Scenery _en route_--Bordighera--Pegli--Genoa--Its magnificent situation
--The grandeur of its past--The harbour--Streets--Palaces--Churches--
Cathedral of San Lorenzo--Sacred Catina--Chapel of St. John the Baptist
--Italian Beggars--Sudden change in the atmosphere--The Campo Santo--
Shops of Genoa--Marble promenade--City of precipices--Climate of Genoa.
After our visit to Monte Carlo, we returned to our hotel at Mentone,
which we left early on the following day for Genoa, our next
halting-place.
The country around Ventimiglia, Bordighera, and San Remo, is in many
parts grand and beautiful, affording varied and interesting excursions.
These three places are filled with visitors. The climate is somewhat
more relaxing than at Nice or even Mentone. The date-palm seems to
flourish at Bordighera, which is said to have the monopoly of supplying
these graceful branches to Rome, for the Church ceremonies at
Easter-time.
Savona was the largest town passed on our route. It has a very fine
Cathedral, and was at one time a considerable port. A little further
eastward on the coast is Pegli, a pretty little seaside place, fast
growing into favour. The Imperial Princess of Germany stayed here with
her children some time since.
* * * * *
After a very pleasant journey by rail we reached Genoa at 10 p.m.
Genoa, Gênes, Genova, as it is called in English, French, and Italian,
derives its name from the Latin word _genu_, the knee, supposed to be
the shape of the large inlet of the sea around which the land lies in a
vast semicircle. It is also called "La Superba," from its magnificent
situation; indeed, few cities equal its imposing grandeur as seen from
the sea. Handsome buildings line the shore for about the length of two
miles; splendid palaces, churches, and convents rise tier upon tier on
the steep sides of the hills, whose barren summits are crowned by
formidable-looking forts and ramparts. Immediately behind are the
Apennines, and upon these mountain heights are again several strong
forts commanding the town, which is also enclosed by a double line of
fortifications on the land side. The stern aspect of these works is
relieved by gardens, whose foliage gives the one touch needed to soften
the beauty of the whole. The harbour has a pier at each end, and upon
one of these is a very fine lighthouse.
From time immemorial Genoa has been famous as a seaport, and as the
contemporary and rival of fair Venice, and, like her, has had a proud
and eventful history. How sadly are these splendid cities of the past,
these great and wealthy republics of ancient times, sunk at the present
day to a shadow of their former magnificence and grandeur! Their ruined
splendour alone remains to show us what they were. But it is like gazing
on the beauty of death; the soul, the spirit, is wanting, and we are
continually haunted by the hollow mockery of the empty house which was
once its dwelling. Doubtless the Genoese are proud of their city, yet it
reminds one of the last descendant of a long and ancient pedigree, whose
ancestors were once lords of many a fair manor, but who now has nothing
but his name left, to recall the recollections of bygone days, and
points on this side and on that, with the words "These lands once
belonged to my illustrious family, of which I am the sole
representative."
Baedeker says, "The beauty of its situation, and the interesting
reminiscence of its ancient magnificence, render a visit to Genoa very
attractive, especially to the traveller who is visiting Italy for the
first time.... The Renaissance palaces are objects of extreme interest,
surpassing in number and magnificence those of any other city in Italy.
Many of the smaller churches are of very ancient origin, though usually
altered in the Gothic period."
The many splendid palaces of the old nobility, with all their art
treasures and galleries of fine paintings by the great masters, have
been left to the city as a free gift, with the stipulation of their
being open to visitors. Rubens and Vandyke both resided here, and there
are a number of their greatest works to be seen. As an example of the
wealth of the nobles even at the present day, and their patriotic pride
in their city, the Duke of Galliera, who died in 1876, presented twenty
million francs for the improvement of the harbour, on condition that the
Government would advance the remainder of the sum required, and the work
is now in progress.
This semicircular harbour is crowded with shipping, while all around are
large warehouses, and stretching along the edge is a superb promenade of
white marble on raised arches. The Gulf of Genoa is very stormy, and
there are but few fish to be found in it.
The streets are paved with stone which tires one to walk on. Many of
them are dark and crooked, particularly in the interior of the town and
near the sea, and so steep and narrow that in some of them a carriage
cannot pass through. Most people will remember Dickens' amusing remarks
on this subject in his "Pictures of Italy."
Some of the streets, however, are very fine. The Via Roma stretches up
the hill, and descends in an almost unbroken line to the valleys beneath
the mountains, and is remarkably clean and pleasant. On either side are
houses of stone, with overhanging roofs. In the Via Carlo Felice is the
Via Carlo Felice Theatre, the third largest in Italy. The Via Garibaldi
has no less than eighteen splendid marble palaces in succession, while
the fine streets, Nuovissima, Balbi, and Carlo Alberto, are also lined
with these grand old palaces of the Genoese nobility. Many of them
contain rare and magnificent works of art, and their furniture and
decorations are rich and beautiful in the extreme. They are usually on
view from ten till three, on payment of a small fee to the keeper. In
each saloon you find catalogues of the pictures, amongst which the works
of Rubens, Titian, Correggio, and Vandyke are conspicuous.
Palace after palace, gallery after gallery; it is really _embarras de
richesse_, and one gets quite bewildered with the wealth of artistic
genius.
The churches are also very fine, but many of them are left in a very
unfinished condition. The Capuchin church of St. Annunziata, in the
Piazza del Annunziata, erected in 1587, has a portal upborne by marble
columns, while the brick façade is left quite unfinished, with great
holes between the brick and mortar, where seemingly the scaffold-poles
had been inserted, and in which the birds have built their nests. The
interior presents a striking contrast in its splendid and almost
over-gorgeous decorations. It is in the form of a cross, with a dome,
the vaulting supported by twelve fluted and inlaid columns, richly
gilded and painted. But a far more interesting church is the old
Cathedral of San Lorenzo, in the Piazza of the same name, and close to
the Via Carlo Felice. It is in the Gothic style, or rather represents
three different periods, the Romanique, the French Gothic, and the
Renaissance. It was mostly built about the year 1100, and restored in
1300. It has a triple portal, with deep-recessed, pointed arches. Above
these are several rows of arcades, a small rose window, and a tower
with a little dome at the top, two hundred feet high. At the south
corner above the central door is a bas-relief of the martyrdom of St.
Lawrence, its patron saint, and many quaint carvings of monsters. The
beautiful and curiously twisted columns, triple portals, arches, and
arcades, as well as the whole façade and front exterior, are of black
and white marbles; and there is some very fine bronze-work, painting,
and statuary. In the sacristy they show the Sacred _Catina_ (basin), a
six-sided piece of glass brought from Cæsarea in 1101, and reported to
be that which held the Paschal lamb at the Last Supper of our Lord. It
was given out to be a pure emerald, till the mistake was detected by a
scientific judge. It may be seen for five francs--a large fee, evidently
charged in the hope of some day making up for its deceptive intrinsic
worth. Like Westminster Abbey, the interior of this church has the
impress of antiquity, especially in its worn columns. I was invited by
the old verger to view the Sacred Chapel of St. John the Baptist, but my
wife was mysteriously prohibited, as women had been concerned in the
saint's martyrdom. I believe this stern order is waived once a year,
probably by payment of a pretty large fee for conciliation. There are
other chapels, paintings, and relics that are well worthy the trouble
and time of study, making this ancient cathedral the most interesting
duomo in Genoa.
St. Ambrogio, in the Via del Sellag, is rich in pictures: Ruben's
"Circumcision," and his "St. Ignatius," healing a man possessed of an
evil spirit, and also Guido's "Assumption." It is splendid in colouring
and wonderful in the elaboration of detail. These to some may appear too
extravagant. The Santa Maria di Carignano, or Church of the Assumption,
in the same street, is one of the finest in Genoa. The walk from here,
along the walls and ramparts of St. Chiara, gives a splendid view.
Many other churches, some sixty in number, are well worth a visit; but,
like the palaces, they require considerable time to properly appreciate
them.
One scarcely likes to see all these gorgeous buildings, with so lavish a
display of the money laid out on their profuse decoration, when the
mendicant poor, the halt, maimed, and blind are crowding the porches,
piteously begging alms; it spoils your pleasure and study of these
beautiful edifices. We ought, however, to recollect that at home we have
our crossing-sweepers, match and flower sellers, and many wretched
objects of suffering and poverty, who perhaps make a similar impression
on foreigners visiting our great and prosperous London, but who will
perhaps marvel also at our lukewarmness and niggardliness in beautifying
our St Paul's and other churches.
At the commencement of our stay here the weather was warm and bright,
but on the day following our arrival a most sudden change occurred, and
it was very wet, and on Sunday bitterly cold. We went to the English
church, and afterwards walked to the top of the fine street leading from
the Carlo Felice, right up the valley at the foot of the mountains, and
there we had a most glorious view. The Campo Santo in the distance; the
harbour on the right; and the great hills, with their strong forts
perched on every projecting point and pinnacle, all covered with snow;
quite a white world since the day before. We saw ice in the streets, and
were glad to return to the Hotel Isotta. The poor fasting Priests seemed
quite nipped up; and the Genoese ladies, who under more favourable
circumstances would have been graceful and good-looking, appeared
unaccustomed to this severity of weather, and hurried along with red
noses and pinched faces.
Of all our visits to interesting places in this ancient city our
excursion to the Campo Santo gave us the most pleasure. It is some three
or four miles from the city: the weather continuing cold, we preferred
walking. We went up the main street, through the valley at the foot of
the snow-clad hills we had seen before, and in little more than an hour
we arrived at the gates of the Cemetery. This Campo Santo is indeed most
eloquently illustrative of loving reverence and remembrance of the dead,
and is quite a museum of beautiful monumental statuary.
This burial-ground is a system of sheltered colonnades, where the dead
are deposited in sarcophagi, resting on shelves on the inner walls, tier
upon tier. Only the very poor people seem to be buried in the _common
earth_, in the open spaces which lie before the colonnades, and these
are crowded. It rather shocked us to see the gravedigger remove some
bones from the ground and throw them into a kind of bin, which was there
for the purpose, in order to make room for a new corpse. I thought, with
Hamlet--
"Did these bones cost no more the breeding, but to play at loggats
with them? Mine ache to think on't."
The colonnades are paved with marble, and are scrupulously clean. Some
have exquisite monuments and statuary, the figures most eloquently
expressive of tender feelings of both joy and sorrow. The draperies and
lacework are wonderfully real. One we thought especially beautiful. The
bereaved mourners are reluctant to part with their beloved relative and
endeavour to detain him, but an angel gently leads him away; and he,
though expressing love and sympathy for his friends, gladly follows his
winged guide to a happier world above. Another portrays a little girl,
tripping joyfully out from the tomb, over roses and other blossoming
flowers. There are hundreds of others, full of deep pathos, works of
Italy's greatest sculptors.
One tomb is said to have cost some £5000. The patriot Mazzini is buried
here. At the highest point of the cemetery is a rotunda chapel, with
very fine statuary of Moses and the prophets, Adam and Eve, and many
other subjects.
There is an echo in this chapel that is wonderfully and unusually clear
and distinct.
The shops at Genoa are small but handsomely furnished. The Genoese
jewellery is very beautiful, particularly the gold and silver filagree
work. We were surprised to learn that the gold so-called is only silver
twice gilt.
The postal arrangements here are very convenient. By leaving your
address at the poste restante, you have all your letters sent to you at
the hotel without delay. There is a nice sheltered colonnade, a kind of
Burlington Arcade, running half-way up at the back of the Via Roma,
where the Hotel Isotta is situated, and close to the post-office; but on
a rainy day, the noise made by those talking and promenading there is
somewhat of a nuisance to visitors in the hotel. A very favourite
promenade--indeed, the best in Genoa--is that before mentioned, in front
of the harbour, but only when shaded from the heat of the sun, as the
glare of its rays on the white marble is scarcely to be borne. Here in
the evenings, when fine, the ladies of Genoa are seen to advantage, with
their charming dress at once so elegant, modest, and becoming. English
women might well take a few hints from its simplicity. These ladies are
mostly handsome, and their movements are exceedingly graceful.
Here and there among the houses you sometimes see between two windows a
painting simulating a third window half open, with perhaps a lady
looking out into the street below, and this is so natural, that for the
moment you fancy it is real. The houses are mostly six stories high, and
the shops and lower apartments are consequently extremely gloomy. The
upper rooms are the most suitable to dwell in, but visitors frequently
find it exceedingly fatiguing to toil up and down the stairs; and some
of the stone-paved passages, miscalled streets, are almost
perpendicular. Altogether, one needs extraordinary strength in this city
of precipices. It is thus very unsuitable to invalids, apart from its
variable climate. It is subject to very rapid changes of temperature,
warm winds from the south alternating constantly with dry cold winds
from the north, which render it very trying to delicate people.
The weather was so very cold during our visit, that, despite the great
interest with which Genoa inspired us, we were glad to leave it for
Pisa, which we understood would be milder. We had intended going hence
to Milan, Florence, and Venice, but the cold warned us not to go further
north; and we therefore altered our plans, and left Genoa on the 9th of
January for Pisa, _en route_ for Rome.