View of Etna from Bronte
Aderno stands on the site, and has preserved the name, of the ancient Sikelian city of Adranum (Αδρανον). According to Diodorus there existed here, from very early times, the temple of a local deity named Adranus. The city was founded by the elder Dionysius in 400 b.c.; it owed its importance to the renown of its temple, which was guarded by a thousand dogs. In 345 b.c. the city fell into the hands of Timoleon, and it was taken by the Romans at the commencement of the first Punic War. After this we cease to hear of it. The modern town was founded by Roger I. in the 12th century. The fine Norman tower—now used as a prison—and the monastery, were both built by King Roger.
After leaving Aderno the base-road ascends, turns nearly due north, and leads us past a number of lava streams, notably those of 1610, 1603, and 1651. A good view of Monte Minardo, and the minor cones in its more immediate neighbourhood, is obtained on the left, while on the right we see the Valley of the Simeto, and Centorbi high upon the hills.
Nearly due west of the great crater is the town of Bronte, which is 2,782 feet above the sea, and has a population of more than 15,000. It is a very primitive place, and several centuries behind the age; it reminded us forcibly, in one or two particulars, of Pompeii: the streets are narrow and tortuous, and the roadway very uneven. Awnings are sometimes hung across the street from side to side to provide shade. The shops are exactly like those at Pompeii; and in the main street we noticed an open-air kitchen, to which the would-be diner repairs, purchases a plateful of food, and eats it standing in the public way. The inn was even worse than that of Aderno, and apparently had never before received guests. We were offered one miserable room, without a lock to the door, and unprovided with either table or chair. Of course the bare idea of offering to procure, or furnish, or cook, any kind of food was too monstrous to be entertained for a moment. With difficulty the courier obtained some eggs, macaroni, and fruit, on which we dined in a small barn attached to a wine-shop.
At Bronte we are only nine miles from the crater, on the steepest side of the mountain, and near the Tertiary sandstone which underlies this portion of the mountain. A short distance outside the town we saw great beds of the lava of 1832, piled up fantastically in all sorts of forms, and excessively rugged and uneven. It is quite bare of vegetation, and does not appear to have even commenced to be decomposed.
Bronte gave its name to Lord Nelson, who was created Duke of Bronte by Ferdinand IV.:—an appropriate name for a great warrior (βροντη', thunder). The Nelson estates are scattered around the town.
On leaving Bronte the road conducted us past several high hills of sandstone and quartzite near Monte Rivoglia; then we passed near Maletto, and, leaving the malarious lake Gurrita on our left, we soon after arrived at Randazzo. Near Maletto the road reaches it highest point—3,852 feet.
The town of Randazzo was founded by the Lombards in the 10th century; during the Middle Ages it appears to have been a prosperous, populous, place; at present it possesses more than 8,000 inhabitants. The Emperor Frederick II. created his son Duke of Randazzo, and added to the name of the town, Etnea. It contains several very interesting architectural remains; a church of the 13th century, a mediæval palace—the Palazzo Finochiaro,—and a ducal palace now used as a prison. The houses are for the most part built of lava, and some of the shops have massive lava counters extending half across their open front, while the door occupies the remainder, as at Pompeii. The view from Randazzo is very fine in every direction; the crater of Etna appears near, and Monte Spagnuolo—many hours distant—just outside the town. The town is 2,718 feet above the sea, just above the Valley of the Alcantara—of which it commands a fine view, and also of the limestone hills on the other side.