Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-10-09

world below, you will think you are
upon the streets of city. The roof j.
fiat, with vitrified brick tiling for floor
Among its avenues are small brick
houses for the hundred or so attend
ants of the Cathedral to live in. Just
think of people living in houses upon
the roof of great church, and with
streets as it were, thereoni You can
from here begin the ascent of the
dome. Round and round you go. up
stairs and across platforms, until you
come to the great gilded ball upon the
dome. This ball, which shows UP from
all the world outside for miles. would
make comfortable six-room house.
From this one climbs by ladder into a
smaller ball. and then, one at a time
now, we scale another ladder up into
the great gilt cross which surmounts
the summit of it all, over five hundred
feet from the ground, or nearly as
high as the top of our Washington monu-
ment. You look through the slit-holes at
all the country around, and then make
your tedious descent.
Adjoining st. Peters is the Vatican.
the residence of the Pope, with its beau
tiful gardens. This edifice is also stu
pendous, forming hollow oblong of 1900
feet, with courtyards in the centre.
One side is the library and on the other
the museum and the Pope's apartments.
Days and days may be spent here in
looking at the great paintings, sculp-
lures and relics. The Sistine chapel
and other gorgeous little chapels can
also be visited. The Swiss guard of
the Holy Father are the handsomest
aud gaudiest dressed soldiers in the
world, we presume. They are very
polite and assist visitors and the many
pilgrims who daily call.
st. Pauls, outside of the city, also in
another direction, is visited. This is
very beautiful and quite large, but seems
tame after seeing st. Peters.
Some of the great walls and
ramparts still stand, with the
openings where once were huge gates,
and arches, the sight of which for
five hundred years no enemy ever had
except in chains.
The Appian Way, a road of stone
and marble, built by Appius Claudius
through Campania to the South, is still
a good road. Near and across it
course the ruins of the great aqueduct
built by the same emperor to bring
water thirty-six miles for the city's use.
Along the Appian Way are the Cata-
combs of the early Christians. These
are of intense interest. The whole
country is rolling. under the surface US
ually being of solid limestone. The
Christians excavated for 26 miles pas
sages and rooms under these hills.
out OF the solid rock. You pass over
them driving, or on cars, today, not know
ing what is beneath. But you NAV
enter with an official guide a steep
stairway, or be led down shaft (they
are numerous). With your slender wax
taper you pass along narrow corridors.
On each side are shelves with recesses
in the stone where bodies were laid in
burial after being wrapped and spiced.
Today there are many skeletons in these
burial inches, but the most perfect
ones have been taken out for national
museums. Here a body has crushed
skull, made by the paw of wild beast
in the arena or by the blow of some
Christian enemy-even as st Stephen
was mutilated. Here broken arm.
leg or rib, from a similar cause.
Every now and then the passage WAYS
open into little larger space, and it
was in these that the early Christians
met to hold services. 1t seems that
the cruel emperors would permit
burial of the Christian victims to be rid
of the trouble, but once in a while thew
would raid the catacombs to break up
meetings. The Roman soldier was
superstitious and he never entered
these cavern tombs unless compelled to.
On the Latin Way are other cata-
combs where the Pagans were buried,
and these are also very interesting to
visit. 1t was on the Latin Way that
tradition says st. Peter met the Master
when escaping from his prison in the
city. On the reputed spot the Catho-
lies long ago erected the Quo Vadis
Chapel, and this is spot of much inter-
est. In one of the stones in the Way
(now enveloped by the chapel walls) is
the imprint of two naked feet, which
the superstitious say mark the steps of
Christ when he told faithful st. Peter
to return to Rome to be crucified.
Opposite st. Peters is the hill where
the Saint was crucified, head downward
at his own request, not feeling worthy
to be crucified in the position of his
Lord. vi.