Etna Lava Tubes Project was born with the aim of spreading knowledge of little-known or unpublished Etna caves. Natural phenomena among the most fascinating of our volcano. Many texts report that on Etna there are at least 260 known caves. In reality the formation of lava tubes is very common and the number of caves is destined to increase considerably. Below we report a census of little-known caves - for which information is not available elsewhere - or unpublished discovered by our team in particular by the founders of EtnaExcursion.it Dario & Paolo Teri. During an exploratory campaign that began "for fun" in 2018 and still (April 2023), about 70 have been found, not considered in the general count indicated above. Here we report only those considered most interesting from a naturalistic point of view. For the caves already surveyed we recommend a visit to EtnaNatura.it and Mungibeddu.it
Exploration: Easily accessible and visitable with just lights and helmet.
Taken over by Dario & Damiano Teri (on 19.07.2019)
The Nd was communicated to the relevant municipality
The cave is located in the upper part of the 1610 fracture described in the Grotta Cecilia inferiore file. It is a classic lava flow cave, with rather narrow access due to the low initial height of the vault which rises slightly after about 20 meters allowing easier walking inside. Fair development of about 70/80 meters overall. At least those detected, since the final part of the cave has a room where an obstruction has occurred and at the same time a second level located about 3/4 meters from the ground which could give access to a further development (to be verified with adequate equipment). Note: In addition to the position of the cave, which is not listed in any available source, the track of the path, also not marked, that allows the first visit to the Cecilia 1 Cave has also been reported on the Open Street Map. In this case, it could be a cave that has not been explored previously, even if probably known to the shepherds of the area, as the morphology and access to the cave do not lend themselves to human use. Furthermore, there were no cairns or other recent signs, therefore for easy cataloguing the name in question was given, dedicated to the daughter and sister of the person who discovered it on the same day as the lower Cecilia.
More info on https://www.etnaexcursion.it/le-grotte-vulcaniche/
Dario Teri 19 July 2019 Unseen & Little-Known Etna Caves No Responses
Do you want to visit the caves of Etna?
We organize cave excursions with expert guides. You could also request a guided tour with those who discovered it! See
Speleological tour in volcanic caves.
How are volcanic caves formed?
Lava tubes are very common on Etna. They form during an eruption ...
Go to the article.