The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-09-18
IN FOREIGN LANDS.
Correspondence of the Intelligence

"oh Venice Venice! when thy marble
Are level with the waters, there shall be
A cry of nations DER thy sunken halls,
A loud lament along the sweeping sea-"
From Florence to Venice is delight
full ride of nearly 200 miles through some
ofthe finest regions ofcentral and North.
ern Italy. As far as Pistoja, famous as
the place where pistols were invented, the
road runs along the base of the Apen.
mines; but at this point the ascent of the
mountain is begun aud the iron rail
winds up the fertile slopes, giving varied
and extensive views of the broad plains
of Tuscany. Beyond the mountains we
follow the course of the river Reno nearly
to Bologna, one Of the important cities OF
both medieval and modern Italy. Its
university, established early in the 18th
century, at one time numbered 10000
students, and many important discoveries
in science were made here. About thirty
miles farther on we pass Ferrara, the
home of Tasso, Ariosto and Titan, and
seventy miles beyond Ferrara the spires
and towers of Venice come in sight, ap-
parently rising out Of the sea and cross
ing bridge more than two miles long
we reach the station and take Venetian
omnibus, gondola, to our hotel, which
was, according to the best authorities,
formerly palace.
Nations, like men, often owe their for
tunes to small beginnings. Upon the
downfall of the Western. Empire in the
5th century, a handful of theinhabitants
ofNorthern Italy sought refuge from the
conqueriDg barbarians upon the low
islands at the head of the Adriatic, thus
laying the foundations of the city of
Venice. From humble fishermen they
gradually increased in numbers and
power and obtained the mastery of the
Mediterranean, and the commerce of the
world, and maintained an Independent
national existence for more than 200
years, until conquered by the great Bona.
parte in 1887. In 1866 Venice passed
from the control of Austria and is now
part of United Italy. Around its marble
palaces and gloomy prisons are clustered
more memories of beauty and pride, of
chivalrous devotion and treacherous
despotism, Of romance and tragedy, of
high. souled honor and the blacklist
passions of the human heart, than about
almost any other spot on earth.
The Venice of to day is city of about
10000 inhabitants, built upon III
islands, separated by LAT canals and con,
nected by nearly 400 bridges. The Grand
Canal, shaped like huge inverted letter
s, divides the city into two nearly equal
parts and runs from the railway station
on the Northwest to the Piazza of st.
Marks on the Southeast. 1t is the
Venetian Broadway. Imagine If you
can, city without the sound Of horse or
wagon; no broad paved streets, but IN
their place narrow crooked canals, upon
whose dark waters the black gondolas
glide almost noiselessly; city in fact
where the rush and hustle of the nine
teenth century never has and probably
never will reach; q city which seems to
live IN the romance of it's past, and you
will have some idea Of Venice.
The grand central point of Interest in
Venice is the Piazza. of st. Marks, an
irregular square about 500 feet in length
and 250 feet wide. tits terminated on
the East by St. Marks, the Campanile, or
bell tower, and the Doges Palace, and on
the three remaining sides is surrounded
by palatial structure, the lower story
with broad arcades being occupied by
shops and cafes. The Piazzetta is a
smaller square extending from St Marks
Southwark to the Grand Canal, the
famous winged lion of St. Marks and the
statue of st. Theodore standing as sentl.
nels on the shore. In the summer a
military band plays in the square several
times each week and the entire piazza is
filled every evening with gay crowd Of
pleasure seekers.
The world has nothing like the cathe-
dral of st Marks. It was built in the
eleventh century, in the form Of a Greek
cross, with great dome over the centre
and four smaller ones over the arms. It
is in the Byzantine style, and the oriental
splendor and magnifcence of its decora-
tions cannot be described. Above the
portah are the celebrated bronze horses
which have stood successfully upon the
arches of Nero, Domitian, Trajan and
Constantine at Rome, were taken to Con-
stantinople by Constantine the Great,
brought to Venice by Zeno, taken to
Paris BY Napoleon but restored again to
Venice in 1915.
Passing through the vestibule one is
almos. bewildered by the wierd splendor
and Surprising richness Of its interior.
The ceiling does not rise in pointed
arches, like the great Gothic cathedrals
of central Europe, neither is it fiat or
panelled like the mighty basilicas of
Rome; but is followed out into vast
dome shaped forms, with massive semi.
circular arches between, the whole COW
cred with costly mosaics upon a gold
ground. Around US rise hundreds of pill
lars of rich marble and variegated stone,
while the chapels on every hand present
new features of interest. The pavement
of tessellated marble rises and falls in
waves under foot, the foundations having
settled unequally. Among the relics
which are here exhibited, are two alabas-
ter columns from Solomon's temple, the
stone Oh which John the Baptist was be-
headed, vase containing some of the
blood of the Savior, and many others
regarded by the profane as of equally
doubtful authenticity. The dreamy light
which illuminates the shadowy aisles of
this almost oriental sanctuary, enters
through small windows high up at the
base of the domes, and mingling with the
CLEAN of the silver lamps which burn
ceaselessly before the many shrines, is
reflected upon the wondrous imagery OF
the mosaics and the stately glories of the
sculptured saints with a peculiarly strik-
ing effect. 1t is worth a trip across a
continent TO behold.
Adjoining St. Marks on the right and
between that church and the Grand