The largest island in the Mediterranean
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean with 25,500 km2, Sardinia being slightly smaller with almost 24,000 km2. It actually reaches 25,740 km² with the small satellite islands that depend on it: the archipelagos of the Aeolian Islands in the northeast, the Egadi Islands in the west and Pelagia in the south. It stretches over 300 km from east to west and its width varies from 50 to 190 km. Its triangular shape earned it during the Greek Antiquity the name of Trinacria, which means "the island with three points". It is bordered to the north by the Tyrrhenian Sea and to the east by the Ionian Sea. It is located at the end of the Italian Botte, separated from the east of the rest of Italy by the Strait of Messina, only 3 km wide. To the southwest, a much more important strait, that of Sicily, separates it from Tunisia.
The volcanoes: Etna, Stromboli and Vulcano
Located at the meeting of the Eurasian and African plates, Sicily is a volcanic island characterized by three types of volcanoes. The northeast of the island is dominated by the giant Etna. It has a typology of basaltic lava eruptions interspersed with periods of inactivity. Also called "the mountain of mountains", it is the highest volcano in Europe. The giant culminates at 3 350 m and extends for almost 1 600 km. Its appearance dates back to nearly 300,000 years. With about 100 eruptions in the 20th century, Etna is considered one of the most active volcanoes in the world. It continues to change over time and its activity. At present, its summit is pierced by five summit craters: the North-East crater (1911), the central crater (1945), the Bocca Nuova (1968) and the South-East crater (1971), the last one to date, the new South-East cone having appeared in 2007 at the eastern foot of the old one, has been regularly active since then. Great tourist attraction, Etna welcomes every year thousands of curious and amateurs. This is why the site was declared a natural park in 1981, in order to limit and better control the influx of tourists. Slumbering most of the time, it sometimes wakes up suddenly, endangering the villages installed over the centuries on its fertile slopes still exploited. In 2017, three volcanic episodes took place, the last of which injured a dozen people, surprised by a rain of lava. In 2018 and 2019, there was another one. The last notable eruption was in September 2019.
Two other volcanoes deserve special attention in Sicily: Stromboli and Vulcano, located on the eponymous Aeolian Islands. Stromboli, which gave its scientific name to this type of volcano (Strombolian), has continuous eruptions of lava fountains, sound and explosive as fire sprays very spectacular. Finally, Vulcano has a type of explosive or plinian. It is a dangerous volcano called "pressure cooker". The magma is very viscous and therefore under pressure. It causes gas emanations (sulfur) and stone jets, and the apparent calm can at any time degenerate into powerful and violent eruptions.
The mountains of the Apennine arc
Crossed by a resurgence of the Apennine arc, which goes from the region of Calabria to Tunisia, Sicily is not only a volcanic island but also mountainous. It is formed by a high, rugged plateau that rises approximately between 600 and 700 meters above sea level, sloping from north to south and curving from the edges of the island towards the center. It is therefore mainly elevated in its northern part, along the coastline. From east to west, from Messina to Palermo, there are three mountain ranges with a particularly tormented relief, whose altitude does not exceed 2,000 meters. This chain is formed by primitive and crystalline rocks, covered by calcareous layers and marble rocks. We can distinguish the Peloritan Mountains, the Nebrodi Mountains and the Madonie Mountains. Here we find the oldest rocks of Sicily, but also many fossils in the limestone areas. The highest peak is the Pizzo Carbonara in the Madonie mountains, with its 1,979 meters of altitude, it is the second highest peak after Etna. However, these mountains seem modest next to the volcanic chain.
Further west, we find reliefs with more moderate altitudes: the mountains of Trapani and those of Palermo. These various crystalline, schistose and even calcareous mountain ranges produce landscapes that are often arid, close to desolation, pierced by numerous caves and gorges. As for the interior of the island, it is composed almost exclusively of hills and arid plateaus that in some places reach respectable altitudes.
The plains
Rather mountainous, only 15% of Sicily's territory is covered by plains. Mostly coastal or riverine, they obviously concentrate almost all of the island's agricultural activity, as well as the vast majority of the human habitat. Among the most important is the plain of Catania, named after the provincial capital, the richest Sicilian plain. It was formed and fed by the alluvium of the river Simento and the deposits of nearby Etna. There is also the coastal plain of the Conca d'Oro, surrounding the mountainous Palermo.
The rivers
Sicily is an arid land because of the scarcity of rainfall. It is mainly in winter and autumn that the rain falls, it comes then to swell the rivers, provoking sometimes floods. The slope of the Tyrrhenian Sea in the north is very steep, formed by lands of primitive formation. It is watered only by Apennine torrents or fiumare, whose course is very limited, even non-existent in summer. The main ones are the fiume Ficara, the fiume dell'Amendola, which ends in Termini lmerese, the fiume Torto, the fiume Grande and the fiume Pollina. On the side of the Ionian Sea, the only notable rivers are the Alcantara, the Etna, the Agrò, the Ciane and the Anapo, the Simeto, whose course of 116 km has the largest catchment area of the island, and above all the Salso, the longest river in Sicily (144 km), also called the southern Imera, which flows into Licata. On the side facing Tunisia, the rivers almost always have plenty of water, thanks to the presence of numerous porous limestone rocks, but none of them is navigable. The main ones are the Platani (110 km), the Erminio, the Diriilo and the Belice. There are few lakes or marshes in Sicily. We can mention the lake of Lentini, not far from Syracuse, the lake of Pergusa, near Caltanisetta, and the lake of Palici, near Catania.
The Aeolian Islands
The 7 islets that make up the Aeolian archipelago are dominated, in the distance, by the summit of Mount Etna. There are actually 17 volcanic islands born from the subduction of the Ionian plate against the African shield, but only seven of them are inhabited. The main ones are Lipari, Salina, Vulcano, Stromboli, Panarea, Filicudi and Alicudi. Lipari is the largest and most populated of the Aeolian Islands (37.6 km2 and 11,500 inhabitants). Vulcano the boiling one, with its sulfurous waters, its vapors and its smokes, its bare hills and its wild corners, is the most volcanic of the seven islands but also the most dangerous. On 21 km2 there are two active volcanoes: Vulcanello and Fossa di Vulcano. Despite this permanent threat, the 717 inhabitants, the Vulcarani, live peacefully. At the same time rural, wooded and maritime, Salina is an exception among its sisters by its greenery, its intense cultures and the profusion of its fresh water. It is the second largest island of the archipelago (27 km2) and has 2,300 inhabitants. Mountainous, it is the highest of the islands, with the Fossa delle Felci mounts which culminate at 962 m. Panarea is the smallest of the archipelago with an area of just over 3 km2. It is also the lowest. Its ancient name, Euonymos, meant "auspicious", while its current name means "all smashed", probably because of the small islands that surround it and that look like a puzzle scattered in the sea. The island of Stromboli, natural lighthouse of the Tyrrhenian Sea with its summit haloed by fire, is a real phenomenon. Composed mainly of a volcano that has been in permanent activity for 2,000 to 3,000 years, it draws an almost perfect cone in the middle of the water. Alicudi is the most western island of the archipelago. It is as small as Panarea (5.2 km2) and has only 150 inhabitants in low season. Alicudi, of volcanic origin, draws a cone in the Tyrrhenian Sea, like its big sister Stromboli, and reaches an altitude of 675 meters.
The Egadi Islands
The archipelago of the Egadi Islands is composed of the main islands of Favignana, Levanzo and Marettimo, but also of the Stagnone: Isola Grande, La Schola, Isola San Pantaleo and Santa Maria, and six rocky islets: Maraone, Galeotta, Galera, Formica, Fariglione and Preveto. Favignana, the main island, is very flat, it is only 19 km2. It has 4,300 inhabitants and a coastline of 33 km very indented, composed of caves and beautiful beaches of turquoise water. The island of Marèttimo rises to 686 meters on Monte Falcone. It stretches over an area of 12.3 km². Levanzo is the smallest of the Egadi islands with an area of 5 km2.
Pantelleria, the isolated island
It is an Italian island located 72 km from Ras El Melah (Cape Bon peninsula), in Tunisia, and 101 km from the beach of Puzziteddu (around Cape Granitola), in Sicily. It is therefore isolated and is not part of an archipelago, between the Egadi Islands and the Pelagie Islands. With an area of 83 km2, the island is the emerged part of a volcanic complex that is part of an underwater continental rift.
The Pelagie Islands
Located in the south of Sicily, not far from the Tunisian coast, this archipelago includes the islands of Linosa, Lampedusa and Lampione. Lampedusa is a calcareous island with coasts falling steeply into the sea. The vegetation is rare. With its 10.8 km length and its 3.6 km width, it is the largest island of the archipelago. Its highest point is 133 meters. Linosa has a quadrangular shape and extends over 3.4 km long and 2.7 km wide, or about 5 km2. Its volcanic origin is evident in the two craters of Monte Vulcano, the highest peak on the island, which reaches 195 meters, and Montagna Rossa (186 meters). Lava is present everywhere on the island. Lampione, northwest of Lampedusa, is just a rock with a lighthouse.
