. Europe and other continents . Fig. view of Vesuvius, with a part of Pompeii in the foreground. umes of steam constantly pour forth. At the time of Christ theslopes of this mountain were dotted with productive farms,while thriving towns spread over the country at its base. Butin the year 79 an appalling eruption took place which com-pletely buried Pompeii, Herculaneum, and many villagesbeneath showers of ashes and streams of volcanic mud. Sincethen many eruptions have been recorded, the last violent oneoccurring in 1872. During the last half-century the buriedcities, especially Pompeii,
. Europe and other continents . Fig. view of Vesuvius, with a part of Pompeii in the foreground. umes of steam constantly pour forth. At the time of Christ theslopes of this mountain were dotted with productive farms,while thriving towns spread over the country at its base. Butin the year 79 an appalling eruption took place which com-pletely buried Pompeii, Herculaneum, and many villagesbeneath showers of ashes and streams of volcanic mud. Sincethen many eruptions have been recorded, the last violent oneoccurring in 1872. During the last half-century the buriedcities, especially Pompeii, have been unearthed at great laborand cost. By these excavations much has been learned about 318 EUROPE the buildings and customs of the people who lived nearly twothousand years ago. At present, tourists daily ascend to the top of they see one of the most awful sights in the world whenthey cautiously approach to the very edge of the crater — anopening perhaps a fourth of a mile across — and peer down. Fig. 212. The Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, where the Pope lives. into the abyss. Reports like the thunderings of cannon comefrom far below, and lumps of lava as large as a mans head areoften hurled upward. Not seldom lava lumps rise above themouth of the opening and fall here and there outside, makingones visit all the more exciting by the slight danger of being hit. Ancient and Modem Rome. — By far the most interest-ing spot in Italy is Rome, the Eternal City, long the ITALY 319 capital of the ancient world, afterward the capital of theempire of the Popes, and now the capital of Italy. The site of Rome was well chosen. It lay near thecentre of the Mediterranean, and near the centre of theItalian peninsula as well. In that part of Italy the fertilecoastal plains are broad and are intersected by the Tiber,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectgeograp, bookyear1901
