His Majesty Etna,

the highest active volcano in Europe with its 3,357 meters, leaves anyone who arrives in Sicily breathless. Contemplating this fascinating volcano from a helicopter is the most exciting way to grasp the striking beauty in its entirety.

From the spectacular lava fountains, which light up the placid night skies with red fire as if to emphasize the explosiveness of a land of strong contrasts, to the flows that run sinuously along the sides of the slopes of the volcano, creating a plot of incomparable beauty: a “dynamic” charm, as the profile and shapes of Etna are ever changing, constantly reshaped by continuous eruptions.

Sometimes the plume of smoke, tens and tens of kilometers long, paints the sky white and gray and, following the direction of the wind, not infrequently turns into a rain of ash that suddenly obscures the blue sky.

A show of such intensity reveals from above even more of its irrepressible splendor to our eyes. A few kilometers away from “A Muntagna”, as Etna is called by its inhabitants, stands the ancient Greek colony of Giardini Naxos, the starting point for an exciting helicopter flight, which allows you to admire the colorful palette of Etna from a privileged and unique point of view: the white of the snowy summit of the volcano in winter, with the smoking summit craters, the black of the lava rock and the gray of the ash of the Valle del Bove, suggestive caldera on the eastern side, the intense yellow of the Etna’s brush that blooms in the spring period and, at lower altitudes, the bright green of the forests of pines, oaks and chestnuts.

An explosion of colors in which the background is the intense blue of the sea, with the Aeolian Islands in the distance that appear drawn: a “picturesque” image, as would those illustrious travelers, intellectuals and writers who came to Sicily in the eighteenth century have defined it, remaining enraptured, during their “Grand Tour”, of which Etna was an essential stop.