, specifically towards the curren...

According to legend, Acireale is named after the young shepherd Acis, son of the god Pan, protector of mountains and woods. Acis was hopelessly in love with the beautiful Galatea, one of the fifty Nereids, the nymphs of the sea. But Galatea was also loved by Polyphemus, the cyclops who lived in th...

Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid) was born in Sulmo in 43 BC. From a young age he began studying rhetoric after moving to Rome during the Augustan age, then devoted himself to poetry alongside the greatest writers of his time, in the circle of Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus. Here he composed works th...

Wild fennel or timpa fennel is an endemic Mediterranean plant with the scientific name Foeniculum vulgare. It is an edible plant used in local and Sicilian cuisine in general. Its leaves can be found in pasta with sardines and pasta with fava beans, while the less tender parts are used in pickled p...

Verismo (meaning realism in Italian) was a literary movement established between 1875 and 1895 by Giovanni Verga and Luigi Capuana, in collaboration with other writers. Verismo came at a time when there was absolute faith in science and in the infallible tools of scientific research. For the verist...

Pillow lava is a typical product of underwater volcanic activity, with the formation of characteristic tube and pillow-shaped structures. When lava escapes below sea level, the outer portion cools quickly, while inside it is still completely melted and able to flow. The pressure from the insid...

Sometimes, the pillow lavas can break: in this case the inside of the “pillow” comes into contact with water so quickly that it vaporises instantly, creating a small explosion that causes the lava to break into small pieces of glass, called hyaloclastite breccias....

The fault is a fracture within a volume of rock in the Earth’s crust, where the two blocks that are separated show evidence of relative movement. The block above the fault surface is called the hanging wall, while the block below is called the footwall. If the hanging wall moves down the fault su...

Every year on 24 June, since 1750, Aci Trezza has hosted the folkloristic event “U pisci a mari” to celebrate St. John the Baptist, the town’s patron saint. It is a re-enactment of the hard life of the fishermen and the eternal struggle for survival, worthy of the tales of Giovanni Verga and E...

The fauna of Etna was described in the 19th century by Antonio Galvagni, who claimed to have seen wolves, fallow deer, wild boar, roe deer, griffon vultures and otters in the waterways. In the past, Mount Etna was covered by ice expanses of considerable size, due to the very different climate from t...