Before the coming of the Americans, Monterey was the gayest and most ambitious city of California. It was discovered by Sebastian Vizcaino in December 1602, and was named in honour of the then viceroy of New Spain. For a time all trace was lost of Monterey, but in May 1770 the bay was found again by Junipero Serra and Captain Gaspar de Portolá. The San Carlos mission of the Franciscans was founded on the 3rd of June 1770, and a presidio was completed in 1778. Near Monterey, in Carmel Valley, whither the mission was almost immediately removed, Father Junípero built a church, in which his remains now rest. In 1891 a statue, representing Junípero stepping from a boat, was erected on the site of the old Mexican fort, on a hill near the landing-place of both Vizcaino and Junípero. Monterey necessarily played a prominent part in the jealousies that divided the north and south; the rivalry of Los Angeles for the dignity of capital being a powerful influence in politics from 1827–1846. In 1845 Los Angeles gained the prize, but in 1847 the American authorities again made Monterey the capital. Even in these years the treasury, custom-house and military headquarters had remained at Monterey. In 1818 it was captured and momentarily held by a Buenos Aires privateer. Here, in 1842, Commodore T. ap C. Jones raised the flag of the United States for a day, and here on the 7th of July 1846, Commodore J. D. Sloat again raised the same flag, which this time was not to come down again. The first American newspaper on the Pacific coast was published at Monterey; and the convention that framed the first constitution of the state met here in September 1849 in Colton Hall, still standing originally built for a schoolhouse by Walter D. Colton, first alcalde under American rule. Monterey was never capital of the new state, and its importance declined after the discovery of gold near Sacramento, San Francisco becoming the leading city. In 1872 the county-seat was removed from Monterey to Salinas. For many years Monterey remained one of the most Spanish towns of California, and though tourists have somewhat disturbed its peace and checked its decay, it still retains much of the quaint aspect and the drowsy contentment of spirit of Mexican days. Since 1900 the population has considerably increased.
MONTERREY (usually spelled Monterey in English), a city
of Mexico and capital of the state of Nuevo León, 606 m. by
the old wagon road, and 671 m. by the Mexican National railway
N. by W. of the city of Mexico, in lat. 25° 40′ N., long. 100° 25′
W. Pop. (1900), 62,266. Railway communications are provided
by the Mexican National with the United States, with the
national capital and southern Mexico, and with Matamoros,
and by the Belgian line with Tampico on the Gulf coast, and
with Treviño, or Venadito, on the Mexican International line,
which gives access to the iron deposits of Durango. The city
stands 1624 ft. above sea-level, between two spurs of one of the
Sierra Madre ranges—the Cerro de la Silla (4149 ft.) on the east,
and the Cerro de las Mitras (3618 ft.) on the west. The Santa
Catarina river furnishes water-power for some of its industries.
The surrounding district is fertile, and the rainfall about 22 in.
The climate is dry and mild, and the city is frequented in winter
by invalids from the United States. Monterrey is laid out with
broad, straight streets crossing each other at right angles, and
spreads over a large area. It is the see of the bishop of
Linares, and has a large cathedral, a bishop’s palace and
numerous churches. Among the public edifices are the government
palace, municipal hall, national college, girls’ college,
medical school, public hospital, theatre and penitentiary. Its
public works include an interesting old reservoir, called the
“Ojo de Agua,” and the “Puente Nuevo” (new bridge).
Monterrey is the most important centre of northern Mexico,
and large sums of foreign capital have been invested in its
industries. Among its manufactories are woollen mills, smelting
works, brass and iron foundries, a steel producing plant, sawmills,
flour-mills, breweries, and a carriage and wagon factory.
Monterrey was founded in 1560 under the name of Santa Lucia de León; and in 1596, as Monterrey, was raised to the dignity of a city. In 1777 it became the see of a bishop, now suffragan to the archbishop of Guadalajara. During the war between Mexico and the United States General Zachary Taylor arrived before the city on the 19th of September 1846, with about 6600 men. Monterrey was defended by a Mexican force of about 10,000 under General Pedro de Ampudia. On the 20th Colonel John Garland (1792–1861) assaulted the lower (north-eastern) part of the city; he was driven back, but captured one of the forts. The attacks on the other forts on the east were unsuccessful. On the 21st and 22nd General W. J. Worth carried the forts west of Monterrey, and on the 23rd attacked the western part of the city, the troops slowly working their way toward the central plaza. On the same day American troops again advanced from the east, and were again forced back. On the morning of the 24th the terms of a capitulation were agreed upon—the Mexicans were permitted to retire, retaining their small arms and one field battery of six pieces with twenty-one rounds of ammunition, and an armistice of eight weeks was arranged. A disastrous flood, caused by heavy rains and the sudden overflow of the Santa Catarina river on the 28th of August 1909, swept away about one-fourth of the city, drowning 1200–1400 persons, and destroying about $12,000,000 (Mex.) worth of property.
MONTE SAN GIULIANO, a town and episcopal see of Sicily, in the province of Trapani, 2 m. E.N.E. of Trapani, on the summit of an isolated bare hill, 2465 ft. above the sea. Pop. of commune (1901), 28,939; of town, about 3000. The town occupies the site of the ancient Eryx, a city of the Elymi, a people who claimed to be sprung from a mixed settlement of Trojans and Phocians after the fall of Troy (E. A. Freeman, History of Sicily, i. 195, 542), but regarded as βάρβαροι by the Greeks. The city was famous for the temple of Venus Erycina, to the foundations of
which a wall of 12 courses of masonry in the castle probably belongs. The worship was a relic of the Phoenician cult of Astarte. In 415 B.C. the Athenian envoys were shown the treasure of the temple at Eryx as available for the expenses of the war, which treasure turned out to be only silver-gilt and
not of solid gold (Thucydides vi. 46). The town must have become a part of the Carthaginian dominion in 405 B.C. It was seized by Pyrrhus in 278 B.C., and was ceded to Rome at the end of the First Punic War. In Roman times the temple (like that of Diana Tifatana, near Capua) possessed territory of its own, being dependent neither on the state nor on any neighbouring town, and a considerable number of female slaves. The place was the residence of the quaestor in charge of the western half of the island, and Verres, as praetor, seems to have spent a good deal of time here. Considerable portions of the city wall are preserved on the north-west; on the east and south the precipitous cliffs formed a sufficient defence. The remains date from a reconstruction of Roman times[1] in which the material of two earlier periods has been used: the large blocks belonging to the original fortifications bear Phoenician masons’ marks; but the long line of towers at regular intervals is a thoroughly Roman characteristic. The castle, dating from the middle ages, with three lofty towers guarding the entrance, occupies the south-eastern extremity of the town. The cathedral, founded in 1314, has a fine porch and Gothic façade.
MONTE SAN SAVINO, a town of Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Arezzo, from which it is 12 m. S.W. by road, 1083 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1901), 4810 (town), 8408 (commune). It was the birthplace of the sculptor and architect Andrea Contucci, generally known as Sansovino (1460–1529), and there
are various works in the town by him, a loggia opposite the Palazzo Municipale (itself by Antonio da Sangallo the elder and one of his best works), the monastery courts of S. Agostino and S. Giovanni Battista, and some sculptures.
MONTE SANT' ANGELO, a town of Apulia, Italy, in the province of Foggia, 10 m. N. of Manfredonia by road, 2765 ft. above sea-level, on the southern slopes of Monte Gargano. Pop. (1901), 17,369 (town), 21,997 (commune). It has a castle and a famous
- ↑ This has been demonstrated by O. Richter, Über antike Steinmetzzeichen (Berlin, 1885), pp. 43–51.
