Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-06-20
Correspondence of the Chicago Tribune.
ITALY.

Correspondence OF the Chicago Tribune.
ITALY.
THE TRIP FROM ROME To FLORENCE
BY RAIL-NARNI AND THE HIGH
BRIDGE OF AUGUsTUs-TBRNI AND ITS
CAscADEs-SPoLETo- AND ST.
FRANoIs-P PERUGIA AND ITS SIEGE BY
THE GoTHs-LAKE TRAsIMENUs AND
THE DEFEAT OF THE Romans BY HAN
NIBAL-FLoRENCE-A BEAUTIFUL CITY
THE CAsCINE PARK
FLORENCE, April 70, IA
The "ldes" of April admonished
me that my stay in Rome must ter
inmate, and that a further examina-
tion Of ruins, and churches built
therefrom, and pictures and statua-
~, must be indefinitely postponed.
With many regrets for having to
respond to the inexorable call of
"Time," l left for Florence by the
middle or
MOUNTAIN ROUTE,
on the morning train of a gloomy,
wet day. The distance thence is
185 miles northward; fare; y cents
per mile, "frst Glass;" 8 cents, Sc
cond ditto; and cents, third
Americans, mobiles, and ''fools" take
the first class coaches; every one else
the second and third.
For the first so miles out of Rome
the road runs along the Valley of
the Tiber. At station called Or
te, which formerly was boundary
village between the Kingdom of It
ally and the little Kingdom of the
Pope, the road leaves the Tiber and
turns sharply to the eastward, fol-
lowing the beautiful Valley of the
Neva-a mountain stream. At the
Village of Narni, the train passes
the high bridge of Augustus, which
here crosses the Neva; one of the
arches are gone; the bridge is near
ly nineteen centuries old. The Fla
minian Way to the Alps ran up
this valley from Rome. From Narni
to
a distance of 20 miles, the road as
cends a very steep grade, passes
through many tunnels, and is over
hung in places by high, rugged
crags The scenery is very wild
and grand. Here the road strikes
another mountain stream-the Veil
no-remarkable for its cascades and
falls. The first fall descends so feet;
the middle one 500 feet, and the low
er one, $40 feet; total, 800 feet. In |
the spring when the mountain tor
rents in great volumes tumble down |
these falls, they rank in grandeur
and roar among the finest in Italy. |
Terni is also celebrated as the birth |
place of the great Roman historian |
Tacitus. Here also were born two |
Emperors of Rome in its decadence,
whose names are not worth mention
ing. They met the common fate,
assassination, An hours run down
an exceedingly steep grade, and |
through long tunnel, brings the
the traveller to the fine old town of
sPoLETo,
containing $4,000 inhabitants. 1t is
situated away up on a mountain
slope, with a castle on the summit,
and surrounded by an ancient wall, |
built before the time of the Crusades.
1t possesses a church erected in A.
D. 6l7. The old aqueduct which
brings water into the town crosses a
deep chasm on ten arches, in length
700 feet, and in height, one of them,
279 feet, and three or four of the
others not much less. 1t was con-
structed in the reign Of the Emperor
Theodosius, and is still perfect.
There are many ancient ruins to be
seen below the town,
The next point of tote is
ASSIST,
where, B. G. 46, the Elegiac Proper
,ius was born; but it is indebted for
is chief reputation as being the birth
place of st. Francis, in A. D. 1882,
he founder of the monastic order of
franciscan monks, who spread all
over Europe during the Dark Ages,
md exercised great influence
for good or evil is a question
which will be answered variously
according to the dogmatic views of
he replicant. The appearance of
he town, as one approaches it, is
very line; its towers and battle
nents, its aqueduct and ruined cas-
lie, make up romantic picture. The
streets are silent and narrow, crook
ID and steep; the houses are high,
gray, and tottering with age; and it
looks exactly fitting for the abode
# the old Franciscan monks in their
,rown wooden robe and hempen Cir
lie.
An hours run brings the tourist to
he noted city of
PERUGIA,
lalf way between Rome and Flor
'nce. AT this point, the road, turn
ng westward, comes into the Valley
If and crosses the Hber, which ex-
ends away up among the mountains
20 the north. Perugia is a quaint
I'D place of 10000 inhabitants. 1t
5 beautifully situated on the heights
800 feet above the Valley of the
Fiber. Among other remarkable
things is the history is the desper-
ate siege it sustained against the
5olhs, who only captured it after
of seven years. duration,
md who imposed on it all the de-
,truction that fire and sword could
nfiict. It's old palaces and cathe-
trails contain many works of art
which rank high and are greatly ad-