South flank of the prehistoric and strongly terraced complex cone of Monte Troina near the town of Pedara, with the snow-covered main edifice of Mount Etna in the background, 12 May 1996. Monte Troina consists of several nested cones, the southernmost of which, seen in this photograph, is open to the south and actually contains a small, horseshoe-shaped nested cone whose rim forms the sharp rim in the left portion of the image

Mamma Etna's countless children
Monte Troina
SE flank, 15.060314° E, 37.611419° N
Summit elevation: 632 m (SW crater rim)

Lying immediately to the south of the center of the town of Pedara, Monte Troina is a complex of three coalesced cones lying along a NNW-SSE-trending eruptive fissure with a minimum length of 700 m. The age of Monte Troina is certainly prehistoric, and it appears more strongly modified by agricultural activity than most other flank cones in the area. It is possible that further small edifices produced by the same eruption lie on the northern extension of the aforementioned fissure, beneath the historical center of Pedara.
The cone complex of Monte Troina has three major craters, the southernmost of which is open to the south and appears to contain, on its southern side, a small nested cone which is also open to the south; the shallow central crater has a prominent breach on its southeast side, while the equally shallow northernmost crater is inclined toward north. A sanctuary, unfortunately almost entirely constructed of concrete and thus aesthetically , lies on the northern rim of the northern crater. On the northern side, near the town of Pedara, the height of Monte Troina is only about 20 meters, but its summit stands nearly 100 m above the south base of the cone complex. At the south base of Monte Troina lies a peculiar, broad and irregularly shaped depression which might be a collapsed effusive vent or an explosion crater. An investigation of the deposits on the rims of the southern crater failed to reveal any lithic material that would have been ejected from a nearby explosion crater, so that an origin by collapse of the depression at the south base is more likely.
I first climbed Monte Troina on 5 March 2004, when most of the photographs shown on this page were taken. Access to this complex of pyroclastic cones is relatively easy; a small footpath leads to the summit area immediately to the east of the concrete sanctuary on the northern side of the complex. Small tracks go across all of the summit area, whose vegetation is relatively sparse, and a visit to this area offers fine panoramic views over nearly all of the numerous pyroclastic cones on the southern and southeastern flank of Etna, and invites the visitor to marvel at the dense urbanization of the area.

Left: when seen from east, the elongated shape of the Monte Trigona cone cluster is quite evident. Actually it consists of two large and two small, partially overlapping or nested cones. Stadium of Pedara town is in the foreground Center: southeastern face of Monte Trigona, showing southern cone in foreground, and the narrow notch at left is a smaller crater surrounded by a low, horseshoe-shaped cone that lies within a larger crater open to the south. On the right side of the cone complex, another notch is seen opening in the southeast side of the central crater Right: silent neighbor with a violent past, Monte Troina rises behind the public garden of the town of Pedara. View is toward southwest. Photos taken 5 March 2004

Left and center: the smallest and northernmost of the three summit craters of Monte Troina is an extremely shallow depression showing an overall northward inclination. Left view is from southwest and right view from southeast rims of the crater, with different portions of the town of Pedara and several other flank cones in the background Right: largest of the three craters of Monte Troina, lying in the central portion of the cone complex. Notch in southeastern rim of this crater is seen at right. Photos taken 5 March 2004

Southernmost of the three Monte Troina craters. Left image is a view from its western rim toward east, center image is looking in opposite direction from east rim, and right image is a view down from the north rim through the breach in the south side of the crater. Note dense urbanization in background. Photos taken 5 March 2004

Left: difficult to recognize in photograph, but this view shows the nested "inner" southern crater, whose southward opening is seen as a kind of trench in the center of the image; rim of the "outer" southern crater is seen in center-left background Center: looking straight down through the open south side of the "inner" southern crater, onto the floor of a large depression that lies at the south base of Monte Troina - possibly a collapsed effusive vent Right: a more complete view of the depression at the south base of Monte Troina. The small dark cone of Monte Trigona can be seen in the distance, surrounded by buildings. Photos taken 5 March 2004

Continue to the Tre Monti

Return to the Etna flank cone index

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