Fire-breathing mountains have always amazed the human imagination. The attitude towards volcanoes has always been ambiguous: on the one hand, they were feared, and not without reason, on the other, they tried to settle near them, because the soil fertilized with volcanic ash is very fertile.
Volcanoes are found on all continents, including even Antarctica. They also exist in Europe, but active volcanoes remained on the territory of only three states - Italy, Spain and Iceland. Most of them are located where two tectonic plates - African and Eurasian - touch.
Vesuvius
One of the most famous European volcanoes is Vesuvius. It is located 15 km from Naples. The area where Vesuvius is located has long been called the "Happy Campania" - because of the fertility of the soil. The height of the mountain is 1281 m.
Vesuvius is usually remembered in connection with the death of three ancient Roman cities - Pompeii, Herculaneum and Oplontis. This grandiose eruption happened in 79 AD. It is noteworthy that in Pompeii, according to written sources of that era, many more people lived than the remains were found (even if we consider that not all were found). This suggests that most of the residents left the city at the first sign of the eruption - those who underestimated the danger were killed.
The eruption of 79 AD is the most famous, but not the only eruption of Vesuvius. Scientists know about 80 eruptions, the last of which happened in 1944. Of course, it was not so destructive, but volcanologists do not exclude a repetition of the Pompeian catastrophe in the coming decades.
Vesuvius is also notable for the fact that it is the only active volcano in continental Europe, all others are located on islands.
Santorini
As terrible as the Pompeian tragedy was, it destroyed only three cities. But in Europe there is a volcano, "on conscience" of which the destruction of an entire civilization.
The volcano Santorini, located on the island of Thira in the Aegean Sea, erupted in historical time three times, but the most terrible eruption was in 1628. It provoked a huge tsunami wave, which caused the death of the Minoan civilization that existed in Crete. Some scholars consider this disaster to be the basis of the legend of Atlantis.
Etna
The highest volcano in Europe - Etna - is located on the island of Sicily near Messina. Etna is almost twice as high as Vesuvius - 3329 m.
Nobody knows the exact number of Etna's side volcanic craters: some researchers talk about 200, others - about 400 craters. Eruptions occur from different craters about once every 3 months.
Historians have recorded 200 eruptions of Etna. The first happened in 1226 BC, the last in October 2013. They differed in strength. For example, in 122, the city of Catania was almost completely destroyed, and later eruptions made Etna famous as a "friendly volcano" among local residents.
Eyjafjallajökull
One of the European states can be called a "land of volcanoes". We are talking about Iceland. Volcanic activity is ubiquitous in this island state. There are more than a hundred volcanoes on the 103,000 sq km island.
Paradoxically, in recent years, an unnamed Icelandic volcano has become the most famous. For convenience, it was called in the press by the name of the glacier where it is located - Eyjafjallajökull.
In 1821-1823. the eruption led to the dangerous melting of the glacier. The volcano reminded of itself again after almost 200 years of sleep - in 2010. The consequences of this eruption were felt in many countries of the world: the volcano threw out so much ash that the work of aviation throughout Europe was paralyzed for several days.
