Etna

The elders call it Mungibeddu, or simply ‘a Muntagna, for the world it is Etna. The elegant plume of smoke seems to be frescoed, the summit almost always white with snow, the isolated monolith stands out like a grand monument in the constantly changing landscape. A mountain within a mountain, a thousand-year-old agglomeration forming a single architectural colossus. A melting pot of ecosystems, on it coexist birch and glacial pine forests, chestnut and oak groves, even orchards, but it is the rough area with its lunar landscapes and black basalt that enchants with terror and amazes with power. It is the stone of Etna, which for centuries has been an integral part of the life and buildings of its entire territory, dyeing everything black. People too.