Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1872-06-08
LErrERs FROM ABROAD.
ROME, ITALY, April, 1879.

and the distant hills. The first place of i'm.
portance outside the gate in the southeast
part of the city, is n door in tic wall, with the
woods ever 1t signifying that within are the
Gatacombs OF ST. Callixtus. Beyond the gate
is one of the broad, fiat fields of the Com
pagna with few small brick buildings here
and tdcre. These are 10 let In hight to the
passages below. We descend into the dark
regions by long fight of steps here the
guides gives each oG Us twelve Il wax taper,
and proceeds US Though the long passages,
forever tuning, up and down.. till we say
HWht re are we coming o?' 1t is lonely
place. and yet having heard all my life of the
Catacombs, and expecting TO feel the darkness
and awe Of the place, confess it was not
nearly ghoslly enough to suit my taste. l
had hoped that the passages weuld be wide,
so that the few tapcrs wonld light up the
darkness just enough TO make US realizs il,
but to see the dozen tapcrs following one an
other along the path just wide enough to. walk
in If you keep your elbows in the pFOptr
place, we were all guilty of laughing at the
funny Sights Of the German, French, Italian,
English and American procession pokng
their wax sticks into every open doorway,
crack or hole, 10 see all that was TO be seen,
and obliging the guide now and then to stop
and say ".SOaO tuHi qui?' care all here Ply
was extremely disappointed IN seeing no
bones +; however, the poor things have gone
the way Of all the carlh and We will give up
the delectable sight, rs we were afforded in
stead u mummy from the tomb of St. Cecilia,
and some curious trrscocs and inscriptions. /
regretted too, our wanderings were so short,
but learn we can wander for miles, but these
were those of st. Calixtus only and the guide
was only paid Tor 50 much. 1t was enough,
though, for caught fine cold
Leaving the CatacomIs a short distance be-
ynnd IS the tomb of Carcilia Metlella-a civ-
culnr, towcr.likc structure, styoRg, turretcd,
impOsing-it looks us il built to last Excud-
ing the thick walls The diameter is 20 feet
from the side toward the city we see only the
tomb, but from the other, there is the house of
the Caetanis family, or the ruins Of it. Be-
yond, the Appian Way is lined with tombs, or
small bits of brick-work that at first we
thought might be walls. SO not know how
! far they may extend beyond, but after reach
| ing the end of the third mile, we turned off
to driye to the church of st. Urban, which
was formerly a heather temple II proved
quite romantic road, for, after the rains
there was fine specimen of carriage-way,
and down we dipped into the mud, to the
great detrment Of our pretty little carriage.
Our good-natured driver only laughed, and
told us TO stay in, which we did hot see fit TO
! do, but jumping out in u hurry, parasolsy
|
in hand, we just managed to keep our bGlance
on the steep, muddy, inclined plane, and
reached our forlorn looking conveyance again.
We could not scold, but instead we all laugh
ed, When one is being every day among
such grand scenes rs in Rome, little come.
down is quite acceptable 10 Yemind one of
days gone Ivy in country roads in the West.
Our little temple, though, WAS curiosity,
and worth the trouble, especially us esery-
Jody's coachman does not take linn lit. Ours
was remarkably anxious 10 have us see every
thing, and to show off his learning, informed
us that the rude ircscOrs on the walls were
"ycry old. Signoria, very old, from Raphael"
| However, he was very willing TO say he was
| wrong when laughed at him for having mis-
used poor Raphael SO badly us to attribute the
| work of the early centuries TO that master
| hand.
Finding again the Appian Wny-though by
q tirmer highway-we stopped nj the "Coum-
baria" in the Vigna Codina They DO look
like dovecos, for all the world, and for this
resemblance they are 50 named They are
now almost entirely underground, having
been built since the Caesars. Around the
square room are nine or ten rows above each
other of pigcon holes, or the places where the
vases were deposited that contained the ashes
of the dead. The great people had larger
vaults-uhnut eighteen by twelve inches,
think, is the siZ. of some of them. There are
three of these eRcat wells, or green, mouldy
cavities in the vineyard, bat in another place
u good many have been found. Thursday
morning, had two good hours of study in
the Capitol, Cmong lhc gods htro,s and TN.
pcrors, ard for good hnIi hour III" Gladiator,
Faun and Aninous held me captive.
Well VIC have been 10 th. palace of the
Caesars. Some one had siiL that four hours
were required TO see it, and that set me 10
wondering what the palace could be to re-
quire that amount of time, but now know.
Oace the palace included the valley of the
Coiscuml What house Now its ruins
cover magnificent space though the walls of
only part remain. They are so broken down
that 1t Is impossible 10 TIL what the plan was,
but know we went, seemingly without end,
in and out the open doors through great halls,
into low wine celnrs-as we named them
from the broken jars lying there under lofty,
yaulted roofs, broken arches, up tumble down
stair-cuses. among the bushes and flowers OF
the deserted grounds and with the greatest
difficulty finding plan 10 the place, 1t is a
charmingly romantic spot, and IL so in n
bright, sunny day, what must its haunted
} hooks and passages be in moonlight? A long
gallery paved with mosacs, extends under
ground from the southern portion called ri.
bcrius Palace to that of Caligula ut the north.
ern end near the Capitol, One OF the mos
picturesque parts Is bridge gliding in anC
out among the brick walls. Then such views
MS we have from The various points Up
flight of steps, we tind long terrace facing
the whole city to the north. You sec, here WI
are Just back of the Capitol by the Forum
: and all those ruins, all of which lie To tht
O south Of the central part of Rome. Tho gar
den Is nicely kept in front of the palace, o
towards the Forum, and from the Via Sacrj
u In front, the whole presents u fine yiew-h
/, extensive old walls, the garden, the moderl
IS Cussno and icrnerY up on the hill above-bu
!, II Is all so irregular / cannot make you sec