Etna Lava Tubes Project was born with the aim of spreading knowledge of little-known or unpublished Etna caves.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 Below we report a census of little-known caves - for which information is not available elsewhere - or unpublished discovered by our team in particular by the founders of EtnaExcursion.it Dario & Paolo Teri.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.
Detected by Paolo Teri (on 15.4.2021)
Notified to the relevant municipality on \\
Grotta Paolino is located on the lava of the 1792/3 eruption, a few meters from the SP92 road (Via Cassone). It is easily reached by car, parking in an accessible recess. The cavity has a structure divided into two channels, the first of which, about 10 meters long, was already known and easily accessible and was in fact also used as a makeshift shelter, as evidenced by the presence of a small stone surface used as a table. The lava flow cave considered here is a second cave, which was not known, whose narrow entrance opens in a northerly direction a few meters from the previous channel. It is accessed from a crack only about 25 cm high and 3 meters wide which requires good contortion skills! This semi-hidden entrance probably made it difficult to locate the hypogeum even when passing close to it. Inside there is a classic lava flow channel with a height of about 2 meters, therefore passable for the entire length of more or less 45 meters, with the presence of flow streaks and lava remelting pendants. The cave does not appear to have been registered and has been named after the surveyor.
Dario Teri 15 April 2021 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.
Search your tour
How are volcanic caves formed?
Lava tubes are very common on Etna. They form during an eruption ...
Go to the article.
16th August 2023 – On August 14th there was a paroxysm (a “lightning” eruption) from the summit craters which has already ended. Everything falls within the normal Etna phenomena. There is no danger for the population and visitors. The excursions are taking place regularly. GO TO NEWS