The Church of the Trinity: St. Maria: Church of Onesemus: The Grand Corso: The British and Foreign Bible Society: Outside view of the Quirinal: Nero’s House: Leaving Rome: Scene at a wayside station: Arrival at Florence: Visit to the Cathedral.
The wonderful Church called the Church of the Trinity, up a very broad staircase of some 330 steps; then a very fine piazza or square, and an obelisk, at the top of which they say is a piece of the cross on which St. Peter suffered martyrdom. In this square we found artists’ models waiting to be engaged. Some of them very pretty Italian peasant girls fresh from mountain homes, in costumes quaint and queer; old men with white beards and capacious cloaks; shepherd boys from the Campagna; bag-pipers from Abruzzi; also mendicants of more than one nationality; also vendors of wares of various kinds, principally small brooches, photo frames and pins, with nic-nacs that were considered to be attractive. A scene of very great interest to the Britisher. We left here to have a stroll in the streets, to watch with interest the customs and habits of the people. Hotels almost without number; beer-houses, only a few; cafes, many; confectioners, many; chemists and doctors, fairly numerous; dentists, several at any rate; restaurants, many, and some on a very large scale; telephone call offices; lavatories; specialities, as jewellers who sell Roman pearls, mosaics, religious ornaments, bronzes, marble, etc.; porters standing in various places to give you a hand with a parcel; omnibuses running to the station from all parts of the city; carriages for hire at about eightpence per mile, English money. So we passed an hour in watching the ever changing street scenes, until tired, then to our hotel and to rest once more. Returning to our further inspection of churches, museums, and places of interest, we went to see the old St. Maria. This is a very interesting place, and is said to be built upon the site of what was Paul’s “own hired house in which he dwelt for two whole years,” see Acts, ch. 28, v. 30. It is said that on this spot, Onesimus, the runaway slave, was converted, and that he received the gifts sent by the Philippians and the Colossians, by Epaphroditus, which he so thankfully acknowledges. Philippians., chapter 4, verse 18. “I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.” Three rooms in the basement of the church are shown as the very rooms in which St. Paul and St. Luke taught and wrote. Col., chapter 4, verse 14.
Leaving this place we enter the Corso, the principal street of the city. To our surprise and delight we saw a depot of the British and Foreign Bible Society; the window full of Italian copies of the scriptures spread open, some showing clearly one passage, and some another; so that he who runs can read. We found we could buy the New Testament for threepence in English money. A separate gospel for less than one penny. It is not many years since when this would not have been allowed in Rome or in Italy. Before the Pope’s power was broken, I mean his temporal power, he did not allow a circulation of the Bible, nor did he allow a public assembly of heretics (Christians) within the city. Now, thank God, there are numerous Protestant Churches in the city. The Wesleyans have one or more churches. The Americans, the Lutheran, the Greek, the English church and others are now allowed the privileges not long since denied to them. We had the pleasure of an outside view of the Quirinal, the present residence of the King of Italy in Rome. It was at one time the residence of the Pope. It is an old building, 1574 is the date. It is said the Popes prepared this residence because the air was so fresh, and the neighbourhood so healthy. While the King is in Rome the Quirinal palace is not open to visitors. The gardens are on an extensive scale. Within the palace are sculpture, museums, library, paintings by Raphael, Michael Angelo and Luigi Serra. Some of the subjects are simply masterpieces. We went from the Quirinal to the Baths of Titus, erected by the Emperor of that name, it is said upon the same place where once stood the house of Nero. The excavators in 1811 laid bare many interesting facts concerning the times of Titus, about the year 80 A.D. Only a semicircle can be seen showing the foundations, yet it seems to be clear that these are the only remains of the baths referred to. We left here feeling we were satiated with sight seeing, and our time for leaving Rome was near at hand, so we determined upon a few purchases. Then to our hotel to reflect, to think, to recall, if possible, to memory what we had seen and heard. To fill up our diary, to settle our hotel accounts, and to get ready to leave the “Eternal City.” We reviewed in our mind at leisure, where we had been, and what we had seen in Rome. And we read up history which tells us in the palmy days of Rome, there would be within the city over 400 temples, and over 17,000 palaces, over 13,000 fountains, more than 30 theatres, 8 amphitheatres, 11 baths, some of which would accommodate some 1,500 bathers at once, 80 gilt statues, and over 3,700 bronze statues, 82 statues of figures on horseback, so we think of Rome in her imperial pride, when luxury lay on the lap of so many of her nobles. Since then she has been humbled to the dust. Many of these costly buildings and statuary are in ruins, but there is enough left to show her once illustrious position.
We had certainly made the best of the time at our disposal, so we leave thee, Oh! Rome! the great, the illustrious. “It may be for years, or it may be for ever.” We said good-bye, and soon we were en route for Florence. The scenery for some distance is not particularly attractive. The usual Italian villages, in some cases just a cottage or two, the tenants of which are out with their ox and plough, or a pair of donkeys and a rickety old cart, or the man is draining his farm. We saw about eight or ten women at a large stone trough by the side of a highway washing. It seems this is their custom, for the women of several families to have a joint washday, and go to the nearest clean flowing water.As we proceeded northward, we noticed the country became more undulating and richer in fruits and flowers. The season for the grapes being ripe was just on, and we noticed as we journeyed, on all sides, grape vines; there seemed to be miles of them, and still, as we hurried along, more vineyards. Oxen in wagons in the rows of vines, were being loaded with the luscious fruit. Six white oxen in each wagon mostly. The husband, wife and children, all seemed to be engaged in plucking and loading the fruit. We passed scores of miles of vineyards of this sort. We stopped at a station called Cartona. I saw a typical Italian girl with a grape stall on the platform. I alighted and selected two large bunches of beautiful ripe grapes, and as I could not ask the price, not speaking Italian, I held out my hand with a number of coins of various value for her to take the cost of the grapes. She selected twenty centimes, that is about twopence in English money; so very cheap are grapes. The country is a lovely country and rich beyond compare. Our train, we could perceive at times, was climbing, so slow was the speed, but as we got higher the scene became more lovely; the Italian lakes in the distance; the towns with the usual Duomo or Church always noticeable.
Team of oxen in TuscanyAt every road crossing we noticed an Italian woman, usually aged, sat at the gate crossing, with horn in hand ready to give warning of an approaching train. About four o’clock in the afternoon we came in sight of Florence. The first view was entrancing. The city lies in a hollow, the surrounding hillsides are, here and there, dotted over with castles and mansions, each in their own lovely and extensive grounds. They were mostly of white marble. The river Arno runs through the city. Florence is essentially a city of flowers, as its name indicates. All around for miles castles, mansions, villas, gardens and shady nooks fill the soul with a consciousness that Nature here has bestowed her gifts of beauty in no stinted degree. Florence has been called, and I think very aptly, the Athens of Italy. This city possesses the memories of some of the world’s greatest men, “the priceless heirlooms of a glorious past.” Here the peerless bard, “Dante” sang his deathless song and made his lovely Beatrice immortal. Was it not from these very hills and fields on which we were gazing, that Galileo every night scanned the heavens to compel the distant orbs to reveal their secrets?
Here we see her peerless domes and towers rise in all their stately grandeur beneath a lovely Italian sky. We are now at the station. Alighting, we soon found the ’bus for “Hotel Minerva” (this we had selected before hand) so were soon once more settled for a little while. Our hotel was very comfortable, and we found mine host most gracious, and evidently most desirous to satisfy us, and so keep our patronage as long as possible. The rooms were lofty and furnished with taste, dinner served in good style, which included everything we could wish for. A look round the city for a little while, was our first thought, so out we went into the great open square, facing which is the Duomo or Cathedral Maria del Fiore, so called from the lily which figures in the arms of Florence. This vast pile of buildings was begun in the year 1298, and finished in the year 1462. It is stated it was built on the foundations of an earlier church. It is a grand example of the Gothic art. The length of the building is 185 yards, and its width, 114 yards. The dome is 300 feet high, and with the lantern 352 feet. On the 8th of September, 1298, a representative of Pope Boniface VIII. blessed the foundations of this new grand temple in the presence of the “Gonfaloniere Borgo,” many bishops, “the chapter,” all the Florentine clergy, the captains of the arts, and the magnificent and sublime “Signori of the Republic,” as they were called. The words with which the community gave charge of this sumptuous building were, literally translated, “to make it so magnificent and so sublime that it would be impossible that it should be surpassed.” And it seemed to us that for size and strength and adornments, few can compare with it. Many vicissitudes occurred during the building—wars, deaths of architects, etc.—till in the year 1492 it was something like a completed building. In April, 1860, King Victor Emmanuel laid the foundation of a new facade, which was to replace one taken away, as the design was considered unsuitable. Above the south door is a Madonna between two angels. Inside we were struck with its massiveness, more than with its decorations. On the right there is a fine equestrian statue of John Hawkswood, of date 1384, an English soldier of fortune, who had served the Republic with unswerving fidelity. Over the portico is a fine picture of the Virgin Mary in mosaic. On the right side are some fine marble figures of great men of ancient dates. In the east nave are fine statues of St. John and St. Peter; a fine stained-glass window with most attractive and telling designs. Inside the great dome is a very peculiar, very grotesque frieze, by a great painter named Vasari, depicting the flames of hell and awful monsters around them. Also the heaven of delight and bliss.Near the Cathedral is the wonderful Campagna or tower, which visitors through centuries have visited and admired. A distinguished visitor once said, “The Florentines should enclose this tower in a glass case, and only let it be on exhibition during the great festivals.” It is solid and strong, though it rises to the height of 292 feet. It has four stories, the lower ones are richly fixed with variegated marble, and covered almost with statues of illustrious men. A view of this tower from a distance is very fine. We had seen nothing like it before in all our travels on the continent.