Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: Mount 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. Isola Bella is located within a small bay on the Ionian Sea. Since 1990 it is a nature reserve, administrated by the Italian branch of the World Wide Fund for Nature. There is a narrow path that often connects the island to the mainland beach. The island is surrounded by sea grottos and has a small and rather rocky beach. 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

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

Reggio Calabria is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated population of nearly 200,000. Reggio is the oldest city in the region, and during ancient times, it was an important and flourishing colony of Magna Graecia. It is separated from the island of Sicily by the Strait of Messina. Today Reggio has a modern urban system, set up after the catastrophic earthquake of 1908, which destroyed most of the city. The seismicity is caused by Reggio being on the Eurasian Plate near the faultline where it meets the African Plate that runs through the strait, dividing the two European regions of Calabria and Sicily into two different tectonic regions. Reggio, located opposite Messina, always had strategic importance. Invasions by the Vandals, the Lombards, and the Goths occurred in the 5th–6th centuries. Then, under Byzantine rule, it became a metropolis of Byzantine possessions in Italy. Until the 15th century, Reggio was one of the most important Greek-rite Bishoprics in Italy. The Arabs occupied Reggio in 918. For brief periods in the 10th–11th centuries, the city was ruled by the Arabs and it became part of the Emirate of Sicily. In 1005, a Christian fleet coming from Pisa sacked the city and massacred all the Saracens to the great jubilation of the local population. In 1060 the Normans, under Robert Guiscard and Roger I of Sicily, captured Reggio. In 1194 Reggio and the whole of southern Italy went to the Hohenstaufen, who held it until 1266. In 1234 the town fair was established by decree of King Frederick II. Mount Etna is located on the Island of Sicily. Here the volcano is seen from Reggio Calabria in clear weather. In between the narrow Strait of Messina.