Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1898-05-04


was the most interesting we took. 1t did
not come up 10 the drive from Solerno to
| Amalh as to scenery, but for ruins and
| historical interest it far excels the latter.
Soon after passing through the Gate st.
| Sebastiano we came to a small church
Domino Quo Vadis, So called because, nc
cording to the legend, Peter, who was
trying to escape martyrdom, met Christ
here and upon asking the question:
Domino quo vadis?' received the
answer: "Nenis iterum crucifgi' Where
upon Peter returned to Rome to await his
death, ashamed of his own cowardice.
The catacombs of 5. Callistus were the
next thing we visited. We had monk
/ for guide. After going down Il lot OF
/ steps we came to an underground passage
where are the tombs OF several pvpe4.
Among them is that Of Sixtus ii " no was
m1rtyred at Rome.
Farther ON is the grave OF the holy S
Cecilia, whose body was found here but
which is now iii S. Cecilia in Traslevere
at Rome. Over the grave is n statue of
/ her just as she was found lying face
downwards and marks on the neck snow
ing how she WAS mgrtyred. Her body
was well preserved, but rs soon as it came
i'll contact with the AIR it fell to pieces
The catacombs extend for seventeen
miles underground. During the middle
ages they were entirely forgotten, but
since, about the beginning of the seven
/ tenth century, they have been open to
! the public. They were made originally
for resting place for the dead, but when
] the prosecutions of the Christians began
/ they served as refuge for them; later
/ they were discovered, and many were
martyred there. The tombs of those who
suffered martyrdom are built in he shape
! OF half circles.
On many of the sarcophagi are rude
| paintings whose meaning the monk
explained to us. The monk who guided
us was very comical. We told him we
thought monks were always grave, but
he didn't seem to think SO. Once when
we came to place where several dark
passages led in different directions, he
asked which was the way out, but we had
no idea. Such bewildering lot OF pas
sages, and with only torch apiece for
light we could have easily lost our way.
Some parts have been closed, and it is
only allowed to enter the catacombs with
guide now because W hen they were first
opened several persons were lost there.
Farther along the road is the church of
S. Sebastiano, built where the saint WAS
martyred with arrows, and whose body
the catacombs connecting with the
church contain. Over one of the affairs is
the original footprint of Christ on
marble 90. This church is one of the
seven pilgrim churches of Rome. Some
distance farther along the Appian Way is
the circular tomb of Caecilia Metalia,
daugh liter OF Metelae Crassi, and wife of
the younger Crassus, according to the in
scription on the marble tablet.
There are many ancient tombs all along
this Via Appia but of less Importance.
To the east are seen the ancient ruins OF
the aqued On the way home we got
a fine view OF The ruins of the palaces on
the Palatine, one OF the seven hills of
Rome. Near by is another one of the
hills, called the Capitoiine, where the
Captoine museum and Conservatory
palace are. In the middle of TINS square
is bronze equestrian statue OF Mare
Aurel, which was carefully preserved, as ii
was thought to be that OF Constantineth he
Great, the first Christian Roman emperor.
The Capitoline museum being the next
in Importance after the Vatican antiquity
collection, it has any amount OF die,
statues. The most famous we SAW We're
the dying Gladiator, the "Restin!,
BILE Faun' and the beautiful C4pjtuliue
Venus.
The PalaZZo del Consevatori opposite
contains a collection of bronzes, antiques
and pictures. Among the brorze5 the
"Thorn Extractor" and ''Capitoline w olf'
are the most important. From the Pal
atne, or rather from the Bevedere on the
Paatine, we got a fine view of the Coli
scum and Baths of Caracala. Besides the
Farnese Bull and Hercules, which | told
you we saw in Naples, the Farnese Flora
was also found in these baths.
From another point on the Palatne
there is good view OF the Roman Forum
OF course there is enough about that to
fill book. We went there many times
with Baedeker until we knew it pretty
well. The view of the entire city we got
from the dome of St. Peters, One can
walk around the entire galleries in he in
side of the dome and examine the beauti-
full mosaics. The view of the interior OF
the church, where the high altar and the
bronze statue of st. Peter are, is very fine.
1t was the day before the Pope said mass
in ST. Peters, when so many pilgrims were
in town, and we could watch them from
t he galleries as they kissed the toe of St.
Peter. 1t is kept quite polished, and is a
little worn away from the many kisses it
receives daily.
After we had seen the dome enough, it
being Michael Angeles masterpiece in