than Venice. Its very situation makes it unique, built as it is on a
cluster of small islands, a hundred or more in number, in the lagoon
of the same name. A long, narrow sand-bank, divided by several inlets,
separates the lagoon from the Adriatic. The largest of the islands is
the Isola di Rialto, which gives its name to the famous bridge. The
Grand Canal winds through the city in a double curve, like the letter
S, and divides it into two unequal parts. The one hundred and forty-six
smaller canals and a perfect network of small streets and bridges form
the other thoroughfares. The splendid churches, the vast treasures of
art and the magnificent palaces, remind one of the glories of the past,
and fill the present with a surpassing beauty. By the fifteenth century
Venice had become the greatest republic in Europe and the focus of its
commerce. The immense wealth of its merchant princes enabled them to
gratify their artistic sense in the superb monuments still extant.
[Illustration]
ST. MARK’S, VENICE, ITALY. This famous cathedral church is a strange
jumble of all styles of architecture, Christian as well as Saracenic,
yet both without and within breathing a rich and wonderful harmony. The
present building, dedicated in 1085, takes the place of an older and
simpler structure, that was destroyed by fire in 976. In front of the
church, to the southwest, rises the Square Campanile, surmounted with
the figure of an angel. To the east of the church the famous Piazzetta,
or “Little Square,” extends to the Grand Canal, glorified by the Palace
of the Doges, or ancient rulers of the city, which some architects look
upon as the finest building in the world. It is from this Piazzetta
that the picture is taken. The square in front of St. Mark’s is the
grand focus of attraction in Venice, and in summer nearly the entire
population congregate here.
[Illustration]
GRAND CANAL, VENICE, ITALY. This is the main thoroughfare of the city
of the sea. On either side of its serpentine length it is lined by
marble-fronted palaces, whose very names awaken a thrill of historic
or romantic recollection. Gondolas dart up and down among the waters,
and, alas! the disillusionizing modern steamboat puffs its vicious
way through the complaining waters. About half-way in its course the
canal is crossed by the famous Rialto bridge, a single arch of unique
and elegant construction, seventy-four feet in length, resting on
twelve thousand piles. This was built in 1588, subsequent therefore
to the period of Venice’s greatest glory. The ancient Rialto, which
Shakespeare speaks of as the meeting place of the merchants, was not
this bridge, but the Exchange which used to go by the same name, and
was long the centre of trade and commercial life in this city.
[Illustration]
THE DOGE’S PALACE, VENICE, ITALY. At right angles to the Piazza San
Marco, at the south-east end, runs the Piazzetta or little square,
whereon is situated the former residence of the Doges, an ancient
seat of government. Ruskin calls this “the principal work of Venice.”
Originally built in 800, five times destroyed and as many times rebuilt
in a style of greater magnificence, the present structure dates from
the fourteenth century. It is in the Moorish-Gothic style. The form is
an irregular square; the west side, facing the Piazzetta (two hundred
and thirty feet in length), and the south side, facing the sea (two
hundred and twenty feet in length), are flanked by two colonnades, one
above the other, with exquisite traceries. The mouldings of the upper
colonnade are especially rich. The interior court of the building
presents a wilderness of elegant columns, cornices, arches, carvings,
sculptures and bas-reliefs. A magnificent collection of Venetian
paintings is housed within these walls. On the east side the palace is
connected with the prisons by the so-called Bridge of Sighs, which owes
most of its fame to Byron’s sentimentality.
[Illustration]
CATHEDRAL AND LEANING TOWER OF PISA, ITALY. The Cathedral of Pisa,
begun in 1063, and consecrated in 1118, forms, with its Baptistery and
Campanile, the most singular group of buildings in the world. Their
beauty is equal to their singularity. The church itself is constructed
entirely of white marble, with black and colored ornamentation. An
elliptical dome covers the centre. The façade, adorned in the lower
story with columns and arches, and in the upper story with four open
galleries, is of exquisite and dainty beauty. So, likewise, is the
Baptistery, a circular structure, surrounded by half columns below
and a gallery of small, detached columns above, the whole crowned by
a conical dome. But the strangest effect of all is produced by the
Campanile, better known as the Leaning Tower, from the fact that it
is thirteen feet out of the perpendicular. That this obliquity was
accidental and due to the sagging of the foundations is now generally
agreed. Aside from this peculiarity the Campanile would arrest
attention by its winsome grace.
[Illustration]
PONTE VECCHIO, FLORENCE, ITALY. There is no more picturesque bridge in
the world than this. It spans the river Arno at a point where tradition
asserts that a Roman predecessor used to exist. Certain it is, that
bridges were built here and repeatedly demolished before Taddeo Gaddi
erected the present structure of three arches. It is flanked by shops,
which have belonged to the goldsmiths and jewelers since the fourteenth
century, and is still the centre of their trade. Above the roofs of
these shops runs the gallery of the Grand Duke, built as a secret
passage between the Uffizi and the Pitti Palaces. The bridge itself
might easily be mistaken for a continuous street by the stranger,
except for the vacant space over the central arch, which gives a
glimpse of the city and the river on each side.
[Illustration]
PALAZZO VECCHIO, FLORENCE, ITALY. The ancient capitol of the Republic
of Florence, and subsequently the residence of Cosmo de’ Medici, is
known as the Palazzo Vecchio, or Old Palace. Begun in 1298, it is a
striking example of the Florentine castles of the Middle Ages, with
its enormous projecting battlements and its disproportionate bell
tower, defiantly stuck upon the walls without regard to symmetry, and
almost overhanging the battlements. It is situated in the Piazza della
Signoria, the historic, as well as the commercial, centre of Florence.
The court is adorned with a fountain and sculptured columns. In front
of the entrance is Bandinelli’s group of Hercules and Cacus. At right
angles to the left is the Loggia dei Lanzi, an open arcade, famous for
its own beauty and for the sculptured master-pieces which it enshrines.
A large and elegant fountain is on the right.
[Illustration]
CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE, ITALY. This is generally known as the Duomo or
Dome, though its official designation is Santa Maria del Fiore. Arnolfo
di Cambio began it in 1298; he was succeeded by Giotto, and the dome
was added by Brunelleschi. The latter is not only beautiful in itself,
but is interesting as the first of the great domes of the modern world.
A half-finished façade was destroyed by fire, and the deficiency was
not supplied until 1875–1884. The interior is impressive, though
almost entirely devoid of ornamentation. Outside the church, to the
left, is the Campanile, an exquisite work by Giotto; so exquisite that
Charles V declared it ought to be kept in a glass case. In front is the
Baptistery, an octagonal building, surmounted by a dome. It was begun
in 1352 and finished in 1358. Its chief attraction lies in the bronze
doors, especially those by Lorenzo Ghiberti, which Michael Angelo
eulogized as worthy to be the gates of Paradise.
[Illustration]
THE CAPITOL, ROME, ITALY. Anciently, the Capitoline Hill, in Rome, was
surmounted by the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus and the citadel of the
city. Hence, here was the head of the Roman state and the shrine of
their religion. But temple and citadel have vanished and in their place
is a group of buildings erected by Paul III from the designs of Michael
Angelo. On the right is the Palace of the Conservatori, on the left the
Museum of the Capitol and between the two, occupying the third side of
the square, is the Palace of the Senator, a modern Roman patrician with
that title. The photograph shows the best approach to the square up the
grand stair-case, known as La Cordonnata, which in its present form
dates from 1736. At the foot of the stairs are two Egyptian lions, and
at the summit, on the angles of the balustrades, two ancient colossal
statues of Castor and Pollux, standing by the sides of their horses.
These were found in the sixteenth century. In the centre of the square
is the bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius.
[Illustration]
CASTLE OF ST. ANGELO, ROME. Originally this famous structure was
built by the Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his
family. The same emperor also erected the bridge now known as St.
Angelo--anciently as the Pons Ælius--which crosses the Tiber opposite
the castle. Tradition affirms that Gregory the Great in 589 changed the
name in memory of a vision of the Archangel Michael, who appeared to
him standing on the summit of the mausoleum. He built a chapel on the
summit, but subsequently this was replaced by the statue still extant.
During the Middle Ages this was the fortress of Papal Rome, and its
history at that period is bound up in the history of the city itself.
It has also served as a prison, and part of it was up to recent times
still used for that purpose. It has suffered much from sieges and the
ravages of time, and is now but the skeleton of the magnificent pile
erected by Hadrian. No vestige remains of the shell of Parian marble
which encircled it, while the statues were torn off to be used as
missiles against the Goths, and later as cannon balls.
[Illustration]
ST. PETER’S, ROME, ITALY. This is the largest and most magnificent
of all Christian temples. It is built on the supposed site of the
burial-place of St. Peter. As early as A. D. 90 an oratory was raised
on the spot; in 306 this was followed by a basilica. The present
edifice was begun in 1506, and after employing the talents of Bramante,
Michel Angelo and other architects, was dedicated by Urban III in 1626.
The magnificent dome was mainly the work of Michael Angelo, though
his plan was somewhat modified by Giacomo della Porta. The impressive
colonnades, which almost encircle the square and lead up to the front,
were added in 1667. The façade is confessedly a failure. But nothing
can mar the beauty of this extraordinary edifice. Although it occupies
some two hundred and forty thousand square feet, the interior, from
its exquisite proportions, does not at once impress the beholder with
a sense of its vastness. That grows upon one by degrees. The Vatican,
which adjoins St. Peter’s, is an equally enormous and beautiful
building, which comprises the residence of the popes, an astounding
museum of pictures and statues and a library of unexampled historic
interest.
[Illustration]
THE COLOSSEUM, ROME. This mammoth ruin, originally known as the Flavian
amphitheatre, is the most magnificent relic of ancient Rome. Begun
by Vespasian in A. D. 72, it was dedicated by Titus in A. D. 80 and
was subsequently added to by Domitian. As the circus of the public
games for nearly four hundred years, it was the scene of gladiatorial
conflicts and of the persecution of the Christian martyrs. After the
triumph of Christianity it fell into neglect, and suffered continuous
spoliation as a quarry for the material of new buildings. Finally, in
1750, Benedict XIV rescued it in its present condition by dedicating
it to the memory of the Christian martyrs who had suffered therein.
A cross in the middle of the amphitheatre is continually visited by
the pious. “As it now stands,” says Forsyth, “the Colosseum is a
striking image of Rome itself, decayed, vacant, serious, yet grand,
half gray and half green, exact on one side and fallen on another, with
consecrated ground in its bosom.” Hillard calls it “a great tragedy
in stone.” It was originally built to seat ten thousand spectators.
There were three orders of architecture used in the four stories; the
first, Doric; second, Ionic; third and fourth, Corinthian. In each of
the lower tiers there were eighty arches. The height of the outer wall
was one hundred and fifty-seven feet, the circumference one thousand
six hundred and forty-one feet, the entire superficial area being six
acres.
[Illustration]
THE PANTHEON, ROME. This is one of the grandest, as it is the most
perfectly preserved, of all the ancient monuments of Rome. Except for
the ridiculous belfries superimposed by Bernini on the outside, it is
to-day substantially in the same condition as when Marcus Agrippa in
B. C. 27, after the establishment of universal peace, consecrated it
to all the gods. In A. D. 608 it was dedicated as a Christian church
by Pope Boniface IV, under the name of Santa Maria ad Martyres. The
portico is of faultless beauty, and the interior, as the picture shows,
is a perfect rotunda, impressive in its grand simplicity. The domed
ceiling is lighted solely by an aperture twenty-three feet in diameter,
the wall being supported by a huge bronze ring. An additional interest
for moderns lies in the tombs of Raphael, Caracci and other painters
who are buried therein, and more recently the remains of Victor
Emmanuel have been added to those of the artistic brotherhood.
[Illustration]
TOMB OF CECILIA METELLA, ROME, ITALY. The Via Appia of ancient Rome was
one of the great avenues leading out from the city, and the principal
line of communication with the South. It is named after Appius Claudius
Caecus, the censor, who began its construction in B. C. 312. Under
Pius IX the ancient road was once more laid open. To-day it presents
the appearance of an avenue, eleven Roman miles in length, lined on
each side by ruins, mostly of magnificent tombs, which were built by
the patrician families of ancient Rome to the memory of their dead.
The best preserved of these is the tomb of Cecilia Metella, the wife
of Crassus, a circular tower seventy feet in diameter, resting upon a
quadrangular base. The battlements upon it are mediæval additions, made
for the purpose of defense by the Caetanis.
[Illustration]
FORUM ROMANUM, ROME, ITALY. The ancient Forum of Rome exists only in
ruins. That it lay at the foot of the Capitoline and Palatine Hills
in Rome is certain from the remnants that survive. But the exact area
it occupied and the true situation of the various buildings which
once covered it are matters of dispute and uncertainty. Conspicuous
among the ruins are three beautiful Corinthian columns of white marble
belonging to the temple raised to Vespasian by Domitian; eight granite
columns belonging to the Temple of Saturn, a beautiful fragment,
consisting of three Corinthian columns with a rich entablature, a
solitary column which Byron calls,
The nameless column with a buried base,
but whose now excavated base reveals that it was erected to the Emperor
Phocas, the arches of Septimus Severus and of Titus, and a profusion of
columns, pavements, foundations and walls of other structures.
[Illustration]
BAY OF NAPLES AND MOUNT VESUVIUS, ITALY. Naples, in itself one of the
least interesting of Italian cities, attracts the attention of the
tourist by its transcendent beauty of situation and by the historical
and picturesque interest of its surroundings. The Bay of Naples is
the most glorious spot in the Mediterranean. Its circuit is more than
fifty-two miles, including the islands of Ischia, at the north-west,
and of Capri, at the south entrance. At its opening, between these two
islands, it is fourteen miles broad, and from the opening to its head,
at Portici, the distance is fifteen miles. On the north-east shore,
east of Naples, is an extensive flat, whence rises Vesuvius, the most
famous of European volcanoes, at the base of which are several villages
and the classic sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The Italian proverb,
“See Naples and die,” is a tribute to the beauty of the city and its
environment.
[Illustration]
POMPEII, ITALY. The volcanic eruption which overwhelmed Pompeii on
August 24th, A. D. 79, has afforded us our most important, indeed,
almost our only source of acquaintance with the domestic life of
the ancient Romans. To be sure it represents one definite epoch of
antiquity only, that of the glories of the early empire when Pompeii
became the favorite retreat of Romans of the wealthier classes. But the
study of the various phases of life at this epoch forms a pursuit of
inexhaustible interest. The ashes from Vesuvius completely covered over
the town to the depth of about twenty feet until the year 1748, when
the accidental discovery of some statues led to the excavations. They
have been continued up to the present time, and will not be completed
for half a century more.
[Illustration]
ACROPOLIS, ATHENS, GREECE. This famous building, at once the citadel,
the sanctuary, the treasury and the museum of art of the ancient
Athenian people, crowns the summit of the rocky height which abruptly
rises three hundred and fifty feet out of the plain in the midst of
the city, inaccessible on all save the western side. The walls, built
on the edge of the perpendicular rock, form a circuit of nearly seven
thousand feet. These are of immense antiquity. They were founded by the
Pelagians, and the work was continued by Themistocles, Cymon, Valerian,
and later, by the Venetians and the Turks. Here are the remains of
three temples, the Temple of Victory, the Erechtheum and the Parthenon,
the latter the architectural glory of Athens, the only octastyle Doric
temple in Greece, and in its own class the most beautiful building in
the world. It was built in the time of Pericles, and was once adorned
with masterpieces of sculpture of which it was long ago plundered.
[Illustration]
THE BOSPHORUS, FROM CONSTANTINOPLE, TURKEY. No city in the world
occupies a more magnificent natural position than the capital of
Turkey. It is made up of three cities, each distinct and different
from the others. Stamboul, the old city, lies upon a tongue of land of
triangular shape, having the sea of Marmora on the south, the Bosphorus
on its eastern apex and the Golden Horn on the north. Its seven hills
are crowned with domes and minarets and fantastic houses, backed by
the dark foliage of the cypress and other trees in the cemeteries
beyond the walls. To the north is the European quarter, Galata being
the business centre, while Pera is studded all over with the splendid
residences of the foreign ambassadors, &c., and lined along its shores
with the palaces and gardens of the Sultan and the adjoining mosques.
Skutari, the Asiatic quarter of Constantinople, is on the eastern side
of the Bosphorus. Nowhere else is there a picture so bright, so varied
in outline, so gorgeous in color, so heterogeneous in its component
parts.
[Illustration]
THE MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA, CONSTANTINOPLE, TURKEY. This is the principal
place of Mahommedan worship in the world. Anciently a Christian temple,
built in 532 by Justinian, it was converted into a Moslem mosque in
1453 by Mohammed II, the conqueror of Constantinople. The building is
in the form of a Greek cross, two hundred and seventy feet long by
two hundred and forty-three wide, surmounted by a flattened dome one
hundred and eighty feet high, with several smaller domes and minarets.
The style of architecture is Byzantine. The exterior is not as imposing
as the interior, which even now is rivaled by few Christian churches,
and at the time of its erection made this masterpiece of Byzantine
architecture the greatest temple in the world. Well may Justinian have
exclaimed: “I have surpassed thee, O Solomon!” The changes made by the
Moslems are greater inside than out. In the interior the mosaics have
been partially covered up and replaced by inscriptions from the Koran,
but there is no structural change. Outside most of the older annexes
have been swept away and replaced by Turkish buildings, lofty minarets
rise at each corner, and the crescent replaces the cross on the dome.
[Illustration]
THE SPHINX, EGYPT. This unique monument, situated near Cairo, in the
neighborhood of the Pyramids, is one of the most characteristic and
probably the oldest of Egyptian remains. As such it is the oldest
monument in the world. Recent researches show that it is more ancient
than even the Pyramid of Cheops. Originally it was a recumbent figure,
representing an andro-sphinx, or man-headed lion, one hundred and
eighty-eight feet nine and one-half inches in length, hewn out of the
solid rock. Steps led down to its front, where there was a sanctuary
and tablets. But the sands covered all save the head, shoulders and
back, which rose from the surrounding desert with a startling and
almost fearsome abruptness. In this condition the monument was allowed
to remain for centuries. But more recently excavations have been
started to restore it to its pristine state, and before long the entire
colossal figure will be bared to view.
[Illustration]
PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH, EGYPT. Gizeh is about twelve miles from Cairo. It
contains the largest and most famous of those mysterious sepulchral
monuments known as Pyramids, which the ancient Egyptians were fond of
raising. Three of these are especially famous--the Great Pyramid called
the “Splendid,” which is the mausoleum of Cheops, and is four hundred
and fifty feet nine inches high; the scarcely inferior Pyramid of
Chepheren, and the Pyramid of Mycerinus, which is much smaller. These
mountains of masonry, built of stones whose huge size perplexes modern
engineers to account for the method of their handling, were designed by
the kings of the early Egyptian dynasties as their tombs. Their leading
idea was durability, and by concealment of the entrance, and tortuous
and complicated passages, they strove to baffle the vandal. Yet all
these tombs have been shamefully profaned.
[Illustration]
RUINS OF KARNAK, EGYPT. Most guide-books advise the traveller in Egypt
to leave Karnak to the last, as the crown of his explorations. It is,
indeed, the most marvelous ruin along the Nile. Yet, though in ruins,
it preserves all its original character. It lies amid the ruins of
Thebes. It was intended for a temple. But it is not so much a temple as
a city of temples, of palaces, courts, columns and obelisks enclosed by
a great wall of circuit about a mile and a half in circumference. The
Great Hall alone, which is the largest of all the monuments, measures
three hundred and forty feet by one hundred and seventy. The Temple
of Amenophis, here represented, is one of the finest of the smaller
remains.
[Illustration]
CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE, JERUSALEM. This church, situated on a
hill called Acra, purports to be built over the site of Calvary and
the actual tomb of Jesus. Not only that tomb itself, but the tombs
of Joseph and Nicodemus, the places where the Saviour appeared after
His resurrection to Mary Magdalene and to Mary, His mother; where
Constantine’s mother found the true cross, &c., &c., are pointed out
to visitors. Not everybody accepts the genuineness of the site. But,
at least, it was for the reconquest of the Holy Sepulchre that the
Crusades were instituted, and for fifteen hundred years kings and
queens, knights and pilgrims have knelt and prayed here. The church is
a Byzantine structure, which was commenced in 1103 A. D., was partly
destroyed by fire in 1808, and has since been restored. Some parts of
it, however, are said to date back to the Empress Helena.
[Illustration]
GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE, JERUSALEM. No spot in the whole world could have
more interest for the Christian traveler than the Garden of Gethsemane,
the scene of our Lord’s agony on the eve of His crucifixion. It is
known that it was a garden or orchard belonging to a small estate at
the foot of Mount Olivet, somewhere on the east slope of the Kedron
Valley and about half a mile from Jerusalem. But whether the present
enclosure which is pointed out as the identical garden be so or not
is a matter which archæologists have not yet settled. Certainly, the
garden is very old and very venerable; its few olive trees date back to
an unknown antiquity, and it may very well have been extant in almost
its present condition in the time of Christ.
[Illustration]