Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 08.djvu/137

LEFT ROME 103 HOME Modern Rome. — It was not till the 17th century that the modern city was extended to its present limits on the right bank, by a wall built under the pontificates of Urban VIII. (1623-1644) and Innocent X. (1644-1655), and in- closing both the Janiculum and the Vat- ican hills. The boundary wall on the left or E. bank of the river follows the same line as that traced by Aurelian in the 3d century, and must in many parts be identical with the original structure. The walls on both banks are built of brick, with occasional portions of stone work, and on the outside are about 55 feet high. The greater part dates from A. D. 271 to 276. The city is entered by 12 gates (several of those of earlier date being now walled up) and several railway accesses. Since Rome became the capital of united Italy it has lost much of its ancient picturesque appear- ance, and has acquired the look of a great modern city with wide, straight streets of uniform-looking tenements hav- ing little distinctive character. The ex- tensive excavations carried out have laid completely bare the remains of many of the grandest monuments of ancient Rome, notably the whole of Forum Ro- manum and the Via Sacra, the remains of the Temples of Saturn and of Castor and Pollux, the Temples of Vespasian, of Antoninus and Faustina, the Temple of Vesta, etc. Streets, Squares, etc. — Among the prin- cipal streets and squares of modern Rome are the Piazza del Popolo imme- diately within the Porta del Popolo on the N. side of the city near the Tiber, with a fine Egyptian obelisk in its cen- ter, and two handsome churches in front, standing so far apart from each other and from the adjoining buildings as to leave room for the divergence of three principal streets, the Via di Ripetta, the Corso, and the Via del Babuino. The Corso stretches for upward of a mile in a direct line to its termination at the Piazza di Venezia, not far from the Capitol, and is the finest street in the city. The appearance of the Capitol has been entirely altered to permit the erection of a monument to Victor Em- manuel. The Via del Babuino proceeds first directly to the Piazza di Spagna, thence to the Quirinal, and by a tunnel opens out on the Esquiline. It contains a large number of handsome edifices. The whole of the city to the E. of this street, and in the triangular space in- cluded between it and the Corso, is well aired and healthy, and is regarded as the aristocratic quarter. The Ghetto, or Jews' quarter, was cleared away in 1889. The chief open spaces besides the Pi- azza del Popolo are the Piazza S. Pietro, with its extensive colonnade; the Piazza Navona, adorned with two churches and three fountains, one at each extremity and the third in the center; the Piazza di Spagna, adorned by a monumental pillar and a magnificent staircase of travertine, leading to the Church of Trinita de' Monti, conspicuously seated on an eminence above it; the Piazza Barberini, beside the palace of the same name, adorned by a beautiful fountain; the Piazza Colonna, in the center of the city, with column of Marcus Aurelius; near it, in the Piazza di Monte Citoria, is the spacious Chamber of Deputies. Larger spaces for amusement or exer- cise have been formed only in a few spots. One of the finest is the Pincio, or "hill of gardens," overlooking the Pi- azza del Popolo, and commanding a fine view. It is a fashionable drive toward evening, and presents a' gay and ani- mated appearance. At a short distance outside the walls on the N. of the city is the Villa Borghese, forming a finely planted and richly decorated park of 3 miles in circuit, which, though private property, forms the true public park of Rome and is the favorite resort of all classes. Various localities in and near Rome that were malarious have been rendered healthy by planting eucalyptus trees. Churches. — The most remarkable of these is the Cathedral of St. Peter, the largest and most imposing to be found anywhere. Another remarkable church is that of San Giovanni in Laterano, on an isolated spot near the S. wall of the city. It was built by Constantine the Great, destroyed by an earthquake in 896, re-erected (904-911), burned in 1308, restored and decorated by Giotto. Again burned in 1360, rebuilt by Urban V. and Gregory XI., and has undergone various alterations and additions from 1430 till the present facade was erected in 1734. A modern extension has in- volved the destruction of the ancient apse. From the central balcony the Pope pronounces his benediction on As- cension day, and the church is the scene of the councils which bear its name. Other churches are those of Santa Ma- ria Maggiore (434); Santa Croce; San Clement, containing a number of inter- esting frescoes by Masaccio; II Gesu, the principal church of the Jesuits, with the facade and cupola by Giacomo della Porta (1577) ; and an interior enriched with the rarest marbles and several fine paintings, and containing the monument of Cardinal Bellarmine; Sta. Maria-delli- Angeli, originally a part of Diocletian's Baths, converted into a church by Mi- chelangelo, one of the most imposing which Rome possesses, and containing an