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Palombe's Cave
Palombe's cave is a fracture cave originated from the famous eruption that, in 1669, covered most part of Catania. The same eruption gave birth to the Monti Rossi, in Nicolosi.
The first exploration was accomplished by Mario Gemmellaro and John Marshall in 1823. They arrived 120 meters and they left a plaque that testify their exploration (you can read on it " Marius Gemmellarus primus ima haec in tantara venit") but today this plaque is buried by large boulders of the vault.
The cave originated on an altitude of 980 metres above the sea and it has several pits. It extents for 730m and it has a declivity of 80m. After the first pit you can see a big room where, in 1962, the volcanologists built artificial walls in order to install some machine to record earthquakes.
After different descents and ascents you will find a big room with a lot of big boulders and you can see a plaque of the first exploration of our speleological group CAI CATANIA, that had place in 1945. |
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Ice Cave
It is an Ice cave characterized by having perennial ice and for this reason it is considered the southernmost glacier in Europe. It is stuated in Randazzo at 2046 metres above the sea. It originated by 1614 eruption and it extents for 125m withna declivity of 30m.
If you want to go in this cave you can go only summer because the entry is full of snow for the most part of the year. This cave is famous for the beautiful ice stalagtites and ice-covered walls.
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3 Levels Cave
The name indicate the morphological profile of the cave because there are three levels overlapping. The first pit is separated 60 metres from the second one while the third pit descends at a distance of 60 metres from the second one. All the three pits have a depth of about 7metres each. The cave took origin from the 1792 lavas and it was discovered during the works for the rebuilt of the SP92 road. It extents for 1110 m and it has a declivity of 305 m. It is the fourth largest volcanic cave in the world and the second longest in the Etna.
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KTM Cave
It originated from the eruption of 1792 and it is situated little far down the valley despite the 3 livelli cave, so that, at first, the specialists thaught of a possible joint for them. It is located at 1558 metres above the sea,. The cave entry opens with a little pit of 5 metres, then it extents for 650 metres and it has a declivity of 90 metres. The KTM cave is one of the most fascinating cave in the Etna, thanks to the big variety of beautiful speleothemes. |
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Gallo Bianco Cave
The Gallo Bianco caves are located in the township of Adrano. To reach them, you have to walk up a long lava canyon until you reach an impressive lava arch, which is what remains of a large collapsed lava tube.
Further on, along the canyon, two lava tubes can be seen. These are lava flow caves, 60 meters long, with a marked slope. Both end after a narrow passage that brings to a slightly larger hall. |
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Burro' Cave
This is a large lava tube cave, 250 meters long with a difference of 47 meters between the highest and the lowest point. The entrance is located inside a large depression in which two large holm oaks have grown.
The initial part of the cave presents many collapses on the floor whereas, in the final stretch, there are many puddles of water and mud.
In the middle part of the cavity a large lamina detached from one of the walls and, leaning against the opposite side, produced some sort of elevated room. About 30 meters further down, a rock pillar separates the tunnel into 2 small parallel tunnels.
The cave has a large colony of bats of different species. |
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Ampudda di Pisciteddu Cave and Taddariti Cave
These caves are lava flow tunnels dating back to the famous eruption of 1669 that destroyed many small villages and reached the town of Catania.
The entrances of the caves are skylight windows caused by collapses of the lava tube vault. Inside both cavities it is possible to observe flow linings and remelting stalactites. At the end of the tunnel, the Ampudda du Pisciteddu cave has a small wooden door, placed laterally to the tunnel.
From this door the citizens of Catania entered the cave during the World War II because this cave was used as a shelter from the Anglo-American bombings.
The origin of the name of the Taddariti cave derives from the presence of a large colony of bats that, in the past, lived inside the cave. In Sicilian dialect they are called "taddariti". Today, unfortunately, only a few isolated specimens have remained of the large bat colony due to the disturbance caused by external works. |
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