Etna stands around 11,050ft above sea level and is about 22 miles in diameter, although volcanic activity has altered the mountain’s height over time.
Occasionally, Catania Airport, the largest airport in eastern Sicily, has to close for hours or even days when volcanic ash makes flying in the area dangerous.
With Etna’s lava flows largely contained to its uninhabited slopes, life continues in towns and villages elsewhere on the mountain. The volcano also supports fertile farmland and attracts tourists.
The volcano has inspired ancient Greek legends. An eruption in 396 BC is said to have kept the Carthaginian army at bay.
In 1669, during what is considered the volcano’s worst known eruption, lava buried parts of Catania, about 15 miles away, and devastated dozens of villages. Another eruption, in 1928, cut off a rail route circling the mountain’s base.
