INEXHAUSTIBLE ITALY 



365 



countless and endless little irrigation 

 ditches; Monza, where King Humbert Fs 

 crown was snatched from him by the as- 

 sassin's bullet. 



Garda, Idro, Iseo, Como, Lugano, Mag- 

 giore, and Orta ! How can any pen give 

 a true picture of these exquisite sheets of 

 water, now sapphire, now emerald, now 

 iridescent as opals in the sun ; here bound 

 by wild, irregular shores, here by lux- 

 uriant gardens ; splashed with the color 

 of countless sunny villas, red-roofed and 

 tinted of wall ; guarded by old castles 

 that molder in grim beauty upon their 

 grimmer heights !* 



SUPERB VISTAS 



The islands afford superb vistas of 

 shore and mountain, but the climax is 

 the panorama from the top of bald, 

 windy old Monte Mottarone. From its 

 bleak crown the eye includes in one 

 splendid sweep the lovely lakes and 

 the whole vast plain of Lombardy and 

 Piedmont, with the white, glistening, pin- 

 nacled jewel of Milan Cathedral resting 

 lightly as a white dove in the center — the 

 genius of Man complementing the glori- 

 ous works of Nature. , 



It would be difficult indeed to find two 

 other contiguous regions so entirely dif- 

 ferent geographically as the two north- 

 western provinces of Italy, Piedmont and 

 Liguria : one a vast bowl, into which are 

 gathered the slender little blue threads 

 that unite in the greater cable of the 

 mighty Po, thus once again emphasizing 

 the geographical dominance of that re- 

 markable stream ; the other almost all 

 straight up and down — mountain piled 

 upon mountain, with a narrow strip of 

 littoral which takes tribute from all the 

 world — the Riviera (see map, page 360). 



Around three sides of the Piedmon- 

 tese bowl the Alps fling a towering 

 barrier, leaving the fertile, rolling plain 

 open only toward the valley of the 

 Po on the east. One feature that at- 

 tracts attention inevitably is the way it is 

 settled. The people live in villages or 

 communes almost entirely — a condition 

 due to the unfortunate insecurity which 



*For a description of the Italian lakes and 

 Verona and other towns of northern Italy, see 

 "Frontier Cities of Italy," by Florence Craig 

 Albrecht, with 44 illustrations, in the lune, 

 1915, National Geographic Magazine. 



for ages made the peasantry huddle to- 

 gether for mutual protection. 



GENOA "LA. SUPERBa" 



Piedmont never touches the coast, and 

 what it has left, mostly mountains and 

 beach, makes up the narrow province of 

 Liguria, whose boundary leaps along the 

 mountain tops like a frightened chamois. 

 It is a region at once remarkably favored 

 and hindered by Nature. 



Near the middle of the strip is Genoa, 

 the only great community on this rugged 

 coast, a wonderful crescent city climbing 

 the hills which protect that magnificent 

 harbor the Greek adventurers of 2,500 

 years ago discovered and settled. Be- 

 hind the town, now close to the houses, 

 now in wide open spaces, a mighty de- 

 fensive wall runs along over hill and dale 

 for nearly 12 miles, defended by the 

 great fort called the Spur and by many 

 a stout little battery and fortress. 



The ancient part of the town huddles, 

 cramped and crowded, in many-storied 

 houses on the steepest, crookedest, most 

 Dark - Ages - looking streets imaginable, 

 some of them mere flights of stairs up 

 stiff acclivities, others mere bridges over 

 menacing miniature chasms. In brilliant 

 contrast to all this, the newer city devel- 

 ops broad, handsome thoroughfares and 

 solid, well-constructed modern buildings. 



Genoa is the chief seaport and com- 

 mercial city of Italy, with a harbor and 

 port facilities which have been extended 

 and expanded again and again in the 

 effort to keep pace with the steady 

 growth of the city's enormous maritime 

 commerce. One of her most public-spir- 

 ited sons, the wealthy Duke of Galliera, 

 gave no less than $4,000,000 out of his 

 own pocket to help provide the facilities 

 needed 40 years ago — and that was only 

 the beginning. Trade and port have been 

 growing rapidly and steadily ever since. 



Genoa has always been busy, and even 

 when she lost the maritime supremacy to 

 Venice she did not fall asleep, as did 

 Pisa, but kept on sending out her ships 

 and men into every sea. One of these 

 sturdy sailor sons we have cause to 

 know — Columbus. In the Piazza Acqua- 

 verde — Greenwater Square — Columbus's 

 laggard fellow-townsmen have reared 

 him a colossal statue, with America 



