Vulcano

40 minutes from Milazzo by hydro-plane, lies the island of Vulcano, where Africa smashes into the Eurasian plate, (which Africans are still doing.)
True to form, the ancient Greek imaginative name was Thérmessa (source of heat). The island appeared in their myths as the private foundry of the Olympian god Hephaestus, the patron of blacksmiths.
Similarly, the Romans believed that Vulcano was the chimney of the god Vulcan's workshop and therefore named the island after him. The island had grown due to his periodic clearing of cinders and ashes from his forge. The earthquakes that either preceded or accompanied the explosions of ash were considered to be due to Vulcan making weapons for the god Mars and his armies to wage war.
The most recently active centre is the Gran Cratere at the top of the Fossa cone, the cone having grown in the Lentia Caldera in the middle of the island, and has had at least nine major eruptions in the last 6000 years.
At the north of the island is Vulcanello (123 m (404 ft)), connected to the rest of it by an isthmus which is flooded in bad weather. It emerged from the sea during an eruption in 183 BCE as a separate islet. Occasional eruptions from its three cones with both pyroclastic flow deposits and lavas occurred from then until 1550, with the last eruption creating a narrow isthmus connecting it to Vulcano.
I was one of the first visitors to arrive today, and consequently was able to wander around alone. Of course, the mud bath was closed but did not look as inviting as I thought it might be. Since one emerges from a dip smelling strongly of sulpher and not having shower facilities anywhere at my disposal, I passed on without indulging myself. One doesn't want to walk around smelling like hell.
The island is famed, at least in the guide book, for its black beaches. If they had a radio show here it would be called Deserted Island Disks.Leggi altro