Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/398

350 At last the mountain chain runs quite close to the sea, and the train runs now over a narrow ledge of the mountain and now through it by numerous tunnels. Genoa itself is situated in its beautiful harbour of the shape of a horse-shoe,—with the sea to the south and the mountains forming a splendid amphitheatre on the other three sides. It is in this beautiful natural amphitheatre that the ancient Republic of Genoa,—the rival and then the conqueror of Pisa, the pioneer of modern civilization and maritime discovery, and the birth place of Columbus,—is enthroned in her glory!

As one leaves the railway station and enters the town, almost the first object that strikes him is a fine marble monument with the figures of Religion and Geography, Force and Wisdom, on the pedestal. It is needless to say that above these figures, on a circular pedestal, is the figure of Columbus! Prows of ships adorn the circular pedestal, and America kneels before her immortal discoverer.

The Duomo or the Cathedral of Genoa was built like the Cathedral of Pisa in the 11th century. The ashes of St. John the Baptist are said to be deposited in this cathedral, and are paraded through the streets of the town on Corpus Christi day. Perhaps more magnificent than the cathedral is the church of the Annunciation with its magnificent nave and aisles supported by twelve columns of white marble inlaid with red.

Like most Italian towns Genoa boasts of a large