But an earthquake has thrown down the greater part of the back wall,
and has thereby opened up a beautiful view of the coast of blue water
and white sand far below, and of the purple slopes and snowy crest of
Mount Etna above--a scene such as no scene painter could have
equalled.
[Illustration: THE THEATRE AT TAORMINA.]
Among the quaint and ancient buildings of the town stand the old
monastery and church of San Domenico. The monastery is now the chief
hotel, and with the splendid view from its windows and its pretty
gardens makes a charming place to stay at in this most charming spot.
* * * * *
NAPLES. - VESUVIUS.
Naples is a city lying around a great bay on the Italian coast, and
behind it, about ten miles distant, rises the double-peaked mountain,
Vesuvius. Vesuvius is, as you know, a volcano and a thin cloud of
smoke is always coming out of it.
When I visited Naples a few years ago, the mountain was shaped like
this:
[Illustration: ]
Now it is like this
[Illustration: ]
It lost its peak in one night, and I was there the night that it
happened.
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