Italy is considered the fatherland of volcanology. This country is called the state of temperamental people, and the land here is to match its population: mobile, hot, from time to time explosive and even erupting. The Apennine peninsula often suffers from earthquakes, and the volcanoes of Italy, scattered in the south of the state, threaten to incinerate the entire “boot” to ashes. Therefore, living in such a "temperamental" power is not as easy and safe as it seems to many people. On the territory of the peninsula there are both active and extinct fiery mountains.
The largest active volcano in Europe
Many of Italy's volcanoes threaten all of Europe. One of these giants is Etna, the largest volcano on the European continent. It is located on the island of Sicily. This volcano erupts several times every year, and explosions are becoming more frequent. In ancient times, Etna was considered the birthplace of the Olympian gods, giants and cyclops. The volcano has existed for more than half a million years, but its popularity among tourists does not fade away. On the contrary, fans of extreme adventures regularly come here.and adrenaline.
Volcanoes in Italy are loved by the local population. Despite the fact that they bring a lot of trouble, they are still taken care of and cherished. The same goes for Etna. The Italians consider the mountain to be their breadwinner, as it is the most popular object among travelers. Etna erupts on average every three months. And every 150 years, its burning lava destroys a village located next to the crater. But this does not become an obstacle in order to populate the slopes of Etna. The Italians choose these places to build their houses and farm, as the ash from the lava makes the local soil incredibly fertile for agriculture and fertile.
One of the legendary stories tells that giants are exhausted in the bowels of this volcano. They fought against the Olympian gods and lost. Now they sit there, chained, waiting for the moment when they can break free and avenge the titans - their brothers. And the great Hephaestus lives on Etna itself.
List of all volcanoes and description of the most dangerous of them
The volcanoes of Italy, the list of which we will provide further, amaze with their magnificence and power. They are tens of thousands of years old and prove how merciless nature can be. In Italy, there are such fire-breathing mountains as:
- Vesuvius.
- Etna.
- Stromboli.
- Vulcano.
- Solfatara.
The most dangerous on this list is Vesuvius, formed back in 6940 BC. This is the only active fiery mountain located in continental Europe. The height of Vesuvius reaches 1281 meters, and the diameter of its crater is approximately 750 meters.
It was Vesuvius in 79 AD that buried the famous city of Pompeii, and with it the city of Herculaneum. Since this year, the volcano has erupted about 30 more times. He is a visiting card of Italy and Naples in particular. The last volcanic eruption took place in 1944.
Stromboli - "the beacon of the Mediterranean"
All volcanoes in Italy are of great interest to tourists. And Stromboli, nicknamed "the beacon of the Mediterranean", provokes a special interest. First of all, this object is interesting because over the past few thousand years it has been constantly erupting. The mountain is located on a small island of the same name.
Volcano has a regular cone 924 meters high. Stromboli is especially magnificent at night. It is at this time that most excursions to it are arranged. Today, there are three active craters in the volcano, two of which appeared only in 2007. Between explosions there are intervals from several minutes to one hour. As a result of the eruption, volcanic bombs, ash and gases are ejected to a height of 100-150 meters. But sometimes the height of the emissions reaches two or three kilometers.
Vulcano Volcano
Volcanoes in Italy, photos of which are in our material, formed over a very, very longperiod of time. The proof of this is Vulcano - a group of objects of volcanic origin, which is located on the island of Vulcano.
Vulcano began the process of its formation approximately 136 thousand years ago, during the Pleistocene period. It was created in six stages. Over time, the activity of the mountain from the southern part of the island moved to the northern.
Volcano from Pozzuoli
In our article, we told which volcanoes in Italy have names and described all active objects. But there was one more, which is called Solfatara. It is located in the small town of Pozzuoli. A volcano is usually represented as a mountain with a crater in the middle. With Solfatara, things are different: it is only a crater with a two-kilometer perimeter.
In the center of the crater sulfuric mud gurgles and boils. And from the ground around, here and there, vapors of sulfuric gases escape, the temperature of which is very high. The ancient Romans thought that the Solfatara volcano was the very entrance to the underworld. Today it is a tourist attraction and an object of research for volcanologists.
