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

ooh Verice! Venice! when thy marble
walls
Are level with the waters. there shall be-
A cry OF nations DER thy sunken halls,
loud lament along the sweeping sea-"
From Florence to Venice is delight.
full ride of nearly 200 miles through some
of the finest regions of central and North.
e.n Italy. AS far as Pistoja, famous as
the place where pistols were invented the
road runs along the base of the Apen.
mines; but ct this point the ascent of the
mountain is begun and 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. It's
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, up.
parently rising out of the sea and cross.
ing bridge more than two miles long
we reach the station aud take Venetian
omnibus, gondola, to our hotel, which
was, according to the best authorities,
formerly palace.
Nations, like men, often owe their for.
downfall of the Western Empire in the
of Northern Italy sought refuge from the
conouering barbarians upon the low 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
wcrld, and maintained an independent
national existence for more than 200
years, until conquered by the great Bona.
parte in 1897. 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 blackest
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
can, city without the sound of horse or
their place narrow crooked canals, upon
whose dark! waters the black gondoas
glide almost noise!essly city in fact
where the rush and hustle of the nine.
teenth century never has and probably
never will reach; city which seems to
live in the romance of its 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 600 feet in length
and 250 feet wide. It is terminated on
the East by St. Marks, the CampaniIe, or
bell tower, and the Doges Palace, and on
the thrae remaining sides is surrounded
by a palatial structure, the lower story
with broad arcades being occupied BY
shops and cafes. The Piazzetta is q
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 senti.
nels on the shore. In the summer
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. 1t was built in the
eleventh century, in the form OF Greek
cross, with q great dome over the centre
and four smaller ones over the arms. It
Ia in the Byzantine style, and the oriental
splendor and rnagnificence Of its decora-
tions cannot be described. Above the
portal are the celebrated bronze horses
which have stood successivelv upon the
arches OF Nero, DoInitiaD, 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 1916.
Passing through the vestibule one is
almost bewildered by the wierd splendor
d and surprising richness of its interior.
The ceiling does not rise in pointed
afcnes, IKE tho great Gothic cathedrals
OF central Europe, neither is it fiat or
ganelled Ike the mighty tasilicas 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 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 tesseliated 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 on which John the Baptist vas be-
nea1ed, q vase containing some of the
blood of the Savior, and many others
regarded by the profane aa of equally
doubtful authenticity. The dreamy light
which illnminates the shadowy aisles of
this almost oriental sanctuary, enters
thFough small Windows high up at the
oase of the domes, and miugling with tho
gleam OF the silver lamps which burn
ceaselessly before the many shrines, is
ssnected upon the wondrous imagery Of
sne mosaics and the stately glories Of the
sculptnred saints with peculiarly strik-
ing effect. It is worth a trip across
continent TO behold. s,S X
Adjoining st. Mark on the'right' sud
sesWeen' that church y.and the Grand
In ktx@ r IL IL. L.