The configuration of the country which rendered these defiles of the Alps of importance strategically, likewise insured their commercial importance. The fortresses were placed there to defend the passes, the commercial entrepôts to intercept the trade. The rank of these places of commerce depends essentially upon the number and the importance of the roads which converge upon them. Turin, upon which converge all the Alpine roads from Mont Blanc to the Apennines, naturally became one of the vital points of European commerce. Milan, to which lead the seven great Alpine routes of the Simplon, the Gotthard, the Bernardino, the Splügen, the Julier, the Maloya, and the Stelvio, was marked out by nature as a commercial emporium. Bologna, too, which was separated by the swamps of the Po from the Alpine passes, has risen into importance since railways have joined it to Vienna, Paris, Marseilles, and Naples. {224}

The valley of the Po would never have attained its importance in the history of Europe unless roads had been constructed for traversing the obstructive mountains which surround it on all sides except towards the east, where it opens out upon the Adriatic. No other district of Europe is so completely hemmed in by natural obstacles as is this, but the construction of carriage roads and railways has converted Northern Italy into one of the great centres of European commerce. Venice gives it the command of the Adriatic, the Apennine railways connect it with Genoa, Savona, the Gulf of Spezia, and the Tyrrhenian, and it thus commands the two seas which wash the shores of Italy. Other railways cross the Alps, and put it into communication with France and Germany. This central position, joined to the natural fertility of the country, has converted Northern Italy into one of the most flourishing portions of Europe. Human hands have conquered original geographical disadvantages, and the true centre of Italy is in the ancient Cisalpine Gaul, and not at Rome. Had the Italians been guided in the choice of their capital by actual importance, and not by historical tradition, they would have chosen one of the great cities of their northern plain.

Turin, though an old town, seeing that it was burnt by Hannibal, is nevertheless a modern city, if we compare it with other towns of Italy. Its straight and broad streets almost give it the appearance of a town of the New World. Until made a ducal residence, Turin was but a small provincial town. During the time of the Romans, and even during the Middle Ages, the great high-road between Italy and Gaul led along the coast of the Gulf of Genoa. The passage of the Alps was looked upon with dread by travellers. Still some traffic went on even in these {225} early days, and small towns sprang into existence at the foot of each Alpine pass. Amongst these were Mondovi, the triple town built on three hills; Cuneo, favourably placed upon a terrace between Stura and Gesso, in which rise the hot sulphur springs of Valdiera; Saluzzo, on the gentle slope of the foot-hills of Monte Viso; Pinerolo, with its ancient castle, so often converted into a prison of state; Susa, the Italian key of Mont Cenis; Aosta, still abounding in Roman antiquities; Ivrea, built on a site formerly occupied by a glacier descending from Monte Rosa; and Riella, with its flourishing woollen industry. The towns lower down in the plain, upon which several of these Alpine roads converged, likewise attained some local importance. In Upper Piemont there are Fossano, on a heap of shingle at the junction of the roads of Mondovi and Cuneo; Savigliano, lower down, where the roads of the Po and Maira valleys join; and Carmagnola, which commands one of the principal roads over the Apennines. Novara, the commercial outlet of the Lago Maggiore, and in the midst of one of the most productive agricultural districts, is the most populous town of Eastern Piemont. Vercelli, on the Sesia, and below the confluence of the rivulets descending from Monte Rosa, enjoys natural advantages similar to those of Novara. Casale, the ancient capital of Monferrato, defends one of the principal passages of the Po.

But Turin, owing to its favourable position, has become the great emporium of the valley of the Upper Po. Its commerce has grown immensely, since the town no longer enjoys the perilous honour of being the capital of a kingdom, and the places vacated by the court and Government officials have been filled up quickly by immigrants carried thither by the railways. Its libraries, a fine museum, and various learned societies entitle it to rank as one of the intellectual centres of the peninsula, whilst its manufactures of silks and woollens, of paper and other articles, are of great importance. The environs of Turin are delightful. From the hill of the Superga, a few miles to the east of the city, and crowned by a sumptuous church, may be enjoyed one of the finest panoramas of the Italian Alps. The numerous small towns in its vicinity, such as Moncalieri, Chieri, and Carignano, abound in villas and participate in the prosperity of the capital. As to the towns in the valley of the Tanaro, in the south, they form a group apart, and are the natural intermediaries between the valley of the Po and the port of Genoa. Alessandria, a strong fortress of hideous regularity, which has superseded the old fortresses of Tortona and Novi, is the terminus of eight railways, and one of the busiest places of Italy. The neighbouring cities of Asti, famous for its sparkling wines, and Acqui, celebrated from the time of the Romans for its hot springs, are likewise important for their commerce.71

Milan, the capital of Lombardy, is in every respect one of the leading cities of Italy. In population it is inferior to Naples, in commerce it is outstripped only {226} by Genoa, but in industry it is the equal of both. Its scientific and literary life entitles it, probably, to the first rank amongst the cities between the Alps and Sicily. In the most remote times Milan was an important town of the Celts, and since then the advantages of its position have given it the preponderance amongst all other cities of Northern Italy. Its power during the Middle Ages gained it the epithet of the “Second Rome.” At the close of the thirteenth century it had 200,000 inhabitants, whilst London had not then a sixth of that number. Milan stood in want of water, for it was dependent upon the feeble stream of the Olona, and its citizens created the Naviglio Grande and the Martesana, veritable rivers, which furnish a quantity of water double that of the Seine at Paris during summer. They likewise erected magnificent monuments, but most of these have perished during innumerable wars, and the aspect of Milan is now that of a modern town of Western Europe. Its most famous building, the “Duomo,” with its prodigious crowd of statues, its finely chiselled marbles and granites, must be looked upon as a marvel of architecture, though from an artistic point of view it is hardly more than an elaborately carved trinket out of all proportion. The stones for this edifice were quarried on the Lago Maggiore, near the mouth of the Toce.

The capital of Lombardy, proud of the past and confident of the future, boasts of never yielding servilely to impulses given from beyond. It has its own opinions, manners, and fashions, and anything accepted from abroad is moulded in accordance with local traditions. The other towns of Lombardy likewise maintain their local character, are proud of their traditions, and glory in the annals of the past. Como, on the beautiful lake named after it, the ancient rival of Milan, gains wealth by spinning silk and exporting the agricultural produce of the Brianza. Monza, surrounded by parks and villas, is the coronation city. Pavia, with its 525 towers, now in ruins, remembers the time when it was the residence of the Lombard kings, and proudly points to the university, one of the oldest in Europe, and to the Certosa (Chartreuse), one of the most sumptuous monasteries of Italy. Vigevano, on the other side of the Ticino, rejoices in a fine castle. Lodi, in the eleventh century, was the most powerful city of Italy next to Milan, and carried on a war of extermination with the latter; it is still a busy place. Cremona, an old republic, boasts of its torrazzo, or tower, 393 feet in height, the loftiest in Europe until Gothic cathedrals were built. Bergamo, on a hill commanding the rich plains of Brembo and Serio, produced a larger number of great men than any other town except Florence; and Brescia, the armourers’ town, more haughty still, proclaims herself to be the mother of heroes.

Mantua, on the Mincio, is one of the fortresses of the Quadrilateral, and can hardly be said to belong to Lombardy, though included within its political boundaries. It is essentially a military town. It has lost much of its old commerce, though Jews are more plentiful there than in any other inland city of Italy. Its swamps, woods, rice-fields, ditches, and fortified canals are productive of a degree of humidity exceptional even in Lombardy, and the inhabitants consequently eschew this ancient birthplace of Virgil. Strikingly different is the character of the towns situated in the heart of the mountains, such as Sondrio, the capital of the {227} Val Tellina, or delightful Salo, on the Lake of Garda, with its group of villas scattered amongst groves of orange-trees.72

The physiognomy of the large towns of Emilia, beyond the Po, offers far fewer peculiarities, for, as most of them are situated along the great Emilian highway, they have been exposed for ages to the levelling influences of travelling merchants and soldiers. Piacenza, a sorry place as a fortress, carries on an important commerce. Parma, an old ducal residence, has a rich library, a museum, and wonderful frescoes by Correggio in its churches. Reggio, another important {228} station on the Emilian highway, is famous as the birthplace of Ariosto. Modena has its museum, and the precious collection of books and manuscripts known as the Biblioteca Estense. Bologna the “Learned,” which has taken the word “Libertas” for its motto, still remains one of the most interesting of Italian cities. There are its Etruscan cemetery, its palaces and mediæval buildings, and its two leaning towers, which will most certainly come down in the end. Bologna is one of the great railway centres, carries on much commerce, and increases rapidly in population. It would have made a far better capital than Rome. Of late years the environs of the city have been frequently flooded by the Reno, and these disasters have cost Bologna its ancient epithet of “the Fat.”

Near this bustling place there are others, now stagnant, which can point only to buildings in proof that they, too, were once flourishing. Ferrara, the ancient capital of the Estes, has fallen from its high estate since the Po has deserted it, but still remains a place of some importance. Ravenna has not been deserted by the Po, but by the sea, with which it communicates now by a canal seven miles in length, and navigable for ships drawing thirteen feet of water. The town became the capital of Honorius and Theoderic the Goth, on account of the protection offered by the surrounding marshes. To the exarchs it is indebted for its curious Byzantine edifices, so rich in mosaics. As to the ancient Etruscan city of Adria, on Venetian soil, to the north of the Po, it could hardly have claimed at any period during the last two thousand years to give a name to the neighbouring sea. It lies now at a distance of fourteen miles from it, and even in the time of the Romans it must have been surrounded by lagoons or swamps, for how else can we explain its epithet of “Town of the Seven Seas?” Porto, at the foot of the Euganean Hills, may owe its name to an ancient lake or river.

Towns famous on account of their history, and still populous, are most crowded together in the southern angle of the plain, usually known as the Romagna. The towers and crenellated walls of Imola rise there on the banks of the Santerno. Lugo, the “town of the beautiful Romagnese,” occupies the centre of the district of Ravenna, and has much trade. Faenza, on the Emilian Road, is a large village rather than a town, though it has given its name to a particular kind of porcelain (faience). Forli is, next to Bologna, the most populous city of Romagna. Cesena is known for the excellence of the hemp grown in the neighbourhood. Rimini, where the Emilian Road reaches the sea, still has a few Roman ruins, including a triumphal arch. The inhabitants of the Romagna are distinguished by great energy. Their passions are violent, and as frequently lead them into crime as to deeds of heroism.73

In Venetia there are several provincial towns of importance. Padua abounds in monuments of art, possesses a university, and was formerly the rival of Venice. Vicenza is embellished by the palaces erected by Palladio. Treviso and Belluno are towns of some importance, the one on the Sile, the other in the upper valley {229} of the Piave. At Udine is pointed out a mound of earth said to have been thrown up by Attila, from which he contemplated the conflagration of Aquileja. Palmanova, on the Austrian frontier, is a regularly built fortress. Verona, at the other extremity of Venetia, has played an important part in the history of Italy, but its commerce and industry have fallen into decay. It hardly fills up the space enclosed by walls and bastions, and its present population is quite out of proportion to the multitude of its public buildings dating from the Middle Ages, and the dimensions of its Roman amphitheatre, capable of seating 50,000 spectators. Amongst all the cities of Venetia it is Venice itself, the “Queen of the Adriatic,” which has suffered least in the course of ages.