XV
JOURNEY HOME
On the morning of Sunday, October the 15th, I departed from Rome,110 where I left my brother with forty-three golden crowns, which money he decided to spend by remaining in Rome for five months and learning the art of fencing. Before I set forth he hired an elegant little apartment for twenty giulios a month.111 I was accompanied in the first stage by the Signors d’Estissac, di Montu, the Barone di Chase, Morens, and certain others. And if I had not started before the appointed time, so as to save them the trouble which this courtesy of theirs would have entailed, many more—to wit, the Signors di Bellai, d’Ambres, d’Alegra, and several others, would have also gone with me, having got their horses all in readiness. We went thirty miles and slept that night at Ronciglione, having engaged horses as far as Lucca at twenty giulios a horse, the vetturino paying all charges on the road.
From Piranesi’s Views of Rome
To face p. 172, vol. iii.
On the Monday morning I was astonished at the intense cold, cold such as I had never before felt at this season, and to mark that the vintage was still unfinished in these parts. We dined at Viterbo, where I put on my furs and got ready for winter, and went on twenty-nine miles farther to S. Lorenzo for supper, and slept at S. Chirio, after riding another thirty-two miles. All these roads have recently been levelled by the order of the Duke of Tuscany, a work of the greatest service to the public. May God reward him, seeing that he has made what were the hardest roads to traverse to be as easy as the city streets. The influx of travellers Rome-wards is a marvel; for this reason the charge for horses going thither is exorbitant, while coming away they may be had for nothing. Near Siena, as in many other places, we came upon a double bridge—that is, one with a structure on a higher level by which a stream of water is carried over the chasm. We reached Siena in the evening, after travelling twenty miles.
This night I suffered for two hours from colic, and I fancied I felt the movement of a stone. Early on Thursday morning I went to see one Guglielmo Felix, a Jewish doctor, who talked to me some time as to my general rule of living with regard to my kidneys and the gravel. I then left Siena, and was again troubled with colic for three or four hours. Then the pain came to a crisis, and I was assured that a stone must have passed. We travelled twenty-eight miles and supped at Ponteaelce,112 where I passed a stone bigger than a grain of millet, with a quantity of red gravel, but I suffered no pain. We left on the Friday morning, and halted sixteen miles along the road at Altopascio, where we stopped an hour to feed our cattle. On the road we saw divers peasants gathering up the vine leaves, which they keep to use as fodder during the winter; others were collecting ferns wherewith to feed their cows. We slept at Lucca, eight miles farther on, and there divers gentle-folk and craftsmen came to visit me.
On Saturday, October 21st, after having eaten a bunch of grapes (in these travels of mine I have eaten fruit sparingly or not at all in the morning), I set forth without waiting for certain gentlemen who had made plans to accompany me. We travelled over a good road, for the most part level; on the right hand the mountains, thick set with olive trees, and on the left the marshes, with the sea beyond.
At a certain spot in the dominion of Lucca I came upon an engineering work which has partially fallen into ruin through the neglect of the government, a neglect which has been the cause of great loss to the country round. This was a construction devised to drain and render fertile the marshes aforesaid. In the first place, a deep ditch was dug through the marshes, at the end of which were fixed three wheels, kept in motion by a stream of running water brought down from the mountains so as to fall upon them. To these wheels were attached a number of buckets in such fashion that they took up water from the ditch on one side and threw it over on the other side of the bank into another channel on a higher level. This last-named channel, cut for the purpose and lined with bricks throughout, conveyed the water to the sea, and thus drained all the country round.113
We passed through Pietra Santa, a fortified town in the territory of the Duke of Florence, with houses in plenty but great lack of people, the report being that most of them either die or fall into ill-health on account of the badness of the air. After riding twenty-two miles, we reached Massa di Carrara, a place belonging to the Prince of Massa, of the family of Cibo, in time for supper. Here is a fine castle on the top of a little mountain, and half-way up the ascent, around the castle and below it, are the streets and the houses of the town, surrounded by fine walls. On still lower ground, outside the walls aforesaid, a large town is built on a level site and protected by walls recently erected. The situation, the streets, and the houses are all very seemly, the walls being adorned with paintings. I was forced here to drink new wine, as no other is to be had in these parts. By storing it in casks made of a certain wood, and by treating it with the white of eggs, they clarify it so that it looks like old wine, but it has a taste which is not natural.
On Sunday, October 22nd, we set out over a very level road, with the Tyrrhenian Sea about a crossbow-shot distant on the left hand. Along this road, between us and the sea, we saw a few scattered ruins, which, according to the report of the country-folk, marked the spot where once stood the great city of Luna.114
We came next to Sarrezana,115 a town under the sway of Genoa, where we marked the Genoese device, Saint George on horseback, and the garrison of Swiss soldiers. The place formerly belonged to the Duke of Florence, and if the principality of Massa did not intervene between the two States it is well-nigh certain that the frontier towns, Pietra Santa—Florentine—and Sarrezana—Genoese—would constantly be at blows.
We left Sarrezana, where we were forced to pay four giuli for each horse for a single post, and where there was a great firing of cannon by reason of the arrival of Don Giovanni dei Medici, the natural brother of the Duke of Florence, who was returning from Genoa, whither he had gone, on behalf of his brother, to pay a visit to the Empress.116 Many of the other Italian princes had gone there also, and every one was talking of the pomp displayed by the Duke of Ferrara on this occasion. He came to meet the Empress with four hundred carriages. He had asked leave of the Venetian Signory to pass through their territory with six hundred horses, and their answer was that he might cross their boundaries, but with fewer horses; whereupon he bestowed his followers in coaches, and was thus able to take all he desired with a smaller number of horses. I met Prince Giovanni on the road, a handsome young man, with a train of twenty well-equipped followers riding on hired horses, a practice which is no derogation from dignity in Italy, even for princes themselves.
After quitting Sarrezana we left the road to Genoa on the left hand, but for those going to Milan it matters little whether they go by Genoa or not. I had a strong desire to visit Genoa and see the Empress, but I was troubled over the journey I should have to undertake. Two roads lead thither, one of forty miles direct from Sarrezana, which takes three days, and runs through the roughest and most mountainous country. The way itself is stony and precipitous, the inns bad, and the road little used. The other goes to Lerici, three miles from Sarrezana, and there travellers embark and reach Genoa in twelve hours. I could not face the sea voyage on account of my weak stomach, and I shrank from the trouble of finding lodging in Genoa in its present crowded state, even more than from the discomforts of the journey by land. Moreover, I heard that the road from Genoa to Milan was haunted by thieves, and as I was exceedingly anxious to get home, I resolved to leave Genoa aside, and follow the right-hand road through the mountains, keeping always to the valley of the Magra, with the stream to our left. We passed through the lands of Genoa, of Florence, and of the Malespini severally. The road was good except in one or two rocky broken places; and, after riding thirty miles, we arrived at Pontremoli in time for bed.
This is a straggling town, full of old buildings, which are in no wise beautiful. There are also some ruins, and a legend goes that the town was known to the ancients as Appua. It is now under Milan, its last rulers having been the Fieschi. The first thing served to us at table was cheese, such as is made round Milan and Piacenza, and they offered likewise the most excellent olives, stoned and served with oil and vinegar as a salad in Genoese fashion. A basin full of water placed on a stool was handed round for the washing of hands, and each person had to use the same water. The town stands at the base of the mountains, which rise on all sides.
I left this place on the morning of Monday, the 23rd, and began the ascent of the Apennines from the moment I left the inn. Though the mountains are high, the road is safe and easy. We were going up and down hill all day, the country being alpine in character and barren, and, after riding thirty miles, we slept that evening at Fornovo, in the dominions of the Conte di S. Secondo. I was glad, indeed, to get out of the hands of the thieves who dwell in the mountains, who use the most barbarous extortion imaginable towards travellers in the charges they make for food and stabling.117 At table here they put before us various kinds of excellent mustard sauces, one of them being made of quince apples. In this region the price of horse hire is exorbitant, the business being in the hands of men who have no fixed charge and cheat all strangers who may fall into their hands. Travellers, as a rule, pay two giuli a horse for each post, but here they asked me to pay three or four or five, wherefore every horse I hired cost me more than a crown per diem; and again, they would often reckon one post as two. This place, Fornovo, was two posts distant from Parma; and, in going from Parma to Piacenza, I had to traverse the same road as if I went from Fornovo to Piacenza, save that by going to Parma I should lengthen my journey by two posts. I determined not to go to Parma, being anxious not to interrupt my plans.118 Fornovo is a small village of six or seven cottages, situated on a plain and near a river called the Taro, along which we went a short distance on Tuesday morning on our way to Borgo San Doni,119 twelve miles distant.
This is a small town which the Duke of Parma is now enclosing with a fine wall well set with bastions. Here at table they gave us mostarda120 made with honey, and in it oranges cut in strips like quince marmalade, and half-cooked. Cremona is about as far as Piacenza from this place; and, leaving it on our right, we travelled over a fine level road running through a very fertile country, in which there was not a hillock to be seen as far as the eye can reach. We changed horses at every post, and for two posts I made them go at full gallop, so as to test the strength of my loins. I felt no ill effects or weariness therefrom.
Close to Piacenza are two large columns, one on each side of the road at a distance of about forty paces apart. On the bases is written in Latin a prohibition to plant trees or vines, or to raise any building between them. I know not whether this notice aims merely at the preservation of the width of the road or to keep the view uninterrupted, as it is now, from the site of those columns to the town, a distance of about half a mile. At the end of twenty miles we reached Piacenza, where we purposed to sleep.
This is a large city. As we arrived in good time I spent three hours in visiting every part of it, and found the streets muddy and unpaved, and the houses mean. The piazza contains the chief buildings of the place, the palace of justice, and the prison; it is, moreover, the meeting-place of the citizens. It has a few poor shops. I saw the castle, which is now in the hands of King Philip, who keeps there a guard of three hundred Spanish soldiers, and these, according to their own account, are very ill paid. Morning and evening they play the diana121 for an hour on instruments called hautbois in France, and here fiffari. The castle has a large establishment, and in it I saw some fine pieces of artillery. The Duke of Parma122 never comes near it now, but has lodging, whenever he happens to be in the city, in the Cittadella, a castle in another quarter, thus avoiding the castle, which is in King Philip’s keeping. In short, I saw nothing noteworthy except the new church of S. Augustino, which King Philip was building in place of another which he had pulled down and used in the construction of the castle. Moreover, he still kept possession of part of the income of the same. The new church is not yet finished, but the beginning is very handsome.123 The friars’ lodgings, seventy in number, and the double cloisters, are finished; indeed with regard to corridors, dormitories, cellars, and other conveniences, this edifice seemed to be the most sumptuous and magnificent I had ever seen, if my memory does not deceive me, dedicated to the service of the Church. At table here they serve the salt in lumps, and the cheese in large pieces without a dish.
The Duke of Parma was awaiting in Piacenza the visit of the Archduke of Austria’s eldest son, whom I saw at Insprug; and the rumour was that this prince was on his way to Rome to be crowned king of the Romans.124 Here they bring you water for hand-washing at table, and also for mixing with your wine, using a large brazen spoon therefor. The cheese they eat is the same Piacenzan cheese which is sold all through the district. Piacenza is exactly half-way from Rome to Lyons; but I was obliged, in order to take the direct road to Milan, to go on and sleep at Marignano, thirty miles distant, from which place it is ten miles farther to Milan.
I prolonged my journey by ten miles in order to see Pavia. On Wednesday, October 25th, I started early over a very good road, and during the way I voided a small soft stone and a good deal of gravel. We went through a small town belonging to the Conte Santafiore, and our road at last brought us to the Po, which we crossed on a sort of platform arranged on a double boat with a cabin for shelter, this ferry being dragged across the river by means of a long rope which was supported by a row of small boats arranged in the stream for this purpose. Close to this place the Po and the Ticino unite their waters; and hence we reached Pavia in good time after a journey of thirty short miles.
I quickly set to work to visit the principal sights of the city: the bridge over the Ticino; the cathedral; the churches of the Carmini, S. Tomaso, and S. Agostino,125 which contains the shrine of S. Augustino, a splendid tomb of white marble with many statues. In one of the piazzas of the city is a brick pedestal surmounted by a statue which appears to be a copy of that of Antoninus Pius on horseback before the Capitol at Rome.126 This one is smaller and not to be compared in beauty. What puzzled me was the fact that this statue has stirrups and saddle-bows before and behind, whereas the Roman statue has neither, which makes all the more cogent the opinion of the learned, which maintains that the stirrups and saddle-bows were later additions, some ignorant sculptor having fancied that they had been forgotten. I saw also the building which by the bounty of Cardinal Borromeo has been begun for the accommodation of the students.127
The town is large and certainly handsome, and full of hand workers of all sorts, but few of the houses are really fine, even the one in which the Empress lodged recently being of little account. I noticed the escutcheon of France, but the lilies had been erased therefrom, indeed there was nowhere anything remarkable to be seen. Hereabout they charged two giuli a post for horses, and the best inn I have entered between Rome and this place is the Posta at Piacenza; indeed, I believe it to be the best inn in all Italy, after the one at Verona. The worst I have seen is the “Falcone” at Pavia. Here and in Milan they charge separately for firewood, and the beds are unprovided with mattresses.
I left Pavia on Thursday, October the 26th. I diverged from the road about a mile to the right in order to visit the field where King Francis fought his battle, and found it a level plain. I went also to see the Certosa, which is justly celebrated as a very beautiful church, the façade of the entrance wall being built of marble, and astonishingly rich in ornamentation. On one of the altars is a decoration of carved ivory which represents divers subjects of the Old and New Testaments; and besides this the marble sepulchre of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the founder of the church, the choir, the ornaments of the high altar, and the large and beautiful cloisters are the finest things to be seen here. The buildings around are on a vast scale, and have all the appearance of the palace of a great prince from their grandeur, and still more from the number of servants, horses, carriages, artisans, and labourers everywhere apparent. Incredible sums are still being spent upon it, the money being supplied from the income of the brethren. The Certosa stands in a beautiful green plain.
From here to Milan is twenty miles. This city is the most populous in Italy, its granaries and workshops being full of merchandise and craftsmen. It has a great resemblance to Paris, and in general has the look of a French town. It lacks the palaces of Rome, Naples, Genoa, and Florence, but it surpasses them all in size, and is as busy and crowded as Venice. On Friday, October the 27th, I went to view the outside of the castle and walked all round it, and found it of great size and marvellous strength. It is occupied by seven hundred Spanish soldiers and admirably furnished with artillery; moreover, the works are still being strengthened on all sides. I stopped at Milan over this day because of the heavy rain which came on; up to this time indeed I have been very lucky in meeting with fine weather and good roads, and now on Saturday, October the 28th, I left Milan in the morning.
The road was good and level, and though it was flooded by the continuous downpour, it was not muddy, the soil being sandy. At the end of eighteen miles we dined at Buffalora, and then crossed the river Naviglio, a narrow stream, but deep enough to allow the passage of large barges to Milan. Shortly afterwards we crossed the Ticino by boat, and twelve miles farther on reached Novara in time for bed. This is a small town standing on a level plain in the midst of woods and vineyards and fertile fields. We left it next morning, and after going ten miles we halted a little to feed our cattle at Vercelli, a town under the Duke of Savoy, situated on level ground beside the Zeza,128 which we crossed in a boat. The aforesaid duke, by employing a vast number of men, has built a fort in a very short space of time—a fine strong place, as far as I could judge from seeing only the outside—and has thereby raised the suspicion of his Spanish neighbours. From this place we went through S. German and S. Giaco, small villages, and, travelling all the way over a lovely plain, which is especially fertile in walnuts—for here they have no olives but use only walnut oil—we came, after a journey of twenty miles, to Livorno, a small town with a good many houses, and there stayed the night.
We started early on Monday morning, and travelling over a level road reached Chivas, ten miles distant, in time for dinner, and then onward for ten miles more, crossing on the journey a great number of streams by boat or by a ford, to Turin, whither we might easily have come in time for dinner. This is a small city with much water round about it. It is not very well built or agreeable, though, to be sure, rills of water run through all the streets to keep them free from dirt. I here hired horses at five crowns and a half each to take me as far as Lyons in six days, the cost of the horses on the road to be included in this charge. They speak French here usually, and were very friendly towards us. The common language here has little else of Italian about it except the pronunciation, most of the words used being French. We left Turin on Tuesday, the last day of October, and dined at S. Ambrogio, two posts farther on; and, after going the same distance over a narrow level space between the mountains, we reached Susa, where we slept.
Susa is a large, populous town. I was here taken with a violent pain in the right knee, a pain which I had felt for several days, and which went on from bad to worse. The inns are better than in other parts of Italy; good wine, bad bread, plenty to eat, such is the rule everywhere in Savoy. After hearing mass on All Saints’ Day, I travelled one post, as far as Novalese, where I hired eight marroni129 to carry me in a litter up to the top of Mont Senis and down on the other side.
Here French is spoken, wherefore I quit the use of the foreign language, which I can employ easily enough, albeit somewhat incorrectly, not having had the opportunity of giving due diligence thereto through being always in the company of Frenchmen. I crossed Mont Senis partly on horseback and partly in a litter borne by four men, having others ready to relieve them. They carry the litters on their shoulders. The ascent takes two hours, and is stony and difficult for horses which are not accustomed to it, but otherwise without difficulty or danger, for as the road is constructed on the mass of the mountain, there are no precipices and no danger except of stumbling. Below may be seen a plain two leagues long, and on it divers cottages, lakes, and springs, and the post-house. There are no trees, but plenty of grass and meadows to give pasturage in mild weather. At this season snow lay over all. The descent is about a league, cut out of the rock in a direct line, and I had myself carried down it by the marrons, to whom I gave two crowns amongst the eight of them. The charge for the descent is only one teston. It was a pleasant bit of sport, but not one needing great courage. We dined at Lanebourg,130 two posts onward, a Savoyard village at the foot of the mountains, and slept in a small place two leagues farther on. Everywhere we found abundance of trout and excellent wine, both new and old. We started and travelled five leagues over a rough, mountainous road, and dined at S. Michel, where there is a post-house. Five leagues more brought us, late in the day and wet through, to La Chambre, a little town which gives the title of Marquis to a certain family, and there we slept.
On Friday, November the 3rd, we dined at Aiguebelle, a well-built town, four leagues, and slept at Montmelian, another four leagues farther on. This is a town and fortress which stands on the top of a little ridge rising out of a level plain between two lofty mountains. The town stands at the base of the fort on the river Isère, which passes by Grenoble, seven leagues distant. Here I began to appreciate the excellence of the Italian oil, of which I was never conscious after eating, but I found that the oil of these parts upset my stomach. Two leagues on our road we halted to dine at Chamberi, the chief town of Savoy, a fair busy little place situated at the foot of the mountains at a spot where they recede and leave a fine level stretch of country. Passing on we crossed the Mont du Chat, which is high, steep, and rocky, but in no way dangerous or difficult, and in descending came upon a large lake on which stands a castle called Bordeau, where they make swords which enjoy a great reputation. After a journey of four leagues we rested for the night at a little town called Hyene.
On Sunday morning we crossed the Rosne, which ran on our right-hand side, after we passed the spot where the Duke of Savoy has built a small fort in a narrow gorge of the rocks. Along one of these is a narrow path at the end of which stands the fort aforesaid, not unlike the one which the Venetians have built at Chiusa in a pass of the Tirolese mountains. We rode seven leagues along the mountain valley, and without halting came to S. Rambert, a small town in the valley aforesaid.
In most of the Savoyard towns a brook runs through the centre, and in the streets, facing either bank of the same, wide penthouses are set in front of the houses, so that passengers are always protected from the rain, albeit the shops are darkened by this usage. On Monday, November the 6th, we left S. Rambert early in the morning. During my stay there M. Francesco Cenami, a banker of Lyons, who had come there on account of the plague, sent his nephew to convey to me his polite greetings, and a present of some of his own wine. We were soon quite clear of the mountains and began to enter the level French country. I crossed the river Ain in a boat near the bridge of Chesai and rode six leagues in one stretch to Monloel, a little town where there is much going and coming. It is the last of the Duke of Savoy’s dominions. On Tuesday, after dinner, I took horses and went on in two posts to Lyons, where I slept. I was greatly pleased with the town, and on Friday I bought of Joseph de la Sone three strong service horses, with fresh cut tails, for two hundred crowns, having purchased on the previous day of Malesieu a pacing horse for fifty crowns and another curtal nag for thirty-three. On Saturday, Saint Martin’s Day, I had a sharp pain in the stomach and kept my bed till midday. I felt disordered all day and took no dinner and a very light supper. On Sunday, November the 10th, Signor Alberto Giachinotti, a Florentine gentleman, who had already shown divers courtesies to me, entertained me at dinner in his house, and offered to lend me any money I might want, though he had never seen me till now.
On Wednesday, November the 15th, I left Lyons after dinner, and, after a journey of five leagues over a hilly road, arrived in time for bed at Bordeliere, a village of one or two houses. Quitting this on Thursday morning we traversed a fine level road, and, close to Fur, a little town; we crossed the Loire in a boat, and passed the night at L’Hôpital, a small walled town, after riding eight leagues. We left this place on Friday morning, and went over a hilly road to Tiers, six leagues distant, the day being rough and snowy, with a cruel wind full in our faces. Tiers is a small town on the Allier, busy, well-built, and populous, the chief industry being in paper-knives and playing-cards. It stands equidistant from Lyons, St. Flour, Moulins, and Puy. The nearer I got to my home the more tedious the journey seemed; indeed, as far as concerned the reckoning of the days, the distance from Chamberi to my home seemed a good half of the whole journey from Rome. Tiers is a possession of the Bourbon family and is now held by M. de Montpensier.131 While I was there I went to see cards made at the factory of one Palmier, a process which seems to require as many workmen as any other fine handicraft. The common cards cost only one sou, but the fine ones are sold for two caroli.132 On Saturday we crossed the rich plain of the Limaigne, and after passing in a boat the Douze and the Allier, we arrived at Pont du Château, having ridden four leagues.
The plague has been very bad in these parts, and I heard some remarkable accounts thereof. The dwelling of the Seigneur of the town, the manor-house of the Canillacs, was burnt so as to destroy the pestilence with fire. The Seigneur aforesaid sent one of his men to me with divers offers of service, and begged me to write to M. de Foix on behalf of his son, who is going to Rome. On Sunday, November the 19th, I reached Clermont, two leagues distant, in time for dinner, and I tarried there for the sake of my young horses. On Monday the 20th I started in the morning, and on the heights of Pui de Dôme I passed a stone, somewhat broad and flat. I had felt it all the morning and even the day before with a slight pain in the kidneys. It was neither very hard nor very soft.
As I passed by Pongibaut I went to pay my respects to Madame La Fayette, and remained with her half-an-hour. This house has not the beauty its reputation warrants, the site being ugly, the garden small and angular, with paths raised some four or five feet, and beds sunk and filled for the most part with fruit trees, the herbs being very scanty. The sides of the sunk beds aforesaid are set with cut stone. It snowed so fast, and the weather was so rough and cold, that nothing was to be seen of the country. I reached Pont-a-Mar, seven leagues off, and slept there. This is a small village, and while there I heard that Monsieur and Madame du Lude were sojourning at a place two leagues away. I slept that night at Pont Sarrant after riding six leagues.
As far as Limoges this road is badly furnished with inns, which, however, give you tolerably good wine, but they are used only by muleteers and couriers going to Lyons. My head was uneasy, the storms and cold winds and rain were very bad for it; and in sooth it got its fill of discomfort in this journey over a region where the winter is sharper than anywhere else in France. On Wednesday, November 22, I left Pont Sarrant in very bad weather, and, after passing by Feletin, a well-built little town placed in a hollow surrounded by high hills and now almost deserted on account of the recent pestilence, I stopped the night at Chastein, a miserable little village, five leagues on the road. Here I was forced to drink new unclarified wine, as no other was to be had, and the next day went on five leagues farther to Saubiac, which belongs to Monsieur de Lausun, thence to Limoges, where I stayed all the Saturday, I bought a mule for ninety crowns of the sun,133 and paid in addition five crowns for maintenance of this mule from Lyons to this place, having been hereby cheated out of four crowns, for the cost of all the other horses for the same distance only amounted to three crowns and two-thirds.
On Sunday, November the 26th, I left Limoges after dinner, and, after riding five leagues, slept at Cars, where I found no one but Madame de Cars at home. I slept on Monday night at Tivie—six leagues—on Tuesday at Perigus—five leagues—on Wednesday at Mauriac—five leagues—and on Thursday, St. Andrew’s, the last day of November, at Montaigne134—seven leagues—having quitted this same spot on June 22, 1580, to go to La Fère, my journey having lasted seventeen months and eight days.