Facilities
Mountain Tour Guides of Etna Park
The mountain tour guides of Etna Park offer guidance services within the Park (guided visits, hikes, guide service for school groups during environmental education activities) and collaborate to carry out the Park Authority's institutional activities.
List of the Tour Guides
The Astrophysical Observatory
The story of the Observatory dedicated to Physical Astronomy on the Etna starts in 1880, when the first branch dedicated to Vincenzo Bellini was built at an altitude of 2,941 m above sea level, near Montagnola. The promoter was the astronomer from palermo Pietro Tacchini, who fostered and obtained the approval for the project by the Gioenia Academy in 1876. Thanks to the municipality and the Province of Catania, to the Ministry of Education and Agriculture, Industry and Trade, the Observatory was soon built under the guidance of Prof. Riccò.
The Bellini Observatory worked until 1925. The observation activities on the Etna started again in 1966, when Prof. Mario Girolamo Fracastoro and his collaborators opened the branches of the Astrophysical Observatory at the University of Catania and Serra la Nave, which later was dedicated to Fracastoro himself.
