Location

The “Osservatorio Vulcanologico Pizzi Deneri” was sponsored by Haroun Tazieff (engineer, agronomist and polish geologist naturalized Belgian and French), who was one of the fathers of Volcanology. It was built in 1978 by CNR - International Institute of Volcanology under the direction of Prof. Letterio Villari. It is located at the base of the North-East crater (2,850 m a.s.l.), near the Valle del Leone and it was built on the rim of the Ellittico caldera. It lies in a strategic location making it one of the most important sites of the INGV - Osservatorio Etneo for monitoring geophysical and volcanological research. In other words, the Pizzi Deneri observatory is a unique place close to the top of the most active volcano of Europe. Even though it is quite spartan as an accommodation facility, the dormitories, kitchen, seminar room and laboratory are well equipped. As for the view, it is a breath-taking panorama of the summit craters.