The lands that surround Catania and Mount Etna in Sicily have been farmed since the Neolithic; indeed, they’re home to the oldest agricultural civilization on the island. The land is so fertile thanks to volcanic soils; vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain, the highest active volcano in Europe, and the broad plain of Catania to the south.

This part of eastern Sicily was the first to be colonized by the Greeks, and, in the 8th century. B.C., wine was already produced here. You can discover the local history of wine, and taste it too, on the ‘Etna Wine Route,’ which, on board a historic train and a ‘wine bus,’ takes visitors on a tour of wineries, farms, and restaurants, while admiring changing scenery that alternates between mountain to sea.