Something of Italy (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1862. Excerpt: ... ROME: ST PETER'S, EASTER CEREMONIALS. TO a winter and spring residence in Rome, Easter is the crowning point; the last twinkle of the illumination of St Peter's on the night of Easter Sunday being the signal to settle bills, pack up, and begone. Besides those habitual frequenters who profess to be attracted by a climate which admits of sitting with open windows in December and January--and who perhaps contrive to undo any good from that source by means of soirees, balls, and other amusements--there is the stream of casual visitors, who begin to drop in for the Carnival, and which continues to augment in volume all through Lent, till it becomes a perfect torrent at Palm Sunday, when the ceremonials of HolyWeek commence. In expectation of this periodical visitation, the hotels, which for months have been reduced to a mere staff of officials, now recall their garcons, and go into full play; there is a distinctly marked increase in the number of street-cabs, as well as in the amount of their charges; and as for the army of beggars, we can easily imagine how they don their worst possible rags, in preparation for this their great annual harvest. Arriving in Rome a fortnight in advance of Holy-Week, we had time to visit St Peter's, and other popular places of resort while they were still in a state of comparative solitude. A sight of St Peter's may be said to have this unfortunate effect, that it renders a person careless about seeing grand churches all the rest of his life. St John Lateran is marvellously fine, so is St Mary Maggiore, and so is St Paul's, now in course of erection beyond the walls. I could speak also of the elegance of the church of the Jesuits, and many others; for there is an abundance of such structures, each celebrated for some special obje...