Mount Etna lies on the coast of Sicily, a large island in the Ionian Sea. Etna is one of the most iconic and active volcanoes in the world; its eruptions - including both effusive and explosive eruptions from flank and central vents - have been recorded for 2,700 years . Since 1603, several large eruptions had occurred and volcanic activity also increased on Vulcanello in the Aeolian Islands; a similar concordance between activity at Etna and in the Aeolian Islands was also observed in 2002. During the two months before the 1669 eruption, the output of gas and steam from Etna's summit craters had been higher than usual.