Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Etna

The area was inhabited by the Siculi even before the Greeks arrived on the Sicilian coast in 734 BC to found Naxos. After Dionysius I of Syracuse destroyed Naxos in 403 BC a new settlement got established on the nearby Mount Taurus which gradually grew up into the city of "Tauromenium" (= Taormina). It developed into a prospering city in Greek and later Roman times when it was only one of the three cities in Sicily which enjoyed the privileges of a "civitas foederata". After the fall of the Roman Empire, Taormina continued to rank as one of the important towns, and because of the strength of its position was one of the last places that was retained by the Byzantine emperors. It was finally taken by the Fatimids in 962 after a siege of 30 weeks. In 1078 it was captured by the Norman count Roger I of Sicily. In the end of the 18th century Northern European travellers started to visit (and write about) Taormina. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited in 1786, and Henry Swinburne´s "Travels in the two Sicilies" was published in 1783. In the 19th century Taormina was part of the "Grand Tour" and international nobility and celebrity visited and often settled. Mount Etna, seen from Taormina I have already uploaded a lot of photos previously taken in Sicily. Now I will add only a few. If you want to see more, follow this link: www.ipernity.com/doc/323415/album/1238300

Castiglione di Sicilia is on the northern slopes of Mount Etna. In 710 BC the Greeks navigated the river. The area was founded in 496 BC. permanently settled. by displaced residents of Naxos. It was a Greek colony, later an Arab fortress and in the early Middle Ages a Norman city. Ancient tales tell that the Arabians once bred crocodiles in the Alcantara River. Castiglione di Sicilia reached its heyday after the expulsion of the Arabs by the Normans. In 1233 Frederick used the castle as a summer residence.

In February 2022, Mount Etna erupted with a volcanic thunderstorm. It wasn't a big eruption, but we decided to circle the mountain (by car). Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity. I have already uploaded a lot of photos previously taken in Sicily. Now I will add only a few. If you want to see more, follow this link: www.ipernity.com/doc/323415/album/1238300

Enna rises in the highest part of a wide ridge at 931 m above sea level. As it is located in the center of Sicily it is nicknamed "L'ombelico della Sicilia", the navel of Sicily. Another name sometimes used for Enna is "Belvedere", as you have the best view from here, where you can even see Etna, smoking in a distance.