Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-08-11
ON THE TIBER.
A VIEW OF ST. PETERS AND MOD.
ERN ROME.
In the Palaces and Tenn ptes OF the
Cesars-The Mamertiiae Prison,
Vatican Museum.-Etc.


the "Seven Hills of tie Eternal City, IS
in ancient times when the followers of
Romulus so proudly walked upon its
banks and formed the first community of
the Roman Empire. The approach of the
Eternal City is truly inspiring, The
dome of st. Peters is seen from a great
distance; it commands prominent view
of the city and of the Roman campagna,
which extends southwards to the Alban
Hills from Mount Soracte, and from the
Apennines westward to the sea.
The population of this great city is $780,
600, crowded together in Italian style, and
doing large business on the bazaar prin-
| ciple Of sales. Several of the largest busi-
ness houses conduct their sales on the mod
ern plan, but the stalls and street stands
and peddlers crying out to sell their goods
largely detracts from steady business en-
| terprise, and also throws upon the market
trashy articles. Rome, like Naples, re-
ceiyes large revenues from tourists and
from the religious deyctees of the Pope,
hundreds of whom are constantly in the
a
reforms, and of questions of vital interest
to the Catholic Church of all lands.
ST. PETERS, OF ROME.
Our first visit is TO the Cathedral of st.
Peters. A writer has we'll said of it.:
! ''The most expensive hall ever constructed
by human art expands in magnificent per-
spective before you Advancing up the
nave you admire the beauty of the varie-
gated marble under your feet, and the
splendor of the golden vault overhead, the
lofty Corinthian pilasters with their bold
entablature, the intermediate inches with
their statues, the areades with their grace
ful figures that recline on the curves OF
their arches. But how great your aston
| ishment when you reach the foot of the
altar, and standing in the center of the
church contemplate the four superb vistas
| that open around you; and then raise
your eyes to the dome at the prodigious
elevation of 440 feet, extending like a
frmament over your head and presenting
in glowing mosaic the companies of the
just and the choirs of celestial spirits.
Around the dome rise four other cupo-
! las, small indeed, when considered sepa-
rately six more, three on either side.
cover the divisions of the aisles, and six
more of greater dimensions canopy as
many chapels. All these inferior cupolas
are like the grand dome ITSELF lined with
mosaics. Many, indeed, of the master
pieces of painting which formerly graced
this edi6ce have been removed and re-
placed by mosaics, which retain all the
tints and beauties of the originals, i'm
pressed on a more durable and solid sub
stance. The aisles and affairs are adorned
with numberless antique pillars that Dor.
der the churches all around and form a
secondary order.
"The variegated walls are in many
places ornamented with festoons, wreaths
crosses and medallions representing the
effigies ofdifferent Pontiffs. Various monu.
ments rise in different parts OF the church
of exquisite sculpture, and form very con.
spicuous features in the ornament of this
grand temple. Below the steps of the
altar, and, of course, some distance from it
at the corners, on four massive pedestals
four twisted pillars 80 feet in hight rise
and support an entablature, which bear,
the canopy itself, topped with cross. The
whole is 959 feet from the pavement
This brazen editice-ior so it may be called
was constructed of bronze stripped from
the dome of the Pantheon, and is so dis
posed as not to obstruct the view by con
cealing the chancel and yelling the chair
of st. Peter. This ornament is also Of
bronze, and consists of a group of four
gigantic figures, representing the four prin
cipal doctors of the Greek and Latin
Churches, supporting the chair at an ele.
vation of 20 feet. Under the high altar Of
St. Peters is the tomb of that Apostle, the
descent to which is in front, where large
open space leaves room for double flight
of steps. The rails that surround thi.
space above are adorned with one hundred
and twelve bronze cornucopiae, which sup
port as many silver lamps, burning during
the day in honor Of the Apostle Upon
the pavement of the small area inclosed bv
the balustrade is the kneeling statue OF
Plus VI"
The length of the building is 613B feet
Ivy 446g feet in width, and has its nave.
and aisles, basilica, pavement and cupola
so beautiful, so grandly made, as to be-
wilder the behoider. The area of this
vast structure is 100000 square feet
Numerous saints whom the church has
canonized are entombed here. The statue
of st. Peter (of Jupiter has the toe
kissed away, and while | stood near il
watching the faithful" approach it rev.
erently and fondly press their lips against
it, unused to myself at the folly of the act
and the still greater folly of believing that
it was the statue of St. Peter instead OF
Jupiter. | must be content to let the
quotation above complete my description
of the great edifce, whose architectural
construction, and sculptures and paintings
and mosaics would furnishh sufficient ma
terial to fill large volume of interesting
matter for the reader.
MODERN ROME
Is built about the old Roman Forum, but
stands many feet above the ancient city,
the floods of the Tiber having almost en-
tirely buried it from sight. There are ten
Protestant churches in the city, and bust
ness buildings representing every industry
from the work of the common artisan to
the fine arts. The old forum contains the
fragments of palaces, temples, platforms,
galleries and arches which show some OF
their former magnificence.
The Arch of Titus is well preserved,
and bears upon 1t the triumphal return OF
the proud son of Vespasian from Jerusa-
lem. carrying in the procession the spoils
of conquest from the Temple of the Holy
City OF the Jews, and leading their cap
tives in chains through the forum towards
the temples of their gods. Later, the
baths, the Colosseum, numerous palaces and
villas were built by the aid of these cap
tives. Their broken walls and arches still
remain, and the severity of their toll un-
der their Roman task-masters left its traces
upon the works of their hands. l stood at
the base of the ancient buildings of Rome.
| There is the column of Marcus Aurelius,
the Temple of Vespasian, the portico of
the twelve gods, the house of Cesar, the
place of his assassination, the arch of Con-
stantine- Also the baths of Agrippa, Ha-
drian and Caracalla; Trajan's Forum, and
the Temple of Hercules. The temples of
| Vesta and Venus, and .he place where
Virginius saved the honor of his daughter
by stabbing her to death, are of intense in
terest, and visitors stand long and eager
to read from the pages of history the many
tragic occurrences of the former and the
sad fate of Virginia, whose youth and
beauty induced one of the Senators to
claim her as the daughter of one of his
slaves. Her father had but one alternative
to save her from the dishonor, and that
was her death by his own hand. Livy
lIII, 4S) describes it in these few words !:
Nirginius demanded to speak with Vir-