Italy is considered the homeland 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 Italian volcanoes scattered in the south of the country threaten to incinerate the entire “boot” to ashes. Therefore, living in such a “temperamental" power is not so simple and safe as it seems to many people. On the peninsula there are both active and extinct fiery mountains.
The largest active volcano in Europe
Many volcanoes in Italy 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 become more frequent. In ancient times, Etna was considered the birthplace of the Olympic 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 and adrenaline regularly come here.
The volcanoes of Italy are loved by the local population. Despite the fact that they bring a lot of troubles, they are still patronized and cherished. The same thing happens with Etna. Italians consider the mountain their nurse, as it is the most popular destination 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 for the construction of their homes and farming, as the ash from the lava makes the local soil incredibly fertile for agriculture and fertile.
One of the legendary stories tells that in the bowels of this volcano giants are exhausted. They fought against the Olympian gods and lost. Now they are sitting there, chained, and waiting for the onset of 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 span tens of thousands of years and prove how merciless nature can be. In Italy there are fire-breathing mountains such as:
- Vesuvius.
- Etna.
- Stromboli.
- The volcano.
- 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 who 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 business 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 incredible interest to tourists. And Stromboli, who was nicknamed the "lighthouse of the Mediterranean", provokes a special interest. First of all, this object is interesting in that over the past several thousand years it has been constantly erupting. The mountain is located on the small island of the same name.
The volcano has a regular cone of 924 meters high. Stromboli is especially magnificent at night. It was at this time that most excursions to him were arranged. Today, there are three active craters in the volcano, two of which arose only in 2007. Between explosions, intervals from several minutes to one hour are observed. As a result of the eruption, volcanic bombs, ashes and gases are ejected to a 100-150-meter height. But sometimes the height of the emissions reaches two to three kilometers.
Volcano volcano
Volcanoes in Italy, photos of which are in our material, were formed over a very, very long period 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 about 136 thousand years ago, during the Pleistocene. It was created in six stages. Over time, the activity of the mountain from the southern part of the island switched to the northern.
Volcano from Pozzuoli
In our article, we talked about what volcanoes in Italy have names and described all active objects. But one more remained, which is called Solfatara. It is located in the small town of Pozzuoli. Usually a volcano is a mountain in the middle of which a crater is located. With Solfatar, things are different: it is only a crater with a two-kilometer perimeter.
Sulfur mud gurgles and boils in the center of the crater. And from the earth around here and there vapors of sulfuric gases erupt, whose temperature is very high. The ancient Romans thought that the volcano Solfatar - this is the very entrance to the underworld. Today it is a tourist attraction and an object of research for volcanologists.