On entering the Pope’s dominions we had our baggage rigorously examined. We halted at the town of Albano, fourteen miles from Rome. Here are several subjects worthy of attention. A large monument supposed to have been erected by Pompey, to inclose the ashes of his wife Julia, daughter of Cæsar; the lake of Albano, an extinct volcano, six miles in circumference, and four hundred and eighty feet in depth; castle Gandolfo, a village built in the lava, stands on the top of the hill, and here the Pope has a summer residence. It is a beautiful location, and the walks through the avenues of shady trees are delightful. From this point I first caught sight of St. Peter’s, the first view of Rome. On arriving in the truly wonderful city my first desire was to see the great Basilica, St. Peter’s, far surpassing any other in the world, in size, splendor, and magnificence. The length of the church in the interior is six hundred and fourteen feet; the front is three hundred and seventy feet, and one hundred and forty-nine feet high, ornamented with columns of the Corinthian order, each column eight feet in diameter and eighty-eight feet in height. The front terminates with a balustrade surmounted by thirteen colossal statues, seventeen feet high, representing our Saviour and his Apostles. The width of the nave is two hundred and seven feet; diameter of cupola one hundred and thirty-nine; height from the pavement to first gallery one hundred and seventy-four; to second gallery two hundred and forty; to the representation of the Deity in the Lantern three hundred and ninety-three; and to the summit of the eastern cross four hundred and thirty-eight feet.
The interior is adorned with rare marble, columns, statuary, gilding, and solid bronze, gold and silver, the sacred Confessional with one hundred superb and elegant lamps, always burning. In the year 1694 this edifice was supposed to have cost forty-seven millions dollars, since which time immense amounts have been expended in mosaics, statuary, &c.
Under St. Peter’s is a subterranean church built by Constantine. Here are many tombs of the Popes, and that of Charlotte, Queen of Jerusalem. The height of this subterranean church is twelve feet, and the pavement the same as in the days of Constantine. The ascent to the top of St. Peter’s is not difficult, and there may be had a magnificent view of the city and country.
The Vatican, which is a city of itself, contiguous to St. Peter’s, contains some thousands of rooms, variously estimated. It is seventy thousand feet in circumstances. Some writers suppose it was erected by Nero, others are of opinion that it was built by Constantine; but every sovereign extended it. It is the residence of the Popes, in which are the Latin Chapel, the Pauline Chapel, also occupied with the most extensive collection of statuary, paintings, bronzes, &c., in the world; and here we saw the master-pieces of the world, as Rome may justly be called the mistress of the globe in the arts. Here are rooms twelve hundred feet long used as libraries, and for the collections of the museums.
Rome contains such a vast variety of antiquities that one is compelled to be very industrious to accomplish much in seeing the objects of interest unless two or three months are spent in the work. It is impossible to give an adequate description of the manifold objects of curiosity in this wonderful city.
I visited the Coliseum first by moonlight, which gives a very pretty effect; the pale light throws a beautiful shadow, and leaves the imagination to cover the defects. It is an immense edifice. Titus at the consecration exhibited gladiatorial shows ten days, and five thousand wild beasts with some thousands of gladiators are said to have been sacrificed at the horrid festival. It was opened in the year 80. It is of an oval form, one thousand six hundred and forty-one feet in circumference, and one hundred and fifty-seven feet high; the arena is four hundred and eighty-five feet long, and one hundred and eighty-two wide. It was four years in building. The benches held eighty-seven thousand, and the gallery twenty thousand spectators.
The Pantheon is a beautiful structure, and has so well resisted the ravages of time that it is in quite a perfect state. The front and sides of the portico contain sixteen Corinthian columns of red ornamented granite, each fourteen feet in circumference and thirty-nine feet high, with bases and capitals of white marble. The portico is surmounted by an entablature and pediment finely proportioned. The inside is circular, one hundred and thirty-four feet in diameter; the walls are nineteen feet thick, with an opening in the top twenty-six feet wide. Verde-antique, porphyry, and other valuable marbles are everywhere prominent. The dome was originally lined with bronze, but it was taken by Pope Urban Eighth to make the great canopy over the high altar of St. Peter’s.
Among the many other objects of interest the most conspicuous are the ancient Forum, the arch of Constantine, the arch of Titus, temples of various heathen gods, the tombs of Scipio, the palaces of the Cæsars, the baths of Titus and Caracalla, Trajan’s column, the Mausoleum of Augustus, and the Mausoleum of Adrian. The latter was erected by the Emperor Adrian to be a deposit for his remains; it is now converted into the Castle of San Angelo, and occupied by the military on the banks of the Tiber. The bridge that leads to it is surmounted by the figures of many angels, bearing in their hands the instruments of torture said to have been used at the crucifixion of our Savior. Near the Campidolio, which contains a vast collection of antiquities, is the Tarpeian Rock, celebrated as the place from which the ancient Romans executed their criminals by throwing them headlong down the precipice.
Near the Temples of Concord, Jupiter, and Fortune, is situated the prison in which St. Peter and St. Paul were confined with forty-seven other prisoners. A light is kept burning continually in one of the cells, in which are an altar, and figures of the saints on a side screen. You descend by torchlight into a vault or prison, on one side of which in passing down you see the grated iron window through which the prisoners looked, and near it is the iron frame to which they were bound. Here also, far below the surface of the ground, is the living stream which gushed up for the baptism of the convicts after their conversion, and which now in case of severe droughts never fails to flow.
In visiting the immense ruins of the palace of Cæsar we descended by torchlight to the baths of Livia, where are seen the remains of stucco and fresco work in the wall, arabesques, medallions, &c. Near this place on the hill, we had a view of the seven hills of Rome, and looked down upon the Forum, Senate House, and on the other side the Circus Maximus, which extended for miles, and held in the time of Constantine three hundred and eighty thousand persons. It was used for horse and chariot races, as well as feats of wrestling, boxing, combats with wild beasts, and other exercises to improve the Roman youth.