A.B. Clayton del. from Sketches by J. Woods Edwards. Sculp PONTE SALARIA. _London. Published by J & A. Arch, Cornhill. March 1^{st}. 1828._ ] Our next walk shall be out of the Porta Salaria, on which road the first object is the Villa Albani. The ground floor of the principal building presents a range of ten Ionic pilasters, and in each interpilaster is an arch supported on two small columns. Above, are two ranges of windows, of which the upper ones are circular; and Corinthian pilasters. The distribution of the wings is exactly like that of the lower part of the centre, but on a smaller scale. It must be acknowledged that the masses are well proportioned and finely disposed; this is attributed to the cardinal for whom the villa was made. But the details are bad; for this the architect is answerable. In the inside, the great saloon is a very rich and beautiful room, about 60 feet long, 20 wide, and 30 high. The cabinets are rather too small, but they are handsome rooms, each with a single light. Opposite to this is the café, where there is an open semicircular gallery with Doric pilasters, and eleven arches on Doric columns disposed like those of the principal building. Here again the general proportions are good, and the details bad. There are some other smaller edifices, which I shall not particularize; and it does not come into my plan to attempt the description of the noble collection of marbles which this villa contains. They tell you of hundreds taken away by the French, of which eleven I think, have been restored, but the number is still immense. The views from this villa are magnificent, and on more than one occasion I have seen from these gardens, the Apennines lighted up by the setting sun, in exquisite beauty. The Ponte Salario is said to have been ruined by Totila, and restored by Narses, but the inscriptions which commemorated those events were lost in 1798, when the bridge was cut by the retreating Neapolitans. It consists of one large arch, perhaps 90 feet wide, and two small ones, one of which is now filled up. The ancient work seems to have been of peperino, the repairs are of travertine, brick, and rubble. Some of the stones of the parapet are still remaining; they are formed thus, [Illustration: Illustration of parapet] the middle being a sort of pyramid. Beyond this bridge there is a tomb transformed into a tower, and the road leads us to the site of the ancient Fidene; but I turned to the right after crossing the river, and kept under the bank which forms the valley, as far as the Ponte Lamentano, where a large brick arch in the work above, as well as that of the bridge itself, has the appearance of a Roman construction.