arch partly divided by a stone counter which cuts half-way across the opening. A conspicuous architectural feature of the city is its defences. The town walls form a most perfect circuit, of a beauty and completeness rarely surpassed, even in Italy. From whichever side we approach Ragusa, whether from the sea or by the land gates, we are confronted by an imposing mass of battlemented towers, solid bastions, thick walls and escarpments, which conceal the whole town save the steeples and one or two churches. Few cities present such a perfect picture of a mediæval fortress, and few form so fair a picture—this cluster of fine buildings on steep precipitous rocks rising sheer up out of the azure sea, with the exquisite purple hues of the Dalmatian mountains in the background, and the bright patches of rich vegetation all around. Rarely does one see so admirable a combination of strength and beauty. The walls are pierced by three gates—the Porta Pile, the Porta Ploce, and the sea gate. At the Porta Pile there is a double circuit of walls; the outer gate is a round arch in a semicircular outwork, with gun embrasures on either side. To the right the walls extend seawards to a massive round bastion, and then up the rocky ridge; to the left they ascend the steep hillside to the graceful Torre Menze or Minćeta. On entering this gate the road descends, making a sharp curve, passes under a second arch, and opens out into the Stradone. This leads straight to the Piazza, where the chief public buildings stand. We pass under another arch below the clock tower, and reach the Porta Ploce. This too is approached by a winding road passing over two bridges, one of which was formerly a drawbridge, and under several more arches. The solid mass of the Dominican church and monastery formed part of the defence works. From the road between the Piazza and the Porta Ploce the gate opens out on to the quays of the harbour. The latter is small, and incapable of sheltering large modern steamers, which now always put in at the ample port of Gravosa; but it was quite sufficient for the famous “argosies” which visited every known sea during the heyday of the Republic. It is protected by the huge mass of the Forte Molo and other towers, while the pier built by Pasquale di Michele juts out into the sea. Large walled-up arches led to the shelters for the galleys—“arsenatus galearum domus, in qua triremes pulchræ et biremes resident, quibus armatis, cum opus fuerit, utuntur Ragusini.”[516] [Illustration: CHURCH OF THE CONFRATERNITY OF THE ROSARY]