sicily Archives

Birches of Etna and the climate change

Posted on 15/07/2024 (23/02/2025) by Grazia Musumeci

They arrived in Sicily “against their will”, transported by the conditions created thanks to the immense glaciations that hit Europe between 70,000 and 10,000 years ago. The birch trees of Mount Etna remained even after the ice retreated, finding an ideal habitat on this gigantic volcano which today reaches 3369 meters high. The Scandinavian plants […]

Discovering … Paternò!

Posted on 24/06/2024 (23/02/2025) by Grazia Musumeci

Paternò is a place of mystery. Not in the strictest sense of the term, but it is a city with a thousand faces and none of them seems to be the real one. Powerful independent fiefdom at the time of the Normans (but it had been inhabited since the times of the Siculians, who founded […]

Lone Hikers: challenging Mt Etna every day

Posted on 02/06/2024 (23/02/2025) by Grazia Musumeci

When we take tourists to Mount Etna we recommend a thousand times to be careful, not to take this special mountain lightly. Etna is a volcano and like all volcanoes it is a constant and complex mystery. In order to explore it you need to have the right skills and adequate preparation. But then, how […]

Two Churches at Piano Vetore

Posted on 27/05/2024 (23/02/2025) by Grazia Musumeci

If you want to take a few moments of spirituality on Mount Etna, choose Piano Vetore to do so. Here, on this grassy plain that opens to the south-west flank, overlooking the summit craters that almost seem to fall on you, there are two small churches. One of which is located outdoors, made with materials […]

The Sound of Aurora on Mount Etna

Posted on 20/05/2024 (23/02/2025) by Grazia Musumeci

In the second week of May, a spectacular natural event involved practically the entire world, with greater interest in the northern hemisphere – Europe and North America. It was a series of magnetic storms generated by the sun, which also manifested themselves through the alteration of the intensity of its rays, thus forming pink and […]