The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1895-06-17
THE GLORIES OF OLD ROME,
LNTEREsTING STORY GIVEN By Il
WLDEAWARE TRAVELLER.

Most Wonderful and Beautiful Pieces OF
Work Are to Be Seen On All Hands
Four Singular Old Fountains in the
QuattrO FOntane - Magnificent Palaces
raised.
Dresden, May Z, 1895.
To the Editor of the JOURNAL AND COURIER
We arrived at Rome at noon and i'm
mediately entered our carriages and
drove off to our quarters in the Via
Sistina. We first drove through the
pretty piazza del Cirque Cento,"
where there is a fine monument erected
to the memory of the five hundred Ital-
ian soldiers who were slain in a battle
in Abyssinia i'm 1886. There is also a
fine old Egyptian obelisk here, which
was found ten years since at the church
Of st, Maria Sopra Minerva, down near
the Pantheon An immense fountain
has also been erected in this Piazza,
and at night 1T is lighted by electricity
A lovely sight it is. The water is sup
piled by an aqueduct formerly known
as the "Acqua Marcia" 1t is fifty-six
miles long and extends far into the Sa-
bine mountains. This fine aqueduct
was constructed in the year 146 B. c.
and the water is considered the purest
In Rome. We pass the great Baths of
Diocletian, which were erected by the
Emperors MaxiInian and Diocletian.
These We're the most extensive in the
city They were completed in the
fourth century. (More of these wonder
full baths anon) And we shortly turn
into the street known as the Via Venti
Settembre, so called in honor OF the en-
try of the italians into Rome Septem-
Der 20, 1870. AS we enter this magnitl-
cent street we note at the corner the
fountain of 'tAcqua Felice." which was
constructed by Pope Sixtus V. in 1883,
1t resembles the front of a temple and
is Tesplendent with grand statues OF
Moses, Aaron and Gideon-appropriate
emblems-while four great marble lions
guard the out-gushing waters, which
are conducted hither by an aqueduct to
the Alban mountains twenty-five miles
distant.
The hideous statue of Moses, a poor
copy of the one in est Pietro in Vincu-
lo'' by Michael Angelo, excited so much
ridicule that the sculptor Bresciano be-
came Respondent and committed sui
eide One is surprised at the large
number of fountains in Rome and the
rush of cooling waters coming from the
mountains is very refreshing to behold
in the heart of a great city and remind
one of the streams and brooks which
descend from the sides of wooded noun
tains AS we proceed through the
broad street we admire beautiful
churches and fine buildings which
abound in this quarter, and turning
sharply to the right we enter the Via
Quattro Fontane, where we see four
very singular old fountains in four cor
ners close by the Barberini Palace. We
pass by historic palaces and magnifi-
cent churches, beautiful fountains and
delightful gardens, and as we approach
the enormous Barberini Palace, the
section of which contains forty |
apartments, we find the street is now
called the Via Sistina. The Barberini |
Palace was built by Pope Urban VIII, |
of the celebrated Barberini family, |
which have upon the escutcheon three |
huge bees; we notice very large num- |
Der of marble bees six or eight inches In |
length on the marble pillars, and thick |
ly strewn over the great overhanging |
stone cornice of the palace. There are |
many buildings in the city ornamented |
with these same bees. do not, how
ever, intend at present to write about |
the Barberini or their grand palace. |
We shortly descend a long hill and pass |
rILo,.e bo
seen the celebrated fountain by Berntni,
4 Triton blowing water through conch |
to a great height Many streets inter
sect our road and we catch glimpses of
many churches, towers and monas-
.eries all about us; one is surprised to
behold so many churches in Rome. The
church of the Copuchins
which possesses the bones of six thou
sand Copuchin Brothers who have
'crossed the river" Ghese bones are
nicely and Realistically arranged in the
,rypt below is soon passed, and after
,rossing the street leading to the Pal
ice Ludovisi, which we see in the dis
ance, an immense building with album
liant gardens, the residence of the
American ambassador, our drivers sud
lenly pull up their horses and we alight
1t our quarters on the Via Sistina. 1t
S most desirable for persons who make
considerable stay in Rome to live in
} high and lofty part of the city and to
btain rooms as high up as possible, and
With full south" sunny exposure;
hen one is free from danger of malaria
md fever; at the same time one can en-
by those superb views for which Rome
Justly celebrated. We had delightful !
poms and rapid elevator or lift, {
thich is not to be had in all Roman
ouses, and on the top of our house. /
bhich was six stories high, there was q
leasant roof garden perfectly fiat, with '
parapet running all about it. There {
here arbors and vines and all sorts Of {
DIVERS, which made the place appear t
hist as real garden down on terra | l
rma." And such an incomparab i
lew as we enjoyed! All Rome was (
bread before us like panorama, for t
the right was the interesting Monte :
Eario, the Vatican, st. Peters, Castle S
|ngelo, ST. Monofrio where Tasso died, \
o historic Janiculum Hill with it's pal s
Ees and gardens verdant with great t
ALLAN oaks, and then we could see the b
load Campagna with its green hills Z
Fetching far away. The Alban and h
bine mountains were in plain view d