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ANCIENT FORTIFIED TOWNS.
459
quirement is that of labor; the#inhabitants, therefore, aoandou one after
the other their eagle-like eyries, and go and settle on the sea-shore, the
banks of some river, or the edge of the roads which pass through the
plain. Like those sea-animals which get rid of a shell that has become
too small for them, they emerge from their picturesque turrets and build
themselves dwellings, less beautiful, perhaps, as a detail in the landscape,
but much more nealthy and comfortable.
Even in the least civilized countries of Europe the towns have been
transposed from their lofty summits, and have been established near the
sea-co'ast. On the northern coast of Sicily, every marina increases at the
expense of the borgo, and the old town ultimately becomes a splendid
ruin, rising, like a mass of rocks, on the crest of the lofty mountains.
There are still, however, towns containing several thousands of inhabitants situated on mountain ridges far above any cultivated lands; thus,
in Sicily we have Monte San-Giuliano and Centorbi. The former, built
on Mount Eryx, formerly sacred to Venus, occupies a narrow plateau
2300 feet above the sea and the plains of Trapani. The town of Centorbi
commands the plain at a height of more than 3280 feet. The inhabitants
who cultivate the fields lying at the foot of the mountain are obliged
every day to go up and down an endless flight of steps winding in
among the rocks and hemmed in by precipices. In front, on the other
side of the valley of the Simeto, and at the edge of a stream of lava
which has run down from Mount Etna, stand the mansions of Aderno.
The clouds which float across from town to town traverse this space in
Fig. 192.—Monte San-Giuliano.
| Title | The ocean, atmosphere, and life |
| Creator | Reclus, Elisée |
| Publisher | Harper |
| Place of Publication | New York |
| Date | 1873 |
| Language | eng |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Title | 00000504 |
| Type | Books/Pamphlets |
| Transcript | ANCIENT FORTIFIED TOWNS. 459 quirement is that of labor; the#inhabitants, therefore, aoandou one after the other their eagle-like eyries, and go and settle on the sea-shore, the banks of some river, or the edge of the roads which pass through the plain. Like those sea-animals which get rid of a shell that has become too small for them, they emerge from their picturesque turrets and build themselves dwellings, less beautiful, perhaps, as a detail in the landscape, but much more nealthy and comfortable. Even in the least civilized countries of Europe the towns have been transposed from their lofty summits, and have been established near the sea-co'ast. On the northern coast of Sicily, every marina increases at the expense of the borgo, and the old town ultimately becomes a splendid ruin, rising, like a mass of rocks, on the crest of the lofty mountains. There are still, however, towns containing several thousands of inhabitants situated on mountain ridges far above any cultivated lands; thus, in Sicily we have Monte San-Giuliano and Centorbi. The former, built on Mount Eryx, formerly sacred to Venus, occupies a narrow plateau 2300 feet above the sea and the plains of Trapani. The town of Centorbi commands the plain at a height of more than 3280 feet. The inhabitants who cultivate the fields lying at the foot of the mountain are obliged every day to go up and down an endless flight of steps winding in among the rocks and hemmed in by precipices. In front, on the other side of the valley of the Simeto, and at the edge of a stream of lava which has run down from Mount Etna, stand the mansions of Aderno. The clouds which float across from town to town traverse this space in Fig. 192.—Monte San-Giuliano. |
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