Italy

A tour through Italy: exhibiting a view of its scenery, antiquities, and monuments (1813) by John Chetwode Eustace

The Alps, the highest ridge of mountains in the ancient world, separate it from the regions of the north, and serve as a barrier against the frozen tempests that blow from the boreal continents, and as a rampart against the inroads of their once savage inhabitants.

The Adriatic Sea bathes it on the east; the Tyrrhene on the west: and on the south the Ionian opens an easy communication with all the southern countries. Numberless islands line its shores, and appear as so many outposts to protect it against the attacks of a maritime enemy; or rather as so many attendants to grace the state of the queen of the Mediterranean. Such are its external borders. In the interior the Apennines extend through its whole length and branching out into various ramifications divide it into several provinces materially differing in their climates and productions.