LOCATED ONLY 13 KM. FROM THE SEA AND FROM THE CENTRAL CRATER OF EUROPE’S LARGEST ACTIVE VOLCANO. MOUNT ETNA IN ITS MIGHTINESS SEEMS TO WATCH OVER THIS LOVELY TOWN. THE FERTILISING CINDERS, SPREAD OUT WITH THREATENING YET AT THE SAME TIME REASSURING ROARS, MAKE THE CROPS HERE ABUNDANT. ITS STREETS AND NARROW LANES ARE FASCINATING, WITNESSES OF AN AGRICULTURAL CULTURE WHICH HAS LIVED AND CONTINUES TO LIVE INTENSELY THE STORIES AND LEGENDS OF LINGUAGLOSSA.

One of the symbols of Sicily, the largest active volcano in Europe gives visitors the possibility of climbing to its main crater 3,335 metres up.  Clothed in 58,000 hectares of national park, it offers numerous excursions and is visited by thousands of tourists each year. One of the most popular excursions is the walk from Zafferana to the Valle del Bove, the southeastern bowl of Etna shaped by the eruptions of 1992 and 2001.  Not to be missed is the excursion towards the great craters of the summit, which can be reached from the Rifugio Sapienza (damaged by the most recent eruption), from the Rifugio Citelli and from Piano Provenzana.  Also recommended is the tour around the mountain from the Rifugio Sapienza, via the Rifugio Monte Scavo and Piano Provenzana, to the ex-Rifugio Menza.  The numerous lava caves are also worthy of note.

Perched on top of a rocky spur that dominates the Alcantara Valley, the town was founded by the Greeks, who built fortified military positions there.  It was a city of the court under the Normans and the Swabians and then a feud from the 13th century onwards. The medieval layout of the town still remains. Nearby, the famous Gorges of the Alcantara, 20 metres deep, were carved out of the black basalt by the impetuous waters of the river of the same name to produce a truly fascinating natural spectacle.