Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Southern Italy's Top 10
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Known to the Greeks as the 'column that holds up the sky', Mt Etna is Europe's largest
volcano and one of the world's most active. It's also the highest mountain south of the
Alps. The ancients believed the giant Tifone (Typhoon) lived in its crater and lit up the sky
with regular, spectacular pyrotechnics. At 3330m it towers above Sicily's Ionian coast, and
since 1987 its slopes have been part of the Parco dell'Etna, an area that encompasses both
alpine forests and the forbiddingly black summit.
