The Country On Leaving Albano Becomes Diversified, Woody And Picturesque.
Near Gensano Is The Beautiful Lake Of Nemi, And It Is The Spot Feigned By
The Poets As The Scene Of The Amours Of Mars And Rhea Silvia.
Near Gensano
also is the country residence of the Sovereign Pontiffs called Castel
Gandolfo.
La Riccia, the next place we passed thro', is the ancient Aricia,
mentioned in Horace's journey to Brundusium. We arrived in the evening at
Velletri.
Velletri is a large town or rather city situated on a mountain, to which
you ascend by a winding road skirting a beautiful forest. From the terrace
of one of the Palazzi here, you have a superb view of all the plain below
as far as the rock of Circe, comprehending the Pontine marshes. There are
several very fine buildings at Velletri, and it is remarkable as being the
birthplace of Augustus Caesar. There is a spacious Piazza too on which
stands a bronze statue of Pope Urban VIII. Velletri is twenty-eight miles
from Rome.
The next morning, the 27th, we started early so as to arrive by six o'clock
in the evening at Terracina. At Cisterna is a post-house and at Torre tre
Ponti is a convent, a beautiful building, but now delapidated and
neglected. Near it is a wretched inn, where however you are always sure to
find plenty of game to eat. Here begin the Pontine marshes and the famous
Appian road which runs in a right line for twenty-five miles across the
marshes. It was repaired and perfectly reconstructed by Pius VI, and from
him it bears its present appellation of Linea Pia. This convent and
church were also constructed by Pius VI with a view to facilitate the
draining and cultivating of the marshes by affording shelter to the
workmen. The Linea Pia is a very fine chaussee considerably raised
above the level of the marsh, well paved, lined with trees and a canal sunk
on one side to carry off the waters. The Pontine marshes extend all the way
from Torre tre Ponti to Terracina. On the left hand side, on travelling
from Rome to Naples, you have two miles or thereabouts of plain bounded by
lofty mountains; on the right a vast marshy plain bounded by the sea at a
distance of seven or eight miles. Nothing can be more monotonous than this
strait road twenty-five miles in length, and the same landscape the whole
way. The air is extremely damp, aguish and unhealthy. Those who travel late
in the evening or early in the morning are recommended not to let down the
glasses of the carriage, in order to avoid inhaling the pestilential miasma
from the marshes, which even the canal has not been able to drain
sufficiently.
No one can find amusement in this desolate region but the sportsman; and he
may live in continual enjoyment, and slay wild ducks and snipes in
abundance; a number of buffaloes are to be seen grazing on the marshes.
They are not to be met with to the North of Rome.
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