The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1950-08-10
IHR)l)6A
HAZEL
EYES
by Hazel Brannon Smith
Mediterranean Ports
Delayed)

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famous Camposanto Cemetery is
. must. The Italian people seem
to take such pride and delight in
the cities of their beloved dead.
No where have / seen such deli
cate carving in marble as the
world renowned Carrara marble
seen here. Many of the tombstones
are intricately carved statues of
the departed persons with such
realistic details as ruffled gowns,
marvellous limitations Of lace, and
even spectacles, if the dead man
wore them. On the tombs tall
night candles in colored glass are
frequently kept burning. II a
bust or statue Of the dead person
Is not on the grave, then one usu-
ally finds photograph, framed
and protected by glass.
A drive along the Italian River
IA south of Genoa to Portofino,
Santa Margherita, Rapallo, Cara
ra and San Reno takes one thro-
ugh the most delightful part Of
Italy. This section is unsurpassed
for beauty and rivals the more
widely known French Riviera.
The Italian Riviera is being fire.
quented more and more as a win
ter resort and for sea bathing. The
sheltered bays, the brilliant tro-
picai greenery, and the fine sandy
beaches attract visitors from all
over the world. Each little town
or village possesses charm dis
tinctly and individually its own.
It was along these shores that
Shelly and Lord Byron wrote and
played and here that Shelly lost
his life when the little schooner
the "Ariel" floundered and was
lost at sea.
Our ship, the Monroe" skirted
these shores as we made our way
to the port of Leghorn, or better
known here as Livorno. Our
time at Livorno was again much
too short. Many sections of the
city were completely flattened by
the bombing during the war and
have not as yet been rebuilt. The
dock area was badly hit and in
some places improvised docks are
still being used. Not far from our
berth we noticed sunkeAF ship
which had been leveled of and
was being used as q dock The
harbor itself had not been COM
pleteiy cleared of the ships that
were sunk there during the war.
Besides the war ruins and the
many shops which offered beauti-
full carved marble objects there
was little to see in the city itself.
Time permitted quick trip by
car to the famous city of Pisa. One
Of the most striking buildings in
the town is the Campanile, or the
bell-tower. This is usually re-
ferred to as the Leaning Tower"
because it is IA feet out of the
perpendicular. It is built entirely
Of white marble and has a stair
case of 293 marble steps to the
summit where a wonderful view
of the surrounding land and the
sea can be had. One has to walk
up. There is no elevator. While
looking out from the top gallery a
sensation of falling is experienced.
It was here that Calico made his
experiments on the laws of grav-
lty.
Although the Cathedral is con-
sidered one of the finer examples
of the Pisan style of architecture,
the Baptistery which is separate
building was more impressive
The Baptistery is circular build
ing covered by a dome some 200
feet high and is constructed al
most entirely of marble. The inn
pressive interior has a singular
echo which converts the notes of
the simple scale into the most
wonderful harmonies when sung
by a simple voice. One of the
young priests demonstrated this
unusual phenomena for us and
we noticed that even the hghtest
whisper is reflected and prolonged
in the whole building. The large
mosaic which covers the interior
of the dome is done in colored
tiles and pictures the Virgin,
Christ, and st. John. Christ, the
center figure, seems to cover the
entire dome and his eyes follow
you to all parts of the Baptistry.
In Pisa as in other cities of Italy,
all christenings are performed in
the baptistery, as there are no
fonts in the parish churches. Some
of the other unusual features are
the beautiful octagonal marble
font, originally intended for adult
immersion and the famous hexa-
gonal pulpit. The pulpit is real
ly a masterpiece. Four of its seven
marble columns are supported on
the backs of lions and the center
column rests on a group of men
and animals. The five panels
above are carved marble reliefs
depicting important incidents in
the life Of Christ.
After these too brief days visit
ing the Italian ports of Naples,