Etna Lava Tubes Project was born with the aim of spreading knowledge of little-known or unpublished Etna caves.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 Below we report a census of little-known caves - for which information is not available elsewhere - or unpublished discovered by our team in particular by the founders of EtnaExcursion.it Dario & Paolo Teri.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
Timparossa Cave (Niviera?)
Etna North – Castiglione di Sicilia Coordinates: 33S 501435E 4184455N (Utm Wgs84) | 37°48'27.1″N 15°00'58.8″E
ELEVATION: 2020 m
Development: approximately 12m.
Nearest known location: Monte Timparossa
Exploration: visitable with only helmet and lights.
Taken over by Dario Teri and Damiano Teri (on 13.10.2019/XNUMX/XNUMX)
Notified to the relevant municipality on \\
This small but interesting cave of modest dimensions develops on ancient lavas, presumably from 1614, surrounded by more recent lavas from 1947. The cavity develops on a single room rather large and high but that overall does not exceed 15 meters of development. However, there is a dry wall inside that could suggest its use as a sheepfold or more probably as a snow deposit (niviera) and watering place for flocks in the summer months, something that happened frequently in the past. In fact, nearby there are several mule tracks coming from Mount Timparossa that today are lost in the growing beech forest. Therefore it is not an unexplored cave, but little known due to its location far from the most common paths and at the time of writing it would not be registered or indicated on any map, even if it is very likely that it could be known and named in dialect by veteran tradesmen (shepherds or mushroom pickers) of the area. For this reason it was preferred to give it a simple name linked to the topography of the places.
Dario Teri 13 October 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.