Hong Kong’s skyscrapers are looked down upon by Victoria Peak. ©2000 UrbisMedia
Since the beginning of urban history, mountains have played a role in the fates—good and bad—of many cities. Many early cities chose mountains (or large hills) as a prime defense location, if not for the entire city (Assisi atop Mt. Subasio), at least to provide a citadel or acropolis (Athens). Some cities located near mountains were a source of valuable raw materials, like obsidian (Catal Huyuk), timber, or the wellsprings of the water supply. And mountains have figured in mythology (Mount Olympus, and Mount Parnassus, where Apollo is said to have unleashed two eagles that flew around the waist of the earth to meet again at Delphi on its slopes). One city, Montevideo, is named for its view of a mountain.
But mountains have also been fickle friends of cities as well, burying them with avalanches and volcanic eruptions according to meteorological and geological whims. Some have blown their tops, and their cities along with them (Santorini). Some mountains are contained or have been surrounded by cities, others form part of a city’s dramatic vista, still, others, are near enough to be major tourist or recreation attractions though some miles distant.
The selection of mountains listed below represents all of these categories. Match the name of the city with which they are associated.
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©2004, ©2015, James A. Clapp (UrbisMedia Ltd. Pub. 1.1.2004)