Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Wife: January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904Waddington, Mary King
General
Italian Letters of a Diplomat's Wife: January-May, 1880; February-April, 1904
Waddington, Mary King
Rome (Italy) -- Social life and customs
The great new Benedictine Monastery of Sant' Anselmo stands splendidly
on the heights (Aventine) to the left, also the walls and garden of the
Knights of Malta. The garden, with its long shady walks, between rows of
tall cypress trees, looked most inviting. We left the Testaccio and
Protestant Cemetery on our right and followed a long file of carriages
evidently going, too, to San Paolo. That of course looked exactly the
same--an enormous modern building with a wealth of splendid marble
columns inside. The proportions and great spaces are very fine, and
there was a brilliant effect of light and colour (as every column is
different). Some of the red-pink was quite beautiful, but it is not in
the least like a church--not at all devotional. One can't imagine any
poor weary souls kneeling on that slippery, shining marble pavement and
pouring out their hearts in prayer. It is more like a great hall or
academy. We went out into the quiet of the cloisters, which are
interesting, some curious old tombs and statues, but small for such a
huge basilica--always the square green plot in the centre with a well.
We had some difficulty in making our way to the carriage through a
perfect army of boys and men selling photographs, postal cards, mosaic
pins with views of the church, etc., also bits of marble, giallo
antico, porphyry and a piece of dark marble, almost black, which had
come from the Marmorata close by.
We went on to the Tre Fontane, about half an hour's drive--real country,
quite charming. We didn't see the churches until we were quite close to
them--they are almost hidden by the trees. I never should have
recognised the place. The eucalyptus trees which the monks were just
beginning to plant when we were here before have grown up into a fine
avenue. They were cutting and trimming them, and the ground was covered
with great branches making a beautiful green carpet with a strong
perfume. Various people were looking on and almost every one carried off
a branch of eucalyptus. We did too, and one is now hanging over the bed
in my room. It is supposed to be very healthy. It has a very strong
odour--to me very agreeable.
A service was going on in one of the churches, the monks singing a low
monotonous chant, and everything was so still; one was so shut in by the
trees that the outside world, Rome and the Corso might have been miles
away. We went into the church to see the three fountains built into the
wall. Tradition says that when St. Paul was executed his head bounded
three times and at each place a fountain sprang up. A tall young monk
was going about with some seminarists explaining the legend to them.
They were listening with rapt attention and drinking reverently at each
fountain.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account