In some areas of Sicily, some Roman villas dating back to the 3rd to 4th century AD have been identified.  A particularly well known seaside villa situated along the northern coast of Sicily is Patti Marina, in the town of Tindari. The excavations brought to light a vast area that might include bo...

The latifundium is a large agricultural plot of land, usually belonging to a single landowner. There was at least one large farm, called pars or villa rustica in Roman times, plus several houses for settlers and accommodation for the many slaves, who were essential for work in the fields. The harv...

The villa’s sector, located near the main residence, at the service of this and the territory is formed of areas for agricultural production, accommodation for the farmer, the vilicus, servants and other workers of the fundus, but also buildings for processing and storing products (mills, wine cel...

The villa rustica was used in the late Republican period (2nd to 1st century BC) as the residence of landowners directly overseeing farming activities. With the passing of time, in the imperial age and in the late antiquity period (from the 1st to the 4th century AD) the villa rustica took on the c...

Wolfgang Sartorius Von Waltershausen was a famous German geologist and astronomer who lived in 1800. His Der Aetna, recently translated from German, could be defined as the first truly scientific-volcanological treatise on Etna. Split into three volumes, it contained very accurate drawings of many...

From 1607 to 2000, Mount Etna emitted around 4.5 km3 of magma. However, 3 km3 was issued in 80 years between 1607 and 1689, and only 1.5 km3 in over 300 years. The duration of some eruptions lasting 10 years and the individual volumes of each eruption (up to 1 km3), are extraordinary parameters for ...

A paroxysm is an eruptive event of short duration but high intensity, especially in terms of explosiveness. It can create a fountain of lava reaching over 1 km in height, capable of fragmenting the magma very efficiently and forming large columns of ash that fall onto air traffic of the nearby airpo...

On 6 May 1787, the German writer climbed Mount Etna, or rather, the Monti Rossi (Red Mountains), which were formed following the lateral eruption of 1669. His tour of Sicily, the Grand Tour considered by many Central European intellectuals, especially French and German, as a compulsory stage of educ...

Mario Gemmellaro was born in Nicolosi in 1773 and was a scholar of natural history, physics and meteorology. He was also a famous volcanologist. His research on Etna began around 1800, probably following contact with great naturalist travellers such as Déodat de Dolomieu and Lazzaro Spallanzani. I...

Seismometers are instruments that record any vibrations in the Earth’s surface where they are installed, measuring the speed of oscillation and acceleration achieved by the ground. Old seismometers were very heavy, with a nib attached and, underneath, a paper roll firmly fixed to the ground. Mod...