Clinging on the steep slope below the sharp peak of Monte Zoccolaro, the asymmetrical cone of Monte Pomiciaro can be seen in the center of this image, taken on the evening of 5 May 2000 from the southern crest of the Valle del Bove near the head of the "Acqua della Rocca" valley, about 1 km to the WSW. The floor of the Valle del Bove, covered with dark lava of the 1991-1993 eruption, is seen at left, and in the distance lie the lower portions of the northern rim of the Valle del Bove

Mamma Etna's countless children
Monte Pomiciaro
SE flank, 15.056554° E, 37.712243° N
summit elevation: 1715 m

One of the most popular outlooks on the south rim of the Valle del Bove is Monte Zoccolaro, a sharp peak rising to 1736 m elevation above the town of Zafferana. Immediately below it to the south, at a distance of about 200 m, a relatively flat, rounded cone sits on the steep outer slope of the Valle del Bove, which is known as Monte Pomiciaro (another cone of this name lies near the town of Linguaglossa, on the lower northeast side of Etna). Its summit stands only about 15 m above its northern base, and a poorly defined, shallow crater is open to the south, developping into a ravine. Monte Pomiciaro is certainly very old and strongly degraded, but possibly of Holocene age; a lava flow extending from it about 1.5 km to the southeast is shown on the 1979 geological map of Mount Etna.
I have passed close to Monte Pomiciaro several times when climbing to nearby Monte Zoccolaro (which is not a cone but simply a spur on the southern rim of the Valle del Bove), but since this was always during the night, I did not obtain any close-up photography. The two photos shown on this page were taken from a certain distance to the west and southeast, in 2000 and 2001.

In this view taken from the southeast (at a distance of approximately 1 km) on 6 March 2001, Monte Pomiciaro is the rounded hill seen at left, while the slightly higher crest at right is Monte Zoccolaro, which marks the south rim of the Valle del bove. In the foreground there are fruit gardens and isolated land houses belonging to the territory of Zafferana

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Copyright © Boris Behncke, "Italy's Volcanoes: The Cradle of Volcanology"