321 



ROME. 



ROME. 



322 



Such a building as St. Peter's, carried on under man; different 

 architects for a period of more than a century, must have faults and 

 incongruities. The portico in front, the approach to which is formed 

 by the beautiful colonnades of Bernini, which conceal the buildings on 

 each side of the piazza, is mostly objected to, as spoiling the view 

 of the church itself. But St. Peter's as a whole may be safely said 

 to be the most magnificent structure raised by man. Its interior 

 well corresponds with its external appearance : the proportions are 

 60 well kept, that the eye, at first, is not struck with the vastnesa 

 of the edifice until some of the parts are examined separately. 

 For a description of the structure itself, and its gorgeous ornaments 

 in marble, bronze, stucco, and gold, its altars, chapels, paintings, 

 mosaics, sculptures, and numerous sepulchral monuments, we must 

 refer the reader to guide books, and to professional works on the 

 subject : here we can only state the dimensions of this vast structure. 

 The total length of the interior within the walls is 602 feet ; length of 

 transept 445 feet; the nave increases from 77 feet at the entrance to 

 89 feet, and ia 150 feet high ; the aisles are 21 feet wide and 47 feet in 

 height. The height of tho baldachino, or canopy over the high altar 

 (which is immediately under the dome), to the top of the cross is 93 

 feet. The four great pillars on which the dome rests are 232 feet in 

 circumference. The diameter of the cupola is 193 feet. The base of 

 the lantern of the dome is 400 feet, and the top of the cross 430 

 feet above the pavement. The high altar stands immediately over 

 the grave of St. Peter. 



The assemblage of buildings called by the name of the Vatican, and 

 which extends in an oblong irregular mass north of St. Peter's as far 

 M the town walls, consists mainly of 1, the Papal palace; 2, the 

 court and garden of Belvedere ; 3, the library ; 4, the museum. The 

 Papal palace contains, among other remarkable objects, the Sistine 

 and Pauline chapels, painted by Michel Angelo : the Sistine chapel 

 contains the painting of the Last Judgment; the four 'stanze,' or 

 apartments, painted by RafTaelle ; and the ' logge,' or open galleries, 

 painted by Raffaclle's pupils under his direction. The principal stair- 

 case, made by Bernini, is a splendid work of art. The Vatican is said 

 to contain altogether eight great staircases, more than twenty courts, 

 twelve great halls, and several thousand apartments large and small. 

 A corridor, about a thousand feet long, joins the Papal palnce to the 

 building called Belvedere, which serves as a museum. About half-way 

 up this corridor is the entrance to the Vatican library, which was 

 built by the architect Fontana under Sixtus V. Pope Nicholas V. was 

 the founder of the Vatican library, which has been increased by many 

 popes. It now contains about 100,000 printed volumes and 24,000 

 manuscripts, of which 5000 are in Greek, 16,000 in Latin, and 3000 in 

 the oriental languages. 



The museum, or collection of works of art, mostly of ancient sculp- 

 ture, was b-gim by Clement XIII. and Clement XIV., and greatly 

 increased by Pius VI. Pius VII. began a new collection, to which 

 has been given the name of Museo Chiaramunti. The two together, 

 which are distributed along the court, garden, and palace of Belvedere, 

 constitute the richest museum in Europe. Another and more exten- 

 sive garden belonging to the Pope is annexed to the Vatican palace, 

 and extends along the brow of the hill. 



The other remarkable building in the Borgo is the great charitable 



establishment of Santo Spirito, the largest in Rome, situated dose to 



;ht bank of the Tiber. It comprises an hospital for the sick, 



which in the summer months contains from 1000 to 1200 patients at 



a time, a foundling hospital, and a lunatic asylum. 



The castle of Sant'-Angelo (of which the massive circular tower was 

 built by Hadrian for his mausoleum, and the fortifications around it, 

 consisting of rampart*, ditches, and bastions mounted with cannon, 

 were begun by Pope Boniface IX. and continued by successive popes) 

 is the citadel of Rome, but it is not capable of a regular defence. It 

 serves as a state prison and also as a bouse of correction. 



The district called Trastevere lies south of the Borgo and between 

 the Janiculum and the Tiber, and communicates with the Borgo by the 

 handsome gate of Santo Spirito. The Janiculum is a long straight ridge 

 bout a mile and a half long from north to south, and it rises nearly 

 300 feet above the level of the river. In the northern half of its 

 length it rises almost immediately from the bank of the Tiber, leaving 

 however sufficient level ground for a street, which from its length is 

 called La Lungara. This street contains some fine buildings, the 

 Palazzo Salviati, the Palazzo Corsini, one of the handsomest in Home, 

 once the residence of Christina of Sweden, with a gallery of paintings, 

 a library, and delightful gardens, which extend up the slope of the 

 Janiculum, and from which there is a splendid view of Rome; and 

 lastly, La Furnesina. a bouse and gardens built by the wealthy banker 

 Ohigi in the time of Leo X., with some fine frescoes by Raphael. On the 

 slope of the Janiculum is the Villa Laute, the casino of which was 

 painted by Oiulio Romano. The church and convent of San Onofrio, 

 likewise on the Janiculum, above La Lungara, is worthy of notice, 

 as having been the last asylum of Tasso, where he died and was 

 buried. 



Towards the southern end of the Lungara the bill recedes farther 

 the banks of the river, which here makes a bend to the east, and 

 it is within this bend that the great bulk of the district called Tras- 

 tevere is situated. Some of the streets run up the Janiculum to the 

 gate of San Pancrazio, but the higher part of the hill is chiefly unbuilt, 



oioo. DIY. TOI. IV. 



though it is inclosed within the walls. The villa Spada is in this 

 part, near the gate, outside of which is the villa Pamfili, a favourite 

 promenade of the youth of Rome, with shady walks, water-works, and 

 clusters of lofty umbrella pines. Among the most remarkable build- 

 ings of Trastevere is the church of San Pietro in Montorio, which 

 covers the spot on which St. Peter was crucified, and contains some 

 fine paintings. Above San Pietro in Montorio, in a commanding 

 situation, ia the fountain of L'Acqua Paola, the largest in Rome, which 

 appears at a distance like a triple triumphal arch with streams of 

 water rushing through : it was constructed by Paul V. with the marble 

 taken from a temple of Minerva. Lower down, at the foot of the hill, 

 is the collegiate church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, a vast and 

 handsome structure, with granite and porphyry columns, rich marbles, 

 some good paintings, and an old mosaic of the 1 2th century. Near 

 to it is the fine Benedictine convent of San Calisto, in the library of 

 which is a splendid illuminated Latin Bible of the 9th century. A 

 long street leads from San Calisto to the church and convent of San 

 Francesco a Ripa, once inhabited by St-Francis of Assist The church 

 is ornamented with paintings, sculptures, and rich marbles, and lias a 

 chapel with vaults belonging to the Pallavioini family. Not far from 

 San Francesco is the large building of San Michele a Ripa, near the 

 Tiber, facing the Aventine Hill, which rises on the opposite bank. 

 San Michele is one of the most useful and best conducted charitable 

 establishments of Rome, and is inhabited by above 700 persons. It 

 consists of a workhouse, or house of industry for poor boys and girls, 

 of a school of the fine arts for those boys who have a taste for them, 

 of an asylum for the old and infirm of both sexes, and of a house of 

 correction for juvenile offenders. Along one side of this vast building 

 is the handsome quay and landing-place of Ripa Grande, where 

 vessels which ascend the Tiber from the sea land their goods, and 

 annexed to which are warehouses. Below it is the Porta Portese, or 

 gate leading to Fiumicino, which is the southern extremity of Rome 

 on the right bank of the Tiber. 



There are above 360 churches in Rome, most of which are worthy 

 of notice, either for their antiquity, architecture, or their decorations. 

 A few of the most interesting have been mentioned. The churches 

 constitute one i>f the principal attractions of modern Rome. One of 

 the most remarkable, the church of St. John in Laterano, remains to 

 be noticed. 



The Basilica Lateranensis, with a palace and other buildings annexed 

 to it, is situated at the south-eastern extremity of Rome, near the walls 

 of Aurelian and Honorius, in the older and now desolate part of the 

 city. This group of buildings ia called ' in Laterauo," from being 

 built on the estate once belonging to Plauttus Lateranus, who was put 

 to death by order of Nero (Tacitus, ' Ann.,' xv. 60). It appears that 

 the later emperors had a palace on the spot, and that Constantino 

 had a church or chapel annexed to the palace. This was the begin- 

 ning of the splendid church of St. John in Laterano. Constantino, or 

 some of his successors, gave up the palace to the bishops of Rome, 

 and the Lateran, till the beginning of the 14th century, was the resi- 

 dence of the popes, who enlarged the adjoining church at different 

 times, and made it their episcopal or patriarchal church, which it 

 continues to be. The pope, in his quality of bishop of Rome, goes to 

 take solemn possession of it after his election, and he officiates there 

 on certain great festivals, for which reason it is styled the head church 

 in the world, ' Eccleeiarum Urbis et Orbis Mater et Caput.' 



Many councils have been held in the palace of the Lateran, five 

 of which are styled (Ecumenic, or universal. The palace fell to 

 ruin during the long residence of the popes at Avignon in the 

 14th century, and a fire broke out in 1308, which consumed the 

 greater part of it as well as the church. The church was restored, 

 but the palace was abandoned, and Gregory XI., when he transferred 

 his residence to Rome in 1377, fixed his residence in the Vatican 

 palace, which then came to be considered as the residence of the 

 pontiffs till the 17th century, when they went to reside on the Qui- 

 rimil. Sixtus V. however in 1586 ordered a new palace to be built 

 next to the Lateran church, which was not finished until more than 

 a century after his death, and is that which now exists. It is used 

 at present as an asylum for the poor ; and there is also a large hospital 

 on the other side of the square. The whole vast mass of buildings 

 called by the name of Lateran has been much changed from what it 

 was when the popes resided here. The interior of the Basilica, or 

 church, in its present state, was completed in the 17th century by 

 Clement VIII. and Innocent X., and the splendid front was raised 

 by Clement XIL The church has a nave with double aisles, and is 

 enriched with pillars of rare marble, statues, painting', gildings, and 

 bronzes. The middle gate, which is of bronze, and of masterly work- 

 manship, was taken from the .-Emilian Basilica in the Forum. The 

 statue of Constantine, under the portico, was found in the Thermal 

 of that emperor on the Quirinal Mount. The ceiling of the nave, 

 which is carved and gilt, is one of the richest in Europe. The bronze 

 mausoleum of Martin V. is erected in the nave. Among the side 

 chapels that belonging to the Corsini family is one of the richest in 

 Rome; the pillars, walls, and pavement are of valuable stones, and 

 the mausoleum of Clement XIL consists of a beautiful urn of por- 

 phyry, which lay under the portico of the Pantheon. The altar of the 

 Blessed Sacrament is adorned with four fluted columns of gilt bronze. 

 The cloisters, which date from the 13th century, have some curious 



