THE cathe;drai, at farrara: northern italy 



With its imposing facade of three series of arches placed one above the other and its 

 projecting portal, the cathedral at Ferrara is one of Italy's best examples of Lombard archi- 

 tecture. It was begun in the twelfth century. 



city laws. All enactments having refer- 

 ence to this bank were proclaimed from 

 the steps of the Rialto ; here was the Ex- 

 change ; here the great commerce in the 

 treasures of the East was carried on ; 

 here Venice bartered the wealth of her 

 industry for the wealth of natural prod- 

 ucts before England and Holland became 

 the mistresses of the trade of the world. 



nature wanting 



Rich as Venice is in beauty, however, 

 one thing is wanting to her — Nature. 

 Whosoever wishes to enjoy nature must 

 take refuge in the Giardini Pubblici, on 

 the Lido, or on the little islands of Chiog- 

 gia and Torcello, where the fishermen's 

 huts stand, built out of the beams of 

 wrecked ships (see map, page 630). 



The public gardens of Venice are the 

 creation of Napoleon, who pulled down 

 hundreds of buildings, even consecrated 

 buildings, in order to give this space for 

 recreation to the A^enetians ; making them 

 thus the most rare and singular of pres- 

 ents — a solid piece of dry land, a prome-, 

 nade among trees ! You go along the 

 Riva de' Schiavoni, which leads from the 

 piazzetta in the direction of the Lido. 



This Riva is a noble quay paved with 

 broad flagstones, over which throngs of 

 people move and in front of which are 

 anchored rows of ships. Some have their 

 flags flying : others are having their sides 

 newly pitched, while the idle sailors lie 

 sleeping on the decks. Every now and 

 then we come upon a bridge with shallow, 

 broad steps crossing a canal. 



607 



