characteristic feature of Sienna, having been in former days frequently the scene of popular tumults, as well as of festive assemblages. Sienna is supplied with water by subterranean aqueducts fifteen miles in length. Among the chief edifices are the Palazzo Pubblico; the Palazzo del Magnifico; the Institute of Fine Arts, containing some good pictures; the University, founded in 1203; and the Public Library, one of the richest in Italy, possessing 50,000 volumes, and 6000 manuscripts. On the western side of the city is the promenade of the Lizza, adorned with statues, and much frequented for its coolness in summer. “E in su la Lizza il fresco ventolino.”—Alfieri. The mean temperature during five years of the seasons at Sienna, was 4.8 in winter; 12-12 in spring; 22.9 in summer; and 13.4 in autumn.* In summer, the north-west wind and the sea-breezes almost entirely neutralize the effect of the heat, which is so oppressive in the plains. The quantity of rain is greater than that of the surrounding districts, thirty-five inches being the annual average: the number of rainy days is 104. The resident population is for the most part strong and healthy, contrasting with the inhabitants of the lower country. Sienna is sometimes preferred as a summer residence to other parts by English families in Italy. Passengers by the diligence from Florence to Rome are conveyed by the railroad as far as Sienna, the journey en voiturier takes four days. The road is for the most part hilly, and has rather a triste appearance, espe * This differs slightly from the table in the Appendix. cially about Radicofani, a wretched-looking town perched on the summit of a bleak mountain, and the frontier of Tuscany. At the hotel and custom-house, on the road below the town, the accommodation is, however, better than might be expected from the appearance of the place. Descending the mountain, the papal dominions are entered at Aquapendente, a dirty and comfortless town in a beautiful situation, and afterwards skirts the lake of Bolsena, where the scenery is highly interesting. The country, however, is extremely unhealthy as far as Viterbo, a large walled town, abounding with monks and ecclesiastical seminaries, situated in a dreary district, which the malaria seems to have depopulated. "All sad, all silent! o'er the ear No sound of cheerful toil is swelling; Earth has no quickening spirit here, Nature no charm, and man no dwelling." From the hills beyond the unhealthy vale of Baccano, is descried the "Vast and wond'rous dome, To which Diana's marvel was a cell," and soon after, crossing the Tiber at the Ponte Molle, the traveller arrives at Rome by the Via Flaminia. CHAPTER VIII. ROME-ITS CHARACTERISTICS AND ENVIRONS. THE symmetrical aspect of the Piazza del Popolo, its fine obelisk, fountains, and statues, with a church and handsome buildings on either side, together with the long vista of the Corso, rarely fail to impress strangers on first entering Rome with an idea of its magnificence. The relics of antiquity constantly met with, the obelisks and fountains with which it is embellished, and the meeting almost at every step members of the different religious orders, give Rome an appearance distinct from that of any other city; yet, as an ensemble, it cannot be termed handsome. It possesses only one good bridge, but few squares, and the streets are narrow (though now much better paved and cleaner than formerly), so that its palaces cannot be seen to advantage. The valley of the Tiber, occupied by modern Rome, is enclosed between two ranges of diverging hills. The Pincian, the Quirinal, and the Viminal, on the east; on the west, by Monte Mario and the Vatican, which is nearly continuous with the Janiculum; while towards the south are the Aventine, the Capitol, and the Esquiline. The river forms a considerable bend, of which the concavity is directed toward the Pincian and the Quirinal hills. There are few cities where it would be so difficult to lose one's way. On entering the Piazza del Popolo at the base of the Pincian, three of the principal streets front the visiter. The central one (the Corso) extends southwards in a straight line for more than a mile, leading to the Capitol and the ruins of the ancient city. The Via Babuino on the left, and the Via de Ripetti on the right, diverging from the line of the Corso, lead, the one to the Piazza di Spagna, the other to the river, (where, at the Porto di Ripetti, is a ferry across to the meadows, through which there is a footpath to St. Peter's). From the Piazza de Spagna, a series of streets is continued almost in a straight line, crossing the centre of the Corso to the bridge St. Angelo, on the opposite extremity of which stands the 66 Superba mola, Che fe' Adriano all' onda Tiberina." From this monument (now the Castle of St. Angelo, a fortress and state-prison), a street leads to the Piazza de S. Pietro. This place is unique, and defies criticism. The massive and lofty pillars of its colonnades, ranged in a semicircle on either side, enclosing a vast area, in the centre of which are two splendid jets d'eau, and the finest obelisk in Europe, together with the façade and dome of St. Peter's, form a most striking and magnificent coup d'œil. The interior of the church is surpassingly grand; its size, and the harmony of its proportions, can only be properly appreciated after the several parts have been repeatedly viewed in detail— "Vastness which grows, but grows to harmonize, All musical in its immensities: Rich marbles-richer paintings-shrines where flame In air with earth's chief structures, though their frame There are, however, no paintings, though the magnificent mosaics might easily be mistaken for paintings without a close inspection. The most remarkable are the Raising St. Petronilla, the Communion of St. Jerome, and the Transfiguration. From the dome, to which the ascent is easy, the most extensive prospects of Rome and the adjacent country may be enjoyed. The Pantheon, now transformed into a church, is a noble remnant of antiquity, and in admirable preservation. It is of a circular form, having an aperture twenty-six feet in diameter in the roof. The interior is adorned with several elegant fluted marble pillars, between which altars are placed. The portico consists of sixteen circular granite pillars, each of which is a single piece, thirty-nine feet high, and fourteen feet in circumference, with an entablature and pediment of proportionate magnitude. Among the other principal churches, which the stranger will be gratified by repeatedly visiting, may be mentioned the St. Giovanni in Laterano, whence there is a good view of part of the Campagna, with the aqueducts and Tivoli, and in the vaults of which is a chef d'œuvre of Bernini-the group of the Saviour Dead, and supported on the lap of his mother; the Santa Maria Maggiore; the Santa Maria degli Angeli, formerly part of Dioclesian's baths, several of the colossal granite |