JOTTINGS FROM A TRAVELLER'S JOURNAL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 1002, 23 July 1883, Page 2

JOTTINGS FROM A TRAVELLER'S JOURNAL.

[WRITTEN SPECIALLY FOR THE “ASHBURTON GUARDIAN.”]

No. XIX.—Continued,

The Campo Santo— Strange Frescoes— An Inebriated Noah— hurches at Pisa—The Tower of Hunger—Count Ugolino The Arno Galileo’s Birthplace Off to Leghorn—On the Way to Rome—Elba—A Caution to Collectors— Civita Vecchia—Tub Eternal City.

But the gem of the Baptistery is the Hexagonal pulpit. It is borne by seven columns, and is enriched by sculptured reliefs of surpassing beauty. At the corners arc figures of the Apostles The subjects of the reliefs are the annunc.ation, the adoration of the Magi, the presentation in the temple, the crucifixion, the last judgment and a group of-allegori-cil figures. There is a good echo in the Baptistery, but not equal to that in the Rotunda at Genoa.

One day I devoted to the Campo Santo, or cemetery. In respect to its monuments and sculptures it- cannot be compared with the Campo Santo at Genoa ; but still, it is well worth a visit. One remarkable pe mliarity is that the ashes of the dead repose in soil brought from Palestine. When the Holy Land was about to be wrested from the Crusaders, Archbishop Elbaldo loaded fifty-three vessels with earth taken from Mount Calvary, and had it brought to Pisa, that the remains of the faithful might be buried in specially holy ground. The following technical description, taken from a book, may give the reader a better idea of the place than I could convey : rounds the churchyard was begun in 1278, by older of the senators of the city, and completed in 1283, by Giovanni Pisano in the Gothic Tuscan style. It is 138 yards in length, 57 yards in width, and 48 feet in height. Externally there are 43 flat arcades resting on 44 pilasters, the capitals adorned with figures. Over

one of the two entrances is a marble canopy, fwith a Madenna by Giovanni Pisano. In the interior there is a spacious hall, the open round-arched windows of which,* with their beautiful tracery, G2 in number, look upon a ornen quadrangle. Three chapels adjoin the Campo ; the oldest is to the right of the entrance, in the centre of the E side, with dome of later date The walls are covered with frescoes by painters of the Tuscan Soho >1 of the 14th and 15lh centuries, unfortunately in bad preservation. Below these is a collection of Roman, Etruscan and medieval sculptures.” The frescoes greatly interested me; although in places, they are much defaced. The subjects are mostly scriptural, and in some instances the treatment of them is very grotesque. I may mention a few of the most remarkable. “ The Triumph of Death;” In this picture the worldly and voluptuous are terrified at death’s approach ; but the righteous, arid the poor and miserable, are represented as bidding him welcome. In one corner a group of horsemen in gay attire, going out to limit, are suddenly brought to a standstill by three open coffins. “ The 1 iht Judgment arid Hell;" The last a horribly fantastic picture. The Archangel Michael giving a flag of victory to St

Ephesus while fighting against the heathen. Thou a series illustrative of the opening chapters of the IWik of Genesis. “ The CreationAn absurd and almost irreverent representation of God the Esther holding the world by both hands. “The Fall ofjj.Man;” “Expulsion from Paradise;” “(lain and Abe’;” “The Deluge;” etc. Another series illustrates events in the life of Abraham, and one remarkable composition—the drunkenness of Noah. This is full of figures ; the poor patriarch is seen lying on the ground in the busy thoroughfare of a city in a helpless condition, an 1 in a position not fit to be seen, while one’s visible faculties are excited by the mincing attitude, half curious, and half scandalised expression of a face of a lady who is supposed to be shocked by what she sees. Besides the frescoes there are many monuments and sculptures, but as alrea ly said they do not equal those at Genoa and I need, and I must not enter into particulars. Some of the churches in Pisa are very interesting. S. Stefano di Cavalier! belonged to the Knights of the Order of St Stephen, and c mtai m trophies taken from the Turks, and on the ceiling representations of the battle of Lepanto rather incongruous decorations for the house of God, but excusable, perhaps, as it was a place of worship dedicated to knights whose profe sion was war. Next to this church stands the Palazzo Oonvontuale dei Cavalieri. It is now occupied as a school ; but the historical tragedy connected with the adjacent locality will never be forgotten. Near this palace stood the Tower of Hanger, in which Count Ugolino, with his sons and nephews,’ were confined by order of a so-called prelate, Archbishop Übaldini, and literally starved to death. Readers of the “ Inferno” will remember that Dante refers to it in the thirty-third canto of the poem. The Church Sillaria della Spina is a beautiful little structure, erected principally for sailors; but its fame rests chiefly on a relic, said to be a portion of the crown of thorns that encircled the head of the Saviour. The river Arno is an ornament to the city ; broad quays extend along both banks, and firm the chief promenades and the centres of business. It was in a house situated on the Leinge-Arno that the celebrated Galileo was born. While at Pis’, I made an excursion to Leghorn. Though a place of considerable importance, and next to Genoa the busiest commercial city in Italy, it possesses but few attractions for the traveller. Thera are some good shops in the Corso Vittorio Emmanuele, and some groups of statuary ia the Piazza Carlo Alberto. The harbor presents the usual bustle of a thriving seaport. Returning to Pisa, I made preparations for starting next day for Rome. Wo got away in good time in the morning, and ran along ihe Maremme, which answers to the ancient Via Aurelia, constructed one hundred and nine yea'-s before Christ. At the first station, Colie Salvetti, the lines from Pisa and Leghorn unite, the two cities being about equi-distaat from the junction. I got a passing view of Monte Nero, a shrine to which multitudes of the faithful resort to see a picture of the virgin of ancient date, brought from the East.

Fanglia, Orciano, and Acquabuona are stations of no particular interest. Crossing the river Guina, we halted at a settlement of the same name ; and soon after passing Populonia got a view of the sea and the islands of Elba, celebrated as the temporary asylum of Napoleon I. Castagneto and S. Vencinzo are unimportant places ; and Campiglia, the next town, has nothing attractive except the ruins of a castle, and some Etruscan tombs, and these are scarcely worth the time necessarily consumed in visiting them.

We now entered the dreary, uncultivated region from which malaria, during the greater part of the year, banishes the scattered inhabitants, who retire for safety to the hills of Tuscany. Follomca is a small settlement near the sea coast ; the chief industry of the place is smelting the iron obtained from Elba. From this point the lino turns inland, and pa s> s in succession Potassa and Monte Pescali. at which station there is a branch road to Siena. Grosseto is a town of more pretension. It claims t> be the capital of the district. The traveller who can spare the time by stopping here may procure some Etruscan antiq lities. Talamonc, about fourteen miles further on, now a small village on the point of a promontory, but offering good anchorage, was the spot where the Roman legions landed, 225 years 8.0., and routed the Gauls on their way to attack Rome. Orbetello, the next place, has little to distinguish it but its antiquitj. After leaving Orbetello, the boundary of what was once the Papal territory is reached. The scenery is dreary and desol >te looking. At Montalio, a village that is seen after crossing the Fiora, excavations have been made, and I was told that a great many Etruscan vases and other relics of antiquity had been unearthed. But in purchasing these curiosities you are very liable to be taken in. Modern imitations are made in great numbers, and only experts can distinguish between the genuine and the spurious articles, After passing Montalto, the country improves in appearance, two more rivers are crossed and the town ot Cornoto is reached, there is the burying place of the ancient Tarquinii. A native of the place was digging, some GO yoirs ago, and came upon a tomb, and on opening it discovered the corpse of a man in complete armour. The body crumbled to pieces after a few minutes exposure. But this led to further research ; and the cemetery was found to extend under a considerable portion of the ground on which the town now stands. A visit to the tombs is the chief attraction of Cornefco.

Civita Yocchia is the next place of note. It is the sea port of Rome, and contains upwards of eleven thousand inhabitants. But there is nothing to detain the traveller, unless he wishes to see gangs of convicts at work on the Bagno, or visit the alum mines near La Tolfa.

Another dreary tract has to be traversed afttr leaving Civita Yocchia till Palo is reached. This is the last station at which the train stopped. Wo ran past Palidoro, Ponte Galera, and at Magliana I first got a view of the Tiber and the Catnpagna. The Alban Mountains bounded the prospect on the right. A little further on wo crossed the Tiber on a long iron bridge

and were sweeping round the outskirts of of the “eternal city.” The pyramid of Oestius, the aqueduct of the Acqua Felice, and other remains sufficiently indicated the fact that we were approaching the ancient capital of the world. In former times, before the iron horse was running, t e vetturino, when he arrived at a certain point on the old post road, invariably stopped his horses and cried to the expectant traveller “ Eoco Roma!” But now much of the romance of the first view ia destroyed by the rapid advance of the train, and almost before you are aware of the close proximity the city wall ia passed and the station is reached. But under any circumstances the first visit to Rome creates an impression on the mind such as a visit to no other city can produce.

But here I must pause. What X did and what I saw during my two separate sojourns in the city of the Caesars must be told in future let ets.. Viator.