Page:Mexico, picturesque, political, progressive.djvu/78

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hill of Chapultepec, abrupt enough to assure one of its partly artificial origin, rises some two hundred feet from the valley, crowned by a marble castle, first built under the direction of Maximilian, and now restored for the occupancy of the presidents. Rather tawdry in aspect as one looks up from below, it develops into great beauty on nearer approach. A double row of light and elegant arches in white and pale-tinted marbles supports broad colonnades, from which the main body of the palace springs into the air with an effect of great delicacy and beauty. All the rooms open on these marble balconies; and on the very upper flight, reached by an exquisite stairway with gilded balustrades, have been built fountains and terraced gardens, enchanting as the hanging gardens of Babylon. Around under the arches, the walls have been painted in fine copies