However, the Allemanni asked for peace, it was granted, thereupon
Martin obtained his dismissal. He then went to Poitiers and placed
himself under the teaching of S. Hilary. Then he departed to visit
his parents in Pannonia. As he crossed the Alps he was attacked by
robbers and plundered of all he had. On reaching his native city of
Sabaria, Martin succeeded in converting his mother to Christ, but his
father persisted in his paganism. Then he returned to Italy, and after
tarrying awhile at Milan, where he was vexed by the Arians, he took
refuge on this islet of Gallinaria. There he lived on roots, and nearly
poisoned himself by accidentally eating the hellebore, attracted by its
dark green leaves and pale flowers. Providentially the spasms caused by
the poison came on so rapidly as to check him from eating enough to
kill him; but he suffered great pain, and lay at death’s door. A cave
is shown in the island which S. Martin is traditionally held to have
inhabited. After some sojourn on Gallinaria, Martin left it and went
back to Poitiers.
To visit the curious old mountain village of Andora, one must leave the
train at Laigueglia, before it rushes into the tunnel pierced through
the spur of rock on which Andora stands. The church dedicated to SS.
Philip and James is in Lombardic Gothic of the fourteenth century, and
is one of the most interesting monuments of the style in Liguria. Above
the high altar is a crucifix of carved wood, the figure of natural
size, believed to be still earlier than the church, which dates from
1341.
Adjoining the church is a tower with swallow-tail battlements, that
belonged to the old castle, but has now been united to the church.
There are also at Andora the ruins of a feudal castle, the Parasio, the
residence of the Podesta till 1797. There are also remains of a Roman
aqueduct and a Roman bridge over the river, still in good condition.
Oneglia was the birthplace of Andrew Doria, the great admiral. It is an
ugly town; the prison is in the shape of a cross, with a huge lantern
at the junction of the arms lighted through cockney Gothic windows.
The Dorias, Fieschi, Grimaldi, and Spinolas were the four principal
families of Genoa. Simone Doria, who lived in 1270, was a Troubadour,
and he once had a dispute with Lanfranc Cigala as to which was
preferable, to deserve the favour of a lady or to possess it. Doria
maintained the latter proposition. “I did once suppose,” said Lanfranc,
“that merit carried a lady’s favour, I now know that impudence gains
it. Doria has taught me that.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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