“I am transported to see you,” as the convict at New Holland said to the kangaroo.
St. Peter’s Church.
Church of St. Peter’s at Rome.
This sublime edifice is by far the most costly and stupendous religious building in the world. It was begun by one of the popes of Rome, Julius II., in 1506. His object was, to have a church that might become the seat and centre of the great Catholic Church throughout the world. The first architect employed was Lazzari, but he died soon after, and the task devolved upon the famous Michael Angelo. It required, indeed, a man of great genius to design and carry forward so stupendous a work. The building was one hundred and fifteen years in progress, and extended through the reigns of no less than eighteen popes. The cost of it was amazing, being equal to one hundred and sixty millions of dollars at the present day. A period of one hundred and fifty years or more was required to complete the colonnade and other ornaments after the body of the structure was finished. Great numbers of people are now constantly at work to keep the enormous mass in repair. The annual expense of this is estimated at thirty thousand dollars.
The clear length of the church within is 615 feet, its utmost breadth 448, its height 464 feet. The greater part of it is of stone, though some portion is of marble. The foundations are immense, and it is said that they contain a greater mass of stone than the building above the ground. In front of the church, and within the colonnade, is a beautiful obelisk, brought from Egypt almost two thousand years ago. On each side of this is a fountain, the waters of which rise to the height of seventy feet and fall in three cascades; the whole forming a cone of falling waters. They continue to fall day and night, and nothing can be more beautiful than the effect produced. They are supplied by ancient Roman aqueducts, from lake Braccano, which is seventeen miles distant. Every thing is vast in and about this wonderful edifice. The interior is very grand, and strikes the beholder with awe. The figures of the four Evangelists, which adorn the inside of the cupola, are of such enormous size, that the pen in the hand of St. Mark is six feet long. The interior is enriched with a great number of figures of saints and other works of art. In the centre of the church, where the light pours down from the dome, is the tomb of St. Peter, before which one hundred lamps are kept constantly burning.
Some idea of the vastness of this structure may be formed from the fact that great numbers of persons live upon the roof, in buildings which are not seen from below, yet appear almost like the streets of a city!
A Gypsy telling fortunes.