volcano number: 0101-05= (according to Volcanoes of the World, 1994 edition)
summit elevation: 500 m
location: 38.404°N, 14.962°E
Photo above: Vulcano, the southernmost island of the Eolie, has given name to all volcanoes in the world. Site of spectacular activity in the Ancient times and through the 19th century, the crater visible in this photo (Gran Cratere or Fossa Grande) has last erupted in 1888-1890. The long repose period since then and the charm of the place has allowed the rapid development of a settlement, merely a cluster of small houses thirty years ago, now an ever-growing accumulation of villas and hotels. Second to Vesuvio, this is Italy's most dangerous volcano due to the presence of this community in a more-than-irrational proximity to the crater.
The Gran Cratere is filling the foreground of this image; behind (and slightly to the right) lies the peninsula of Vulcanello, formed only during the past <2500 years; in the central background is the complex island of Lipari with its Monte S. Angelo forming what appears to be the highest point (although that is Monte Chirica, at 602 m). The twinned cones of Salina's Monte dei Porri (left) and Monte Fossa delle Felci form the left skyline. Image was taken from below the highest part of Gran Cratere (391 m) on 18 April 1995.
Vulcano is seen here from the northwest, with the steaming Gran Cratere in the center and Vulcanello visible to the left. The high peak on the right margin of the image is Monte Saraceno (481), a high part of the oldest, "Piano" stage of Vulcano complex. The photo was taken on 28 August 1991.
Vulcano seen from Monte Guardia (Lipari) on the afternoon of 5 November 1990. Vulcanello forms the peninsula in the foreground of the main Fossa cone. Note white building on the southernmost crest of Lipari, this is the Volcanological Observatory of Lipari maintained by the Consiglio della Ricerca, Italy.
View from N rim of Fossa crater over the village of Vulcano Porto towards the pensinsula of Vulcanello. Lipari is visible in the central background, Salina at left (with Monte dei Porri at left and Monte Fossa delle Felci at right), Panarea is at the extreme right. Taken on 13 September 1995.
As mentioned above, the village of Vulcano Porto lies immediately below the Gran Cratere. This is dramatically illustrated in this photo (of March 1992) taken from the steaming crater rim and looking down on the houses of the village and the harbor of Porto Levante (right). The conspicuous rocky feature visible in the right part of the photo is the "Faraglione", an eroded remainder of a small volcanic cone.
This is the largest of the famous breadcrust bombs ejected during the 1888-1890 eruption from Fosa Grande (the crater visible in the background). Giada gives scale. This bomb didn't make it far away from the crater, but smaller ones fell abundantly in the area now occupied by the village of Vulcano Porto. 18 April 1995.
Sulfur deposits on the N rim of the Gran Cratere, September 1995. Much of this area has not been visible due to dense steam clouds in the past years; the diminished fumarolic activity of 1995 makes the fumarolic area more accessible.
20 September 1989
30 March 1990
6 November 1990
18 March 1992
18 April 1995
13 September 1995
Comparative views of the N part of the Gran Cratere, from September 1989 until September 1995, showing variations in fumarolic activity. All images were taken from the highest point of the crater rim on its SE side. Note village of Vulcano Porto in the background.
One of the major attractions of Vulcano, the hot mudpond on the isthmus between Vulcano and Vulcanello has already been inviting to the Romans. This view is taken from the strongly altered remains of a tuff cone (Faraglione) whose colorful landscape is visible in the foreground, 13 September 1995. Note the building under construction in the background: this is the "Casa Inglese", the house of the owner (an Englishman) of the sulfur mines before the 1888-1890 eruptions of the Fossa volcano. This historic building has for a long time been quite ignored.
This is the place where I saw Giada for the very first time (on 6 November 1990): she was taking a bath in the right hand corner of the mudpond, together with her mother. But that's another story...
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This page was last modified 17 December 1995