The hill is terraced with former native fortifications.
Though, thanks to the overlaying porous pumice, the Taupo plateau is not fertile, it has a good rainfall and is drained by unfailing rivers running through deep terraced ravines.
Houses built in the Italian style with terraced roofs, shadowed by luxuriant vines, and surrounded by gardens of oranges and pomegranates, give to the town a picturesque and pleasing aspect.
The stone houses stand in terraced gardens and orchards, and the streets are mere rock ladders.
Though on the Swiss side it appears to be an isolated obelisk, it is really but the butt end of a ridge, while the Swiss slope is not nearly as steep or difficult as the grand terraced walls of the Italian slope.
