Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/686

 674 GENOA course through this province, either emptying into the gulf or passing over to the adjacent provinces. Agriculture is unimportant, for want of level land, but the hills are covered with vines and olives, and furnish delicate fruits which are largely exported ; bee-keeping is a lucrative industry of the mountaineers. There are silver, copper, lead, manganese, and coal mines; and the slate quarried near La- vagna is celebrated for its deep, lustrous black color. The Ligurian Apennines touch the Li- gurian Alps near the sources of the Bormida, where the road from Millesimo to Savona climbs three mountain ridges from 1,500 to 2,300 ft. high. From here the Ligurian Apen- nines extend along the coast of the gulf in three distinct chains, separated by deep de- pressions : the Monte S. Giorgio, 1ST. W. of Sa- vona; Ermetta and Reisa, N. W. of Voltri; Penello, Orditano, and Secco, N. W. of Genoa. North of this city are the Monte della Bochet- ta, 2,432 ft. high, and the Colli dei Giovi, 1,447 ft., with a double pass that permitted the con- struction of a turnpike and a railway to Ales- sandria. East of these the Apennines rise much higher. N. E. of Genoa is Monte An- tola, 4,151 ft. high. N. E. of Chiavari, near the boundary, is Monte Penna, 5,360 ft. high. From Genoa to Antivari, and from Lavagna to Spezia and Porto Venere, close to the coast, are mountain chains 2,000 to 3,000 ft. high. The mountainous peninsulas, Portofino and Castellana, form S. E. of Genoa the gulfs of Rapallo and Spezia, of which the latter is im- portant as a safe and commodious port for the Italian fleet. A railway skirts the entire coast of both Kivieras, and runs parallel with the magnificent highway called the Cornice road. The line penetrates numerous promontories by more than 30 cuttings and tunnels, many of , AT Palazzo Doria. them of considerable length, in a distance of 24 m., between Genoa and Chiavari. Another railway through the province, connecting Ge- noa with Alessandria, has nine tunnels between Arquata and the capital. The last tunnel be- fore reaching Genoa, called the Galleria dei Giovi, is more than 2 m. long. II. A city, the capital of the province, on the N. extremity of the gulf of the same name ; lat. 44 24' N., Ion. 8 54' E. ; pop. in 1872, 130,269. It is surrounded by a double wall, the smaller en- circling the inner city, by ramparts and exten- sive outworks, detached forts, and redoubts, which make it one of the best fortified cities of Europe. Its large semicircular harbor is defended by two converging moles, the east- ern or old, and the western or new. In the height of her power the city was called Geno- va la Superba (the proud) ; and the designa- tion has also been used in the sense of " mag- nificent," on account of her beautiful situation and numerous marble palaces. On the 1ST. E. side is the royal war harbor (darsena reale), with the marine arsenal. On the E. side is the free harbor (porto franco). This is a lit- tle walled town of itself, containing more than 300 large storehouses, and no priest, soldier, or woman is allowed to enter it except by special permission. A high wall with arcades separates the harbor from the houses, most of them six stories high, of the via Carlo Alberto and the piazza di Scaricamento. The quay is connected by rail with the railway station. Viewed from the harbor, the city, rising like an amphitheatre, with its churches, palaces, promenades, and gardens, with its encircling fortifications, and with the bare summits of the Apennines and the ice-covered peaks of the Alps behind, offers one of the grandest and most picturesque sights in the world. The