The Portland daily press., 1869-03-05


rying OF the various articles of a party of
four to the Hotel FEEDER.
The hotel was formerly one of those old
palaces of which there are many at Genoa.
/ 1t is more like fortress than a hotel having
gateway at the entrance 40 feet in height.
The walls are thick and the marble floors.
stairs and castings, and the lofty ceilings
painted in fresco give some idea of the
grandeur of these residences of the old mobiles
OF Genoa.
The next day was spent in visiting some of
the splendid churches and other attractions
of this old historical place. We went into
the, Cathedral of San Lorenzo, built in the
11th century. The exterior is formed of hor-
izontal stripes of black and white marble.
We also visited the church of L'Annuncsata,
second in size to the Cathedral, erected at
the private expense of the Lombellini family,
and the church of San Am6rogio di Gesu,
erected by the Pallavicini family. All these
churches are magnificent in their interior,
rich in their decorations and highly colored
frescoes. The beauty of the paintings and
marbles was far beyond our conception.
The palaces of Genoa are very beautiful,
and are generally exhibited TO strangers. We
had but time to visit two of them. The one
occupied formerly by the Doria family, fa-
nous among the illustrious magnates of this
old city, is the most attractive. 1t is situated
in the midst of an extensive garden, extend
iug to the sea; although the grounds sur.
rounding it have been injured by the railroad
which passes through them. 1T was erected
in the beginning of the 10th century, and its
paintings, portraits. statues and vases in the
gardens, are very fine. Our guide could talk
of nothing but the greatness of Andrea Do
ria and his traditional history.
The streets of Genoa are narrow; high
buildings excluding the light of the sun.
The head dress of the Genoese ladies worn
in the street is white lace or gauze veil
thrown lightly over the head, hanging over
the shoulders, and leaving the face uncover
ed, presenting a novel and peculiar appear
ance. The monument erected to the memo
ry of Colum bus, who was born here, is stu
ated in one of the public squares. 1t is a no.
BILE work of art, the statue of the great dis
coverer, and the bas reliefs representing
scenes in his history, being finely executed.
LEGHoRN.
After spending the day about the city,
viewing all that could be seen in that time,
at o'clock in the evening boat put us
aboard the steamer Galileo for Leghorn,
where we arrived at o'clock the next morn
ing.
As our only object in stopping at Leghorn
was to visit Pisa, we went ashore in small
boat and rowed long distance, passing
through the shipping; at the sight of the old
flag waving from New York ship taking in
cargo of molasses, we could not restrain
our patriotism, and theenthusiasm with which
we, especially the ladies of the party, cheered
the american sfip'' was responded to by
the crew on the deck of the vessel.
After breakfasting at a hotel, we drove
about the city, went TO the station, and took
the train for
12 miles distant. The country between was
fiat and uninteresting, crossed by many ca
mails, in which thin ice was seen, showing the
severity Of the weather for the few days pre-
vious. On our arrival at Pisa. after leaving
the ears, we were surrounded by crowd OF
coachmen and guides, anxious 10 show US
Pisa. We selected guide who talked Eng
lish and gave his name as Ranieri. He said
that he attended Admiral Farraguts party
when they visited Pisa He proved to be a
very good and interesting guide, and would
recommend him to Americans who visit Pisa.
The principal attractions of the place are the
Cathedral, the Leaning Tower, Baptistry and
Campo Santo, or burial place. They are all
situated together in large square about a
mile from the railroad station, and we visited
them in turn. The Cathedral is magnifi-
cent specimen of the Byzantine style of arch
itecture of the fourteenth century. 1t is in
the form of cross 800 feet long and 1O7 feet
wide. 1t has SO marble columns of Corin-
THAN architecture. Its twelve sltars were
designed by Michael Angelo. The three
| logna, represent the history of the virgin
from the time of her birth. At the end of
the nave is suspended Galileo's lamp, as it is
called, as its swinging vibrations FIRST suggest
ed to him, when but eighteen years old, the
| theory of the pendulum. The :Baptistery is
an immense building of circular form, situ-
ated opposite the cathedral 1t is surmount-
ed by cupola, upon which is placed statue
of John the Baptist. 1t is elaborately adorn-
ed, the principal feature being the pulpit, the
sides and staircase of which are of white
marble of exquisite workmanship. The
echo from the dome is remarkable
| Our guide, who had very fine musical voice
| gave us a specimen of his power and the re-
verberations were likethe tones of powerful
organ. The Campo Santo contai.s many
fine monuments and statues. The walls are
covered with frescoes representing scriptural
scenes. One that we particularly noticed
represented Hell-the torment of the damn
ed being vividly portrayed. The earth which
surrounds this burial place was brought from
Jerusalem in galleys in 1928. The leaning
| tower which is one of the wonders oil the
world was next visited by us. 1t is circular
| 100 feet in height-has stairs with project
ing galleries. The topmost stone overhangs
the base Is feet. went up the well worn
stems to the top of it, and the effect looking
down was grand and terrific. 1t is OF fine
proportions and has been in this leaning state
six centuries. should judge by the appear
ance of the ground that it was originally built
upright, but had slowly settled to its present
position. A visit to manufactroy of objects
of art where pretty statuettes and other works
in alabaster, are offered at surprisingly low,
prices, closed up our visit at Pisa. A short
drive about the city, and to the station, when
we returned to Leghorn, went on board our
steamer, started at 10 o'clock at night, and
after 30 hours experience of the roughness
of the Mediterranean, We arrived at Naples
III.
-G;mb1st went TO party last night on Fen