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On the western slope of Mount Etna , a farmer moves slowly between his pistachio trees . The ground under his boots is not soil but black rock , hardened lava from old eruptions . Above the branches , the summit of the volcano sends a thin line of smoke into the Sicilian sky . Etna is the highest active volcano in Europe , standing roughly 3,300 meters tall . Its exact height keeps changing , because every big eruption reshapes the summit . In 2013 , UNESCO added the mountain to its World Heritage list . The farmer works near Bronte , the town that produces most of Italy 's pistachios . The local nut is so valuable that people call it green gold . It holds DOP status , a protected label , and sells for several times the price of ordinary pistachios . His trees grow in a field of hardened lava , and their roots reach into cracks in the rock . The harvest comes only in odd - numbered years , such as 2025 , so the trees can rest in between . The rest lets the trees save their energy , and the Bronte pistachio is famous for its deep green color . The same mountain has often destroyed what people built . In 1669 , Etna 's largest historical eruption sent rivers of lava down into the city of Catania . Catania rebuilt itself in dark lava stone , and its symbol , an elephant statue , is carved from that same rock . Yet Etna 's ash and rock also break down into some of the richest soil in Italy , feeding citrus groves and the Etna vineyards . That is the strange bargain of life on a volcano : the mountain that destroys also feeds . In his field of black stone , the farmer checks his branches and waits for the next odd year . The old lava lies under his feet , and soon the green gold will shine in his hands again .
