The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1876-02-13

Osleasian Abroad.
European Correspondence Of the Bulletin
ROME, January, 1876
Dear B,aletin-There are several very peril
nent remarks should like to offsr in connec
tion with St. Peters, but about the putting
forward Of which feel some delicacy, because
some one else has already said the very things
I should like to have said. How provoking
that il, you know! One thing would have
been, though of course l shall not say il
now. that the Church Of the chosen Apostle
tchosen as the cornerstone Of the "only
true" Church) can. not be induced by any
ordinary process Of comParison and reason
ing to look as big as church
Of it's size and importance should
look. and another observation would
have been, that this is probably due to the
fact that all the surroundings and belongings
Of the building are so colossal, SO enormous
II exaggerated above what one is accustomed
70 see that one loses ones reckoning COM
plstsly in trying to comprehend the vast pro-
portions Of the aedifce by the ordinary
method of judging according to the size OF
familiar objects seen at the same time. These
fwo remarks should certainly have made had
I not already read them in we'll known
book. St Peters is also unquestionably we'll
planned q regards situation, approaches, etc.
II ID not stuck away in the midst of net
work of narrow, crowded streets where one
might have trouble in finding it or in getting o
rood square look ct the outside after it was
found, but 1t is placed like the typical candle
OF the Scriptures, on q hill, where it can be
seen Of men from afar, and where its majestic
outline Of form can be taken in as whole, at
one glance, not in corners and limited Sec
lions ONE ct time as is the case with 50
Q many Of the finest cathedrals in Europe. The
church itself is on the very apex of the hill,
and leading mp to its great front portals
ID an ascent Of broad steps the whole
width Of the Building, and at the
foot Of these steps begins the great
elipsical Piazza di San Pietro bounded by its
it, two orescent-shaped rows Of quadruple
Doric columns IS feet in height above
which stretches long line Of sculptured
ffiexe and cornice adorned with Saints and
Apostles in marble. These colonnades are
immensely imposing and prepare the mind
Of the visitor properly to appreciate the
grandeur OF the church itself, though they
prevent ones fully realizing how stupendous
Of size the latter H. In the center Of the
Piazza IL the tall and graceful obelisk brought
by Caligula from Heliopolis, and this. like
everything the ancient heathens have left in
Rome, has been duly Catholicised, and now
bears the cross upon its summit. Is we'll as q
pious inscription on its base.
On either side is magnificent fountain |
that sends up . prodigious mass of water,
such a. fountains all do in pictures and SO
seldom in reality. Then the church ITSELF
one hardly knows where to begin to speak Of
il Perhaps : word about the history Of the
building may not be amiss by way Of preface.
Il stands upon the site Of the ancient Circus
Of Nero, where st. Peter is supposed to havs
suffered martyrdom. As regards the actual
founding Of the church, nothing is definitely
known, but it il believed that the Emperor
Constantine caused it to be begun at the re-
quest of Pope Sylvester l. The building
subsequently passed into the hands Of various
architects. among others Raphael and Michael
Angelo, the latter of whom planned the great
dome after the model Of that Of the Pantheon,
and in the year 1925 the complete church was
consented by Pope Urban vi, just 1900
years after the date assigned to its found
ing. na
A good long while that The length Of the
building. tho shape Of which is that Of . Latin
GROSS, 10 $50 yards, its width $50. and height
from pavement to the tip Of the cross that
surmounts the dome. is 1876 feet The height
Of the church itself is $50 feet. When one
snters, the eye is ct once bewildered with try
Ing to take in at once the profusion Of mag
niAcence presented in the view before it
Everywhere colossal pillars. gigantic arches,
sculpture and mosaic work, pavements, walls,
columns and arches, all OF marble and ex-
quisitely wrought, all 80 Overwhelmingly i'm
mense and combined with such mstchless art, ,
That the senses almost fail of comprehension
while ono gszes and gazes, and tries to do
Justice to il ALL.
Such in general Is what have to say of st. |
Peters. As to ! minute description, shall
not attempt anything 90 absurd. Any one who
wishes to get an idea Of how the place looks ,
inside and outside must patronize . picture !
store, and for other details see guide-book.
The columns in the interior of St. Peters are
Of the massive, square sort, and the arches {
uniting them are plain, round ones-no Gothic I
principles Of architecture seeming to have {
ben followed in their construction. There