Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-07-18

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fronts of the large square, and one
OF the other, stand splendid CONNER
clal palaces, with arcaded side walls,
and filled with hundred shops and
cafes, their entire frontage being not
less than 1000 feet. Thousands $ of
pigeons, which are sacred birds. fiut-
ter and chatter about this square.
and over and around the buildings
thereof. On moonlight nights, such
as those during my visit, the militia
ry band plays in the grand plaza in
front of St Marks, and thousands of
citizens and strangers fill the square,
listening to the music while they sip
their wines and coffee, or eat their
ices and cake. And, around the
other angle of the square other thous-
ands watch the serenading feet of
gondolas glide by decorated and il
Illuminated with manycolored Chinese
lanterns,-the voyagers singing and
playing opera-airs, while the beams
of the. moon cast a pale, cleaning
light over the scene, and the gas
| jets of the lamps on shore reflect
sparkling and pearl-like rays upon
the water. Nowhere else in the
world than in Venice, can such a
natural phenomena be witnessed.
know not how to describe
ST. MARK's,-
the third greatest of Italian churches
ranking next after St. Peters at
Rome, and the Milan Cathedral in
beauty and costliness, but exceeding
both in age by some centuries. 1t
resembles no other church upon
earth, but appears to be mingling
of several styles of architecture =
Byzantine, Saracenie, Gothic and
Italian. There is a redundance and
| confusion of pillars and columns, of
recesses and chapels, of mosaies and
gildings. Five great domes sur
mount the edifce,-one in the mid
die and one on each side, according
to the four points of the compass
which, to the eye, gives rows of three
domes from whatever point the OBJ
server stands. They are covered in
side with ecclesiastical pictures,
painted on a canopy of golden mosa-
ic. On the facade or front of the
church, over the four entrances, are
deep, arched recesses, or inches, 25
or 35 feet in width and height; on
the golden face of each is a mosaic
picture, representing respectively the
Descent from the Cross, the Descent
into Hades, the Resurrection and
Ascension. The interior is crowded
with paintings. The whole struc-
ture it seems to me, was intended to
represent not only the Christian
faith and its modes of worship, but
Heaven itself as imagined by the
builders 500 or 9 90 years ago. The
church is supposed to contain the
ashes of st. Mark the Evangelist. In
the year s2s the Doge had the prec-
ious relic removed from Alexandria,
in Egypt, or In palmer English, stolen
from there. When received in
Venice it became necessary to erect
a great church for their reception,
which was Immediately commenced
and resulted in the production of
"San Marco" The architects were
undoubtedly Greeks from CONSTANT
nopIe, and the artists must at least
have studied in the same school of
art. Taken altogether it is a most
remarkable structure.
In attempting to describe Venice,
there is such a wilderness of subjects
claiming attention that one becomes
bewildered where to begin or leave
off, what to tell about or what TO
omit. A volume might be filled des-
cribing churches, pictures, palaces,
and peculiarities, and several volumes
would not contain a record of its
past history and glorious actions.
VENICE IS NOT ACTUALLY DEAD,
as ancient Rome is. 1t has no ruins
to exhibit, albeit the whole city
seems in a ruinous condition. Ven
ice may be ikened in its present es-
tate, to an old man who was once
darling, stalwart, athlete, and who
still remains the outline and mien of
his former magnificent manhood; but
his feeble step and senile looks show
the great ravages which time has
wrought.
The annexation to Italy has great
Iy benefited Venice; it has relieved
the inhabitants from a condition
closely bordering on slow starvation.
Free trade with the whole Peninsula
has revived the fishery business by
offering an enlarged market and
with it the ship-building trade. The
market for its cunning and curious
manufactures in colored and orna-
mented glassware has also been en-
larged and 5000 operatives hnd en-
plovment in these establishments,
which have been reinforced by Brit
ish capital. The manufactures OF
ontio1e furniture and carved wood
also find an increasing market.
Twice or thrice as many strangers
visit Venice now as when under the
despotic yoke of Austria, and they
stay much longer and spend their
money more freely than formerly.
The little passages called streets, be-
tween the canals are kept clean and
free from beggars and thieves; the
hotels have greatly improved, though
the fees are quite numerous and
active; and the police system is ex-
cellent and defend the stranger
against imposition. Three line of
steamers ply between its harbor and
foreign aud Italian ports. One of
them, touching at Alexandria,
Egypt, steams through the Suez
Canal to the Indies; and it is con-
nected with Italy and other Euro
pean countries by rail. Still the
population is stationary at 10000
souls; but they are self-suPPortIng'
and comfortably fed and clad. but
every part of the city wears moul-
dering, neglected, unrePared aspect
A deeaying appearance attached to
everything. All the houses look as
if tbev were built at the same time. |
and that some several centuries off. !
rTLo structures that are not of mar