As Sicily’s Mount Etna continues to erupt, its residents adapt.
The first meter I get on the phonewithSicilianvolcano enlistment guideVincenzo Modica , the call lasts no more than three minute . “ Sorry , right now , there was just an explosion , ” he says . And like a ringlet of smoke out of a vent ’s summit , he ’s run .
An 60 minutes and a half later , when I get him back , he explains . Modica lives in the town of Milo , a village on the side of Mount Etna , the volcano that ’s been erupting in Catania since mid - July , spue spicy gritty ash tree and lava alongside Italy ’s little Stromboli vent . One of the most alive volcanoes in the world , in an almost perpetual land of action in the last decade , Etna has had at least six significant eruptions since 2000 , and many , many smaller hiccups . In 2021 , thanks to lava buildup , she grew by around 100 understructure in height over a six - month period . And the ash from her eruption on July 22ndhas reached as far as Greece . This tantrum is sometime lid , but still incredibly exciting .
Modica both monitors the volcano from his home , and maintainsa livestreamof the action . If something strange occur , he takes Federal Reserve note , and that ’s what happen this morning . “ Etna has four main summit craters , and one of these craters today was a small routine noisy , ” he tells me . “ But then another one , which has n’t erupted for probably a duet of years , suddenly produced anexplosion . ”
A view of an erupting Mount Etna from the Ionian coast|lapissable/Shutterstock
Right when I call , a large swarm of ash disgorge out from the sleepy crater . “ It ’s a rarified situation — we were n’t expect this , ” Modica tells me .
Seven age ago , Modica , who was born and raise in Palermo , about two and a half hours away , moved to Milo to be able to find the whimsy of Etna firsthand . With 20 years guiding trekkers on Etna , it just made horse sense for the commute . “ I rented one of the first houses in front of the volcanic crater , ” he say . “ Now , in this path , I can not miss the volcanic eruption . ” Plus , the move brings spectacular firsthand scene , which he records for his livestream .
Ten dissimilar municipalities abut Mount Etna , with several of the villages heavily subject upon volcano tourism . Italy was the first to make volcanological usher a strictly - tested professing ; now there are a sum of about 130 attest guide in the country ( Modica , of class , being one of them ) . Naturally , there are upticks in tourism after Etna makes international news . “ hoi polloi watch out this eruption on idiot box , and then they require to make out visit the vent , ” Modica explicate . And there ’s definitely plenty of visual input . “ In 2021 , the vent started to produce a lot of outbreak . For now , my oculus are full . ”
A hiking trip up Etna gets you close to the action.|Courtesy of Vincenzo Modica
“ citizenry watch this eruption on TV , and then they want to make out visit the vent ”
Though there have been no biography - threatening eruptions while he ’s lived there , there are troublesomeness hold up so close . Like sometimes when Etna hiccough , Milo gets completely cover up in ash . “ Every time we have to clean , especially the ceiling of our theater , ” he tells me . “ All the ash settles on top of the roof . Then , when it ’s raining , we have a problem , because the piddle can not feed down . ”
Sometimes the ash tree is interspersed with heavy , more threatening rocks . “ I remember in 2021 we had like one eruption every 12 to 24 hours , and I was sleep with a helmet by the side of my bed , ” he tells me . “ And every prison term when it catch fire , I ’d wake up up and rapidly cover my car , because sometimes we receive pretty boastful pit that could damage it . ”
Zafferana Etnea’s Mother Church is lit in the shadow of Mount Etna in February 2021.|Fabrizio Villa /Getty Images Europe
When there ’s an volcanic eruption , theCatania airport closes , as ash in the gentle wind clouds flight of steps profile and hide runways . And on the roads of Catania , chaos ensues . “ The problem is thatCataniais a full-grown metropolis with nearly 600,000 people , ” excuse Modica . “ When the ash tree fall on the route , all the cars , truck and big jalopy will drive on top of this ash . And this ash will became very , very teeny , and will became a powder . This powder can be a problem for the filters of cars and for the lungs of the people . ”
A sketch done after the 2001 - 2002 eruption concluded that though the ash is n’t toxic , in Catania there was asignificant increase in ER visitsfor acute respiratory and cardiovascular disease , and ocular disturbances during the ash tree exposure prison term period .
So with all these inconveniences , why would one put themselves so close to a vent ? And what do they get out of it ?
Have a swim with a hazy Mount Etna at the Four Seasons San Domenico in Taormina.|Courtesy of Four Seasons Taormina at San Domenico Palace
The fire that fuels tourism
If somehow you leave out it , the first affair pointed out to you when you leave the Catania airport is the skyscraping Mount Etna . Technically a stratovolcano — covering 650 miles and peaking at 10,900 feet — she is exorbitant , cone-shaped , and gross , a childhood drawing come in to life history . I first glimpse her about a month ago , when drive to my hotel in the neighboring metropolis of Taormina . Smoke wisped out of her mouth , like a lazy expiration from a coffin nail .
Thanks to its close proximity just north of two tectonic plates , Italy is the only area on mainland Europe with active volcanoes . Vesuvius is the most ill-famed among them , engulfing and preserving for infinity Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 advertising in one of the most lethal volcanic eruptions to date . Modica tells me that Etna is always active , churn beneath the surface , and that unremitting exhaust system is a byproduct . “ We call it volcanic feather , ” he explains . “ And most of the smoke that you see is write of vapor . ” Still , for someone not used to the sight , it ’s unsettling .
Not fuck when I ’d see the volcano again , I stole glimpse on the time of day - long drive from the airdrome to my hotel , which was situated high up above the ocean , up a visionary road . I consider fleeting roadside telecasting , interrupted by overhaul leaf . But when I get to my hotel , theFour Seasons Taormina at San Domenico Palace , I was pleasantly surprised . Etna , it turns out , is one of the great marketing points of this monastery - turned - luxury destination ( even more so now after it was the scene for thesecond time of year ofWhite Lotus ) . There were unobstructed vista of volcanic feather wherever you twist : from the Michelin - starredPrincipe Cerami — whose chef Massimo Mantarro hail from Piedimonte Etneo , a commune at the home of the vent — to prime view from the infinity pool , the lawn , and from my very balcony , where I recognize Etna every morning with a cup of coffee .
Some of Pietradolce’s wine bottles label depicts Etna as a woman.|Courtesy of Pietradolce Winery
For some , Etna is an afterthought . But if you want , it can be the focus of your Sicilian experience . There is anEtna Suiteat the San Domenico Palace that frames her in the window . There are Etna - themed cocktails at the courtyardBar & Chiostro . And the hotel offers anEtna stargazing safarias well as anEtna helicopter tour of duty .
For some , living near a volcano may sound like a nemesis — specially when eruptions like inKīlauea in Hawai’iandFagradalsfjall in Icelandcause mass end and interrupt local economies . But here , the volcano is a gift , whose fervency fuel the tourism manufacture .
Etna was designate anUNESCO World Heritage sitein 2013 , but she has been a draw play as long as she ’s survive . F. Scott Fitzgerald mentioned the mountain in a missive to his agent and friend Elizabeth Otis while staying at the San Domenico . “ We are on the slope of Etna in the most voluptuous hotel , a thousand feet above the sea , ” he wrote . “ We look up to Mount Etna which is overhung by as pitch-dark a cloud as I reckon you have ever get a line . I guess the gods are having a meeting there . ”
The vineyards of Pietradolce have a fantastic view of Mount Etna.|Courtesy of Pietradolce Winery
Etna ’s byproduct is useful : cool off lava is used as a construction material and can be seen in the wall of many sure-enough houses . Eruptions over centuries have transformed the landscape painting of the Parco dell’Etna — Etna Natural Reserve — into a lunar - corresponding , frequently changing attraction . And as the most combat-ready volcano in Europe , she is also one of the most supervise . Volcanologists have set up shop to study her capacity for geothermal energy ( as some other volcanoes are used for ) , among other research topics .
Records of eruptions day of the month back to 1500 BC ; the vent ’s name comes from the Greek Aitne , from aithō , intend : “ I sting . ” And there are , of course , many myths about Etna . One of the most celebrated is of Hephaestus , god of fire and metallurgy and the Greek gods ’ blacksmith , who used the volcano as his workshop . When he form , his spark were Etna erupting . The Cyclops also used her to forge arrows for Zeus . A third fable says the serpentine giant Typhon lay under the lot , and when he turned , the worldly concern trembled .
Some today have anthropomorphize Etna . “ I ’m not talk about me , but we view Mount Etna a big mom , ” explains Modica . “ She turn over us soil , and many other thing . But like every mum , she gets raging . ”
Watch out for flying rocks and ash.|Courtesy of Vincenzo Modica
Turning ash into wine
That volcanic grime Modica speaks of is enriched by ash tree and lava and filled with potassium . It ’s especially prolific not only for nuts , citrus fruit , apples , pears , cherries and olives ( for a unambiguously robust olive oil ) , but grapes for Sicilian wine .
Sicilian wine has a long and storied chronicle . Prior to 1950,it was used to fortify wine-colored from France and northern Italy . But in the past few decades they ’ve been innovated , and derive into their own . The phratry - ownedPietradolcewinery has been in cognitive process since 2005 . “ We principally grow the Mt Etna - specific Nerello Mascalese ( red ) and Carricante ( whitened ) , which are the two flagship of Mount Etna , ” says Michele Faro , the winery ’s possessor . In their Prephilloxera vineyard it ’s also possible to find other uncommon grapes like Nerello Cappuccio , a white grape chance in Sicily and Calabria , Minnella Nera , an obscure , Sicilian light-colored - skinned red grape , or Minnella Bianca , a blank grapevine found exclusively on the slopes of Etna . “ This is a combination among the richness of the sandy texture , the very salutary drainage of it and the stony substrate rich of humidity and urine , ” Faro continues .
For those in the many winery surround Etna , live in the trace of the volcano is a symbiotic relationship . “ Human organism that live close to a volcano grow a connexion with it . We honor and love Mount Etna , which is traditionally the first thing we bet at when we wake up , ” says Faro . “ It sounds foreign , but we ’re used to feeling Etna . We believe there ’s a particular connection between a vent and human existence . ”
View of Sicilian city Mazzarino with Etna volcano in the background
They get hold that visitors are particularly concerned in the kinship between volcanic soil and viticulture , and here is a good spot to learn about it . The grease and the volcano are found throughout the winery . The earth is used in the rooftop garden where olive trees , strawberries downy oak , and other Etnean and Mediterranean plant are cultivate . Lava rocks are employed for thermal closing off in the cellar , write energy as part of their sustainability access . And some wine labels feature a female form of Etna . “ Traditionally , for local hoi polloi , Etna is a distaff divinity , who better than her can stage the terroir on the recording label , ” say Faro .
As for whether the eruptions gravel him , Faro tells me , “ We were born close to an activating vent , this is the risk we are used to , and perhaps because of this , we look at it less . ”
Feet to the fire
Warnings of an Etna irruption can come in the sort of just some smoke for a few day , earthquakes , or sometimes nothing at all . But though irruption aremore frequentthese Day , they ’re rarely austere enough to do scathe . That ’s because they ’re usually high up from the acme . Modica explicate that troubled eruptions are usually from the side , at a low EL . “ In this casing , we call it the side extravasation , ” he explains . “ And in this character , we can have problems with the villages and sometimes have to evacuate . ”
An eruption in March to July of 1669 resulted in 15,000 deaths when over 990 million cubic yards of lava was throw out . The eruption take place along a crevice that opened above the town of Nicolosi . The lava flow enveloped the westerly part of the town of Catania and ruin a XII villages on the lower side . worker dug a oceanic abyss above the village in an effort to divert the lava flow away .
The last gravely destructive activity pass in 2001 , with multiple eructation accompanied by earthquakes and new vent-hole spewing lava and steam . Nicolosi was again in the air of ( literal ) blast . A country of emergency was declare , and workers once more construct bulwark of clay and asphalt to amuse the lava . But in our modernistic time , they also had helicopters , which flew through the ash tree spray water over the river of lava . And so , Nicolosi was never void ; the lava stopped before it got to the small town . demesne of chestnut tree groves and pine trees bore the brunt of it , as well as a few holidaymaker spaces like ski hotel .
Either way , the residents were n’t phased . “ For us , Etna is everything . It represent the fire that for Sicilians is our eccentric , ” Nicolosi ’s then - Mayor Salvatore Moschetto told theLos AngelesTimes . “ It give us the possibility to go , to have a tourism manufacture . It ’s a beautiful vent . ”
A waiting game
Modica is currently bid his clock time for when he can take visitant up to the summit again . “ It ’s prohibit at the second to go to the summit because the vent is warming up , so we do n’t bed if it will bring out another eruption or not , ” he tells me . There was significant lava and ash activityjust a few days ago , on August 4th .
But there are still pick . Visitors can presently hike up to 9,000 feet by themselves ( a cable railroad car will take you to the start of the trail at about 8,200 feet for 50 euros ) . tramp is allowed up to 10,826 foot with a volcanological guide such as Modica to sail ungainly way . ( Whenever there ’s an eructation , trails are destroyed to hit the summit and necessitate to be rebuilt . )
you’re able to always just watch from afar , too . Before he sign off , Modica assure me , “ Now it ’s daylight , but in a dyad of hours when the sunset comes , we start to see the red of the explosion . I will take my glass of wine , my piece of Malva sylvestris , my piece of salami and will enjoy a duad of explosion before going to seam . ”
