Springtime volcanic landscape on Etna by Silva Wischeropp

This lovely spring landscape on the Etna volcano was taken in the early afternoon hours of 19 April 2013 with the Nikon D90.

Mount Etna (also known as Mongibello in Italian) is the highest active volcano in Europe at around 3357 metres (2021) above sea level. It is located on the Italian island of Sicily in the administrative unit of the metropolitan city of Catania. In June 2013, UNESCO inscribed Etna on the World Natural Heritage List.
Etna has four summit craters: the main crater, the "Bocca Nuova" (new vent) crater from 1968 directly next to it, as well as the northeast crater from 1911 and the southeast crater from 1979, which are located slightly away from the main crater. However, lava is usually ejected during an eruption not via the summit craters, but on the flanks of the mountain cone.
Over the millennia, some 400 secondary craters have formed as a result, such as the Silvestri Mountains in 1892.
The height of Etna fluctuates around 3350 metres and changes often due to cinder cones and destructive eruptions. The Etna mountain range covers an area of about 1250 square kilometres and has a circumference of about 250 kilometres.

The area around Etna, which is characterised by lava rock and therefore extremely fertile, has always had a fauna and flora that is hardly comparable and unique in Europe in this form. However, the rapid development of the area with paved roads and by means of forest clearing as well as unrestricted hunting in this area raised great concerns about the continued existence of this habitat, which is why the regional park Parco dell'Etna was established in 1987 on an area of over 580 square kilometres around Mount Etna.