Etna Attractions

The crater of Etna, which is filled with gases, is always changing its shape by eruptions. It is impossible to get very close to the crater. As Etna is never really inactive the area is declared dangerous to visitors; the climb leads through a rugged moonlike landscape.

A drive round Etna, starting from Catania (144km/89mi, also possible by rail), is very rewarding. The road runs via Misterbianco (213m/703ft; pop. 15,000), Paternò (225m/743ft; pop. 46,500) with a castle built by Roger I in 1073 (rebuilt in the 14th century; well-preserved interior), towering above the town, to Adrano (588m/1,940ft; pop. 34,000), beautifully situated on a lava plateau, with a Norman castle containing an Archeological Museum and the convent of Santa Lucia, 15th-17th century.

About 9km/5.5mi southwest of Adrano, picturesquely situated on a steep hill above the Simeto valley, with a magnificent view of Etna, is the little town of Centuripe (730m/2,409ft; pop. 6750), formerly Centorbi, with the so-called Castello di Corradino (first century B.C.). The Archeological Museum contains finds from the ancient Siculan town of Centuripae which rose to importance in the late Hellenistic-Roman period and was destroyed by Frederick II in 1233 (interesting the Hellenistic-Roman house "Contrada panneria", with paintings of the second-first centuries B.C.).

From Adrano the road continues via Bronte (760m/2,508ft; pop. 20,000), Maletto (960m/3,168ft; old castle), Randazzo and Linguaglossa (600m/1,980ft; pop. 4,500) to Fiumefreddo (62m/205ft). Then back to Catania on the motorway A18 or S.S.114.

Southeast of the former observatory is the beginning of the Valle del Bove (Valley of the Ox), a black and desolate chasm (5km/3mi wide) surrounded on three sides by rock walls 600- 1,200m/1,980-3,960ft high. Experienced climbers can go down (with guide) through the Valle del Bove to Zafferanda Etnea (600m/1,980ft).