Mount Etna · The Neighbour That Smokes Every Day

Etna is the most active volcano in Europe and erupts almost every year; the towns below have been skirted by lava again and again, and rebuilt again and again.

The ancient Greeks believed the crater was a forge: Zeus kept the Cyclopes inside to hammer out thunderbolts. Others said the tremors were a trapped giant turning over.

Today a monitoring network is installed on the mountain and the cable car runs as usual. The local attitude is practical: we live on it, so we live by its temper.

Natural Mysteries / Sicily · Italy / Time immemorial