Acireale

Acireale and its “timpe”

Acireale is one of the most enchanting towns in Sicily, known as the pearl of the Ionian Sea, nestled between the sea and the mountains.
From a geological point of view, in Acireale we can observe an additional stage in Etna’s evolution. In fact, the city stands on a tectonic escarpment known as a “ Timpa ”, consisting of imposing sub-vertical slopes overlooking the sea.
The Baroque Piazza Duomo in the centre of the city is connected to the sea by a path that goes from Via Romeo down to the “Sentiero delle Chiazzette”, which the timpa leads down to, offering visitors an unexpected view of the sea even from the first few metres.
On this route, now used by tourists and the Acesi people to reach the sea and the small hamlet of Santa Maria la Scala, there is a small defensive fort called Fortezza del Tocco, which protected this ancient route when used for maritime trade. Today the fort is home to excursions organised by the Italian State Forestry Corps and Legambiente to discover the flora and fauna present on the timpa.

The Etna viewpoint

Torre del Filosofo: at the base of the summit craters (2950 metres)

The earthquake that changed the geography of eastern Sicily in 1693

The senses tell The Summit craters

Malavoglia

Valle del Leone and the Elliptical

Acireale and reconstruction after the 1693 earthquake

An ever-evolving volcano

The senses tell Val Calanna

Etna, the living mountain

Lachea Island and the Aci Trezza Stacks

Empedocles and his passion for Etna

The Grand Tour in Sicily

The senses tell Valle del Leone

The senses tell Acireale

Etna, an ever-changing natural laboratory

The 1669 eruption in Catania

Volcanic monitoring and eruption forecasting

Etna, wine terroir of excellence

Val Calanna, the first step towards a single large volcanic structure

Humankind and the volcano: how should we behave? Volcanic risk

The “notches” of snow

The fault system of the “Timpe” of Acireale

Why did Etna form in that specific geographical position?

The senses tell The Red Mountains

The first Etnean volcanic events between Aci Castello and Aci Trezza

The continuous evolution of the Etna summit craters

The Red Mountains and the destructive eruption of 1669

The different names of the “Muntagna”

The eruption of 1928 that destroyed the town of Mascali

Summit crater activity between 2011 and 2019

The Jaci river

A fauna context yet to be discovered

Acireale and its “timpe”

The 2001 eruption of Mount Etna, where the approach to volcanoes changed

The senses tell The Etna viewpoint

The senses tell Acicastello and Acitrezza

Etna: a marvellous group of microclimates and vegetation

The Elliptical, the first great volcano of Etna

The senses tell Torre del Filosofo