Targa Malerba – Grotta Cassone

Meeting point: Euro Etna Tourism cabin, located next to Bar Esagonal, Piazzale Funivia.

Meet: at 10:00, delivery of equipment, bureaucratic formalities, latest information from the volcanological bulletin of the NIGV of Catania and delivery of tickets.

Departure: 10:30.

The itinerary of this excursion is quite easy, on the way we admire the Valle del Bove, and with a bit of luck you will be able to admire the flight of the kestrel or the buzzard.

Continuing along the trail, we will reach the edge of the Valle del Bove, an ideal place for those who want to observe up close the 2017 eruptions. The basin, measuring eight kilometers long and five wide, is covered with lava from the 1991 – 1993 eruption. It represents a natural barrier to magmatic events that may threaten the inhabited centers nearby.

After three hours of hiking we will reach our starting point, from which our shuttle will take you to visit the “Cassone Cave”. This peculiar cave with its tubular form, formed during the eruption of 1792, was discovered by accident during the construction of the provincial road.
The size and length of the cave are remarkable, and it is indeed possible to stand normally almost all the way through. It is a lava flow tunnel, and the floor is made up of scoriaceous lava, while at some points corded lava can be found.

After visiting the cave, we will go to one of the eruptive fractures created during the 1892 volcanic event. Here are the most visited explosive craters on the whole of Mt. Etna, and our volcanological guides will reveal the secrets and wonders of their formation.