IL Vulcano Mayon è un cono praticamente perfetto e si erge per ben 2462 metri in una tranquilla pianura piene di risaie nella regione di Bicol, a sud di Manila. E’ il vulcano più attivo delle Filippine. Secondo un’ antica leggenda filippina, il Mayon sorgerebbe sulla tomba di Daragang Magayon, la bella figlia di un capo tribù locale. Uccisa durante una contesa amorosa, la giovane fu seppellita con i doni dei suoi ammiratori. E’ per questo che quando il vulcano si sveglia sputando colonne di ceneri e fiumi di lava, si dice sia mosso dallo spirito di un pretendente rifiutato che cerca di riavere indietro i suoi regali.
Mayon Volcano or Mount Mayon (in Filipino Bulkang Mayon), is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol Region, on the large island of Luzon in the Philippines. Its current elevation is 2,463. Renowned as the “perfect cone” because of its symmetric conical shape, the volcano and its surrounding landscape was declared a national park on July 20 of 1938, the first in the nation. It was reclassified a Natural Park and renamed as the Mayon Volcano Natural Park in 2000. Local folklore refers to the volcano being named after the legendary princess-heroine Daragang Magayon ( in English: Beautiful Lady).
Mayon is the main landmark and highest point of the province of Albay and the whole Bicol Region in the Philippines.
This volcano is located on a convergent boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Plate. The lighter continental plate floats over top of the oceanic plate, forcing it down, and allowing magma to well up from the Earth’s interior. This make Mayon a very active volcano; in fact, it’s the most active volcano in the Philippines, having erupted 47 times in the last 400 years. The first recorded eruption was in 1616, and the last major eruption was on October 1st, 2006.
The most devastating eruption happened on February 1st, 1814 when ash and tephra rained down around the volcano, burying a nearby town to a depth of 9 meters. 2,200 people died.
Mayon Volcano has a perfect cone shape, and hasn’t suffered any major slides or collapses of its cone. Climbing Mount Mayon takes about 2 days to climb, with the final ascent up a 40-degree slope of volcanic cinder and lava sand.
It’s more fun in the Philippines.
