Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-01-25
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A Romantic City OF Itaiy-Ths CsthedraI
..r. nj Catea Of V0r0nR.


The Cathedral Of Verona claims to have
been built by Charlemagne, but it is probably
of the twelfth century. It's chief beauty is
the porch over the entrance. This consists Of
two arches, rising one above the other, rest
ing upon columns, and the lower columns
resting upon griffins. On either side Of the
entrance stand the celebrated Paladius,
Roland and Oliver; aud these two statues
are remarkable for the peculiarities Of their
arms and armor, exactly described in Livy's
account Of the Samnite war. The moldings
around the portal are ornamented with
grotesques-among which hog in monks
cowl and robe, shows that even The supersti-
tion of the dark ages found something in
monachism to satirize- Some of the chapels
and monuments of the Cathedral are exceed
iDgly rich, and il formerly boasted some fine
paintings but most of them have been re-
moved. The finest now here is the "Assump-
ton" of Titan, which has travelled to Paris
and back. Although neither so rich in color
or grand in conception as the picture which
adorns the wall Of the Academia at Venice,
yet it is very fine, and the figure of the
Virgin, floating upward, is exceedingly
graceful and easy.
Connected with the Cathedral Is the library.
said 10 be one Of the most valuable in Italy
for sacred literature. It was founded BY
Pacifcus, an arch deacon of Verona, distin-
Ruished for his learning and varied talents.
He Invented machine for telling the time
by night, and has thus been said by some
writers to have been the inventor of strik-
ing clocks; but there is no proof that this
machine at all Tesembled a clock. Many of
the manuscripts are palimpsests, no doubt of
great value, as the Institutes of Caius, long
supposedit0 have been destroyed by Justin
ian, have already been discovered beneath
the bomilies of st. jerome.
The gates of Verona are worthy Of atten-
ton. Those of Sanniscbeli, distinguished
alike for beauty and strength, yet remain, of
which the Porta del Palio is the most ad-
mired. The Porta del Borsari, double gate
way standing across the Corso, is however
the most interesting. From traces of iu-
scriptions upon the friezes, it is probable
that it was built about the year 265. It's
architecture is style between the antique
and the early middle ages; il is ornamented
with pillars having spiral futings, and the
inscriptions were in letters of metal fastened
to the stone work.
But all of Verona was not seen, if we left
out the tomb of juliet; and although our
courier assured us that what is now shown
was only a washing trough, and had never
held the ashes of this heroine ofromance, yet
we posted off, nothing doubling, to the
| Garden ofthe Orfantro6o OF Orphan Asylum,
determined 10 see, in whatever was shown
US ln6 N6IlGdOlc lOIuO VI JuhSti huu po Just
| as sentimental and romantic as we pleased,
| On our way we passed the Castel Vecchia, d
noble pile, erected by the Scaligers. Its
walls are battlemented, and its appearance
picturesque, although like every thing else,
IL has yielded TO the conqueror, and four oi
| its finest towers have been demolished, to fl
it for an arsenal. This, however, was not
quite such an outrage, as driving from the
Liceo or college its 500 pupils, in order TO
convert itinto barracks. We passed through
the garden, and found the tomb of Juliet near
the lower wall. 1t was of pale red marble, a
| plain sarcophagus, much mutilated by break
| ing off pieces for visitors. When we asked
for bit, however, the custode brought some
! pieces from his cottage, already broken, he
said but strongly suspect that he sells as
| much of this stone every year, as the tomt
contains. However, if you would be ro.
mantle you must not descend to suspicious
or calculations; and, therefore we put all
such thoughts aside and yielded only to the
inspiration of Shakspeare's heroine; al.
though do not remember that we shed
tearsl