THE GOLDEN PALACE, OR CA' d'oRO : VENICE 



The history of Venetian relations with the West and the East may be read in the palaces 

 and churches of Venice. Thev tell of the rise and development of the Republic's commerce 

 both in the Levant and with England and Flanders. The wealth of the rich Venetian mer- 

 chants and their appreciation of the beautiful is nowhere borne witness to more strikingly 

 than in the Golden Palace, built by Marino Contarini in 1421. 



city, thinkin^^ of the centuries that have 

 come to its building, striving to get the 

 heart of its charm. 



THE BEST OE VERIEST ITALY 



At Verona our journey ends. Truth- 

 fully speaking, the city belongs rather to 

 Venetia than to Lombardy. Its river, 

 rushing swiftly to join the Po, turns ab- 

 ruptly eastward and parallels it to the 

 sea. All other streams, all of the Italian 

 lakes, including Garda, inclosed in this 



great basin drain to the Po, but the Adige 

 will none of it; she is Venetian. Yet be- 

 fore a Venice was Verona was, and so 

 she stands alone. The sovereign of an in- 

 dependent State ; the vassal of Rome, of 

 Lombardy, of A^enice ; a part of the mod- 

 ern province of A^eneto, but neighbor to 

 Lombardia ; rich in tradition, dowered by 

 art, unspoiled by modernity, going her 

 own way unashamed and unafraid, Ve- 

 rona, for me, means the best of veriest 

 Italv. 



'•>73 



