Pal. Bembo, Pal. Manin, 16th century, now the National Bank. The last Doge of Venice was a Manin, and lived in this palace.

We have now reached the BRIDGE OF THE RIALTO, until recently the only bridge over the Grand Canal. This part of the city is called the Rialto (Rivoalto), and was the centre of trade and business. Shakespeare refers to this quarter when he makes Shylock say—

"Signor Antonio many a time and oft In the Rialto you have rated me About my monies."

The bridge was built in 1588 under the Doge Pasquale Cicogna. It is of one span, 91 feet. Its width is 72 feet, and it is covered with shops. On the right, near the bridge, is the fish market, on the left is the fruit and vegetable

market.

Passing under the bridge we see on the left the Pal. Camerlenghi, once the residence of the Finance Ministers. Right, the Fondaco de Tedeschi, now a custom-house, formerly the depot of the merchandise of German merchants. Pal. Mangili, Pal. Michieli della Colonne, 17th century. Left, PAL. CORNER DELLA REGINA, now the Monti de Pieta,

or

Government pawnbrokers' office, on the site of the house in which Catherine Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus, was born. Right, the CA D'ORO, or "golden-house," an elegant building, in the pointed style of the 14th century. It is one of the most beautiful and graceful of the Venetian palaces. Pal. Fontana - Left, PAL. PESARO, a magnificent edifice, built in 1697, called by Ferguson singularly picturesque piece of palatial architecture.' This palace is open to visitors every day, 9 to 4; fee to attendant. The sumptuous apartments are well

66

a

worth a visit. The pictures are of no interest. Right, Pal. Erizzo, PAL. VENDRAMIN CALERGI, one of the finest palaces on the Grand Canal. It is well kept up, and has a garden at the side. It was built by Pietro Lambardo for Andrea Loredan. It is now the property of the Duke of Bordeaux. It contains some good pictures. Open to visitors daily; fee to porter and to attendant. Left, Fondaco de Turchi, a Byzantine edifice of the 9th century, one of the earliest secular buildings in Venice, now restored. It was the depot of the Turkish merchants. Left, MUSEO CORER, a collection of pictures and curiosities of no great value. Among the curiosities is the cap of the Doge Manin, the door of the Bucentaur through which the Doge threw the ring into the Adriatic. Among the pictures are "Doge Francesco Foscari," by Gentile Bellini; "Doge Mocenigo," by Giov. Bellini; "The Salutation," by V. Carpaccio. Right, Pal. Labia. We now reach the iron bridge, completed in 1858, and the RAILWAY STATION.

The ARSENAL.-A small canal leading out of the Lagune about half-way between the Piazzetta and the Public Gardens leads in a few minutes to the Arsenal. It was begun in 1300 and is nearly two miles in circuit. In the time of the Republic 16,000 workmen were employed in it. It is now nearly abandoned for its original purpose, but a movement is on foot to re-establish it as one of the great arsenals of the Italian Government. It is open every day except Sunday and festivals from 9 to 3. At the outer entrance are the four antique lions, brought here in 1687 from the Piraeus.

"The lion in a sitting posture and

ten feet in height, stood on the inner shore of the Piraeus harbour, which it seemed to guard. From that statue, the harbour itself derived the name of Porto Leone, which it bore among the Franks, all through the Middle Ages, and down to our times. As such is it mentioned by Lord Byron in the

Giaour.'

"The second statue, also of Pentelic marble, was nearly equal to the first in point of art, but far less good in point of preservation. The travellers of 1675 saw it on its original base, a little outside the city, near the ancient 'Sacred Way. The animal is represented as couching and at rest; and Spon says that he felt inclined to address it in the following words: Sleep on, Lion of Athens, since the Lion of the Harbour watches for thee.'

"Close observers must from the first have noticed with surprise, that the statue of the sitting lion bore around each of its shoulders, and in serpentine folds, the remains of barbaric inscriptions. These strange characters were after a time recognised as Norwegian Runes. Their interpretation is due to Mr Rafnr, an antiquary of Copenhagen. If reduced to straight lines, the inscription on the lion's left shoulder is as foliows:

"Hakon combined with Ulf, with Asmund, and with Orn, conquered this port (the Piraeus). These men and Harold the Tall imposed large fines on account of the revolt of the Greek people. Dalk has been detained in distant lands. Egil was waging war, together with Ragnar, in Rou

mania and Armenia.'

"We will now give the inscription from the right shoulder of the lion:

"Asmund engraved these Runes in

combination with Asgier, Thorlief, Thord, and Ivar, by desire of Harold the Tall, although the Greeks on reflection opposed it.'"- Quarterly Review.

The interior contains an interesting collection of weapons and curiosities, among them in the LOWER HALL, Model of a Venetian house showing the piles on which it is built; Mast of the "Bucentaur, Model of the "Bucentaur," from which annually, on Ascension Day, the Doge "wedded the Adriatic"

by throwing a ring into the sea beyond the Lido. In the UPPER HALL, Banners taken at the battle of Lepanto; Armour of Sebastiano Venier, the hero of Lepanto; Armour given to Henry IV. of France by the Republic in 1603; Sword of the Doge Pesaro; Armour used in torture; Doge's chair, used when he visited the arsenal; Revolvers and breechloaders of the 16th century. The attendants in each of the halls expect small fees.

THE BUCENTAUR was used in the ceremony of wedding the Adriatic, which was enjoined by the gratitude of Alexander III. after the victory of the Venetians under Doge Sebastiano Ziani over the fleet of Frederick Barbarossa, and which thenceforth annually proclaimed the naval supremacy of Venice to the world. This was attended by the Papal Nuncio and the whole of the diplomatic corps, who, without protest, every year witnessed the dropping of a sanctified ring into the sea with the prescriptive commandment : Despousamus mare, in signum veri perpetuique dominii (We espouse thee, sea, in sign of true and lasting dominion.)

te,

The PUBLIC GARDENS were laid out in 1807 by Napoleon I., several monasteries having been demolished. They are planted with sycamores and acacias, and there is a small café. They are but little visited, except on Sundays, when they are much frequented by the lower classes.

The LIDO may be visited in one of the small steamers which leave several times a day from the Riva degli Schiavoni, near the Doge's Palace, making the journey in 12 minutes; a gondola takes half an hour. It is a walk of five minutes from the landing at the Lido across the narrow strip of land to the shore of the Adriatic, where there are extensive baths, restaurants, &c.

An interesting trip is that to MURANO, celebrated for its manu

facture of "Venetian glass." Permits are issued by the Venice and Murano Co., Grand Canal, to visit its glass works at Murano. The trip there and back by gondola occupies about three hours. The Cathedral has a splendid interior, being rich in mosaics and marbles.

The theatre Della Fenice, is the largest in Venice, and is capable of accommodating 3,000 persons. There are five other theatres in the city.

ancient re

HISTORY.-The public of Venice was founded when the Visi-Goths and Huns under Attila, in 452, and the Longobards, in 568, invaded the Roman empire, and particularly the upper part of Italy, which, even in the time of the Romans, was called Venetia. Many of the ancient inhabitants of this district retired to the islands in the lagoons of the Adriatic, especially that of Rialto, where they founded a small democratic republic, governed by ten tribunes. In 697, they elected their first doge (dux) Paolucci Anafesto. To the doge was entrusted the executive power; the people retained the legislative power in their own hands; the juridical authority was reposed in the tribunes and nobility. The first seat of the government was Traclea. It was afterwards removed to Malamocco; and in 737, to Rialto, where a populous city quickly rose out of the sea, and became the far-famed Venice. Great commercial privileges were granted to the young republic by Rome and Constantinople; and her wealthy sons, no longer satisfied with the possession of the islands of the lagoons, extended their conquest into Italy and Dalmatia. In the wars with the Arabs in the ninth century, the Venetians became expert sailors. In 997, the towns of Dalmatia

But the aristocracy had begun to encroach upon the rights of the people, and the Doge to extend his power; and several revolts took place.

In 1172 the Doge, Vitali Michieli, was assassinated, and the constitution modified; the arbitrary power of the Doge was now limited, and the supreme power given to a numerous assembly of the nobility. The commercial power of the republic reached its greatest height under the Doge Enrico Dandolo, who, in the crusade of 1202, undertaken by the Venetians and French, conquered Constantinople at the head of the Venetian fleet, and secured the possession of Candia, and several islands of the Archipelago and the Ionian Sea. After the re-establishment of the Byzantine Empire in 1261, the commercial road to India was transferred from Constantinople to Alexandria, and the Genoese gained great advantages over the Venetians. Still more important in its consequences was the decisive revolution by which the Doge, Gradeniego in 1279, consolidated an hereditary aristocracy, admitting only a fixed number of noble families to a share in the government. It was at this period that the horrible council of "The Ten," as it was called, was established. In spite, however, of the abuses and tyrannies of a haughty and all-power

town itself is uninteresting. The environs are very beautiful, and attract to them great numbers of Milanese and other North Italians, who have many villas in the neighbourhood. The most beautiful part of Varese is that where the Grand Hotel is situated, about a mile outside the town. The hotel itself, which was formerly the Villa Recalcate, is in a delightful situation overlooking the Lake of Varese, and the little lakes of Monate and Comabbio, but the chief glory of Varese is the magnificent view from the terrace and grounds of the Grand Hotel of the Monte Rosa chain. "On fine evenings as the sun sinks, there is a most glorious revelation, the whole Alpine range stands out behind the lake against the crimson sky: Monte Rosa, Mont Blanc, Mont Cervin, and a hundred other peaks ending with Monte Viso."-Hare. There is no distant view of the Alps at all comparable with this, except, perhaps, the famous view of the Bernese Oberland from the cathedral terrace at Berne. Amongst other excursions to be made from the Grand Hotel at Varese is that to the SACRO MONTE, about three miles north of the town. (Carriage from the hotel 3.50 francs.) From the foot of the mountain a wide and wellpaved road leads up the hill (horse, 1.50 franc), but it is more convenient to walk, as one must constantly dismount to see the chapels. This road, which is 30 feet in width for the most part, and never less than 25, protected by stone balustrades on either side, winds up the side of the mountain, in numerous zigzags, and at each of the turns is a chapel, all different, and often of great architectural merit, containing a group of life-sized figures in terra-cotta, illustrative of some event of the Sacred His

An

tory, connected with the different mysteries of the Rosary. Hare calls it expressively-"a sort of terra-cotta Ober- Ammergau." The events are illustrated in the following order :-1. The Conception. 2. The Annunciation. 3. The Visitation. 4. The Nativity. 5. The Circumcision. 6. Christ amid the Doctors. 7. The Agony in the Garden. 8. The Sepulchre. 9. The Flagellation. 10. The Crowning with Thorns. 11. The Bearing of the Cross, and the Coming of Scholastica. 12. The Crucifixion. 13. The Resurrection. 14. The Ascension. 15. The Day of Pentecost. 16. The Assumption. At the summit of the hill is the church of Madonna del Monte, containing terra-cotta groups of the Adoration of the Magi. The view from many places in the ascent, of the Alps on the one side, and the rich plain of Lombardy on the other, is exceedingly beautiful. other interesting excursionfrom Varese is to Castiglione-di-Olone. (The distance is 6 miles, carriage 8 francs.) The collegiate church and baptistery contain frescoes by Masolino, those in the church representing scenes from the lives of Mary, St Stephen, and St Lawrence; those in the baptistery, scenes from the life of John the Baptist. Within easy walking distance of the Grand Hotel is the Colle Campiglio, a height 1 mile to the south, on the road to Laveno. The Lago-diVarese is 24 miles. (Restaurant on the shore.) Several of the villas of the nobility in the neighbourhood are shown to visitors. One of the most beautiful is that of the Prince of Castel Barco, 2 miles from the hotel. The view from its terrace is very fine. There are a number of other excursions to be made in the neighbourhood of Varese, for which excellent carriages and horses are