DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.44973#0222
A Journey from Venice to Genoa.
site to the house, the handsome prospedt of it, and the clear Avenue to it,
is extraordinarily surprizing, and extreamly noble, and I could not ima-
gine that any Gentleman would ever desire to have a fairer Court-yard
to his house,than the spacious plain Arena of an old Roman Amphithea-
ter,nor a better Wall than a high intire handsom TfdW^the like to which
perhaps is not at this day any where else to be seen. And I musf freely
confess,That of the Remains and Ruinesof twelve old Amphitheaters*
which I have seen my self, I have not met with any one that comes near
it; for in the Amphitheater at Doue in Portion, which is cut out of a
Rock, and being of a smaller dimension, and part of the bottom being
filled up, there is no visible beauty of the Podium, the like may be said
also of that at Nizza, near the river Varus, and that at Puzzuolo. That
at Nifmes is filled up with dwelling houses, in such manner that the
upper seats only are distindtly visible. The Amphitheaters of Bourde-
aux, XainHes, Arles, Garigliano, that at Rome near to the Church of
Santa Croce in Gierufalemme, and others are at present so much ruined,
that nothing of this nature distinguishable is to be expeded ; nay even
about the Arena at Verona, and the great Coliffeo, or Domitians Am-
phitheater at Rome, the ground is now risen so high, that the Podi-
um is at present either buried, or disfigured. But as the Arena at Pa-
doa is clear, and evident in this part; so is it wanting in all the rest :
and he that desires at this day to view all the Parts of an Amphithea-
ter, must not see one, but many; and by joyning them together irt
his thoughts he may colled the figure, proportion, and dimensions
of this sumptuous sort of building of the old Romans.
From the Walls of Padoa, there is a pleasant Prosped of a plain
Country to the North, East, and South; and of the Euganean Hills to
the West, which supply the Town with variety of Plants, and great
Number of Vipers. At a few Miles distance are the hot Baths os
Abano, and the Mineral drinking Waters of Monte Or tone, as also Mar-
chefe Obizzts Country House, which we saw with great delight, it be-
ing well designed, and accommodated with a good Armory, a Theater
for Comedies, handsom Stables, and a Tennis-court, and nobly paint-
ed both within, and without, by that great Master, Paulo Veronefe.
Leaving the Ancient City of Padoa, in the Two Thousand, Seven
Hundred and Eighty Fifth Year after its first Foundation, according to
their own compute, and Travelling Eighteen Miles through a fruitful
Country, we came to the pleasant City of Vicenza; a place worth the
seeing, by reason that Palladius hath here shown great skill in Archi-
tecture in his Rotunda, in. imitation of the Pantheon at Rome, in his
Theater exactly proportioned to the stricft Rules of Building, and other
fair Houses in the Town. There are also two Arches worth the ob-
serving, one near the Gate, behind which there is a noble ascent up to
Santa Maria del Monte, and another in cawipo Martio. This City is
filled with Nobility and Gentry, and drives a great Trade in making
Silk, but is not of any considerable Strength.
The Piazza della Signoria is as beautiful a place as can well be con-
trived, and besides its being large enough to receive all the Gentry in
an Evening, and to have Tilting, and Turnaments performed in it, it is
beautified with the exquisite Front of the Palazzo della Ragione, of the
Capitamols Palace, and also with the Buildings of the Monte della Pie-
ta, where Money is lent out without use to the poorer sort.
Vicenza
site to the house, the handsome prospedt of it, and the clear Avenue to it,
is extraordinarily surprizing, and extreamly noble, and I could not ima-
gine that any Gentleman would ever desire to have a fairer Court-yard
to his house,than the spacious plain Arena of an old Roman Amphithea-
ter,nor a better Wall than a high intire handsom TfdW^the like to which
perhaps is not at this day any where else to be seen. And I musf freely
confess,That of the Remains and Ruinesof twelve old Amphitheaters*
which I have seen my self, I have not met with any one that comes near
it; for in the Amphitheater at Doue in Portion, which is cut out of a
Rock, and being of a smaller dimension, and part of the bottom being
filled up, there is no visible beauty of the Podium, the like may be said
also of that at Nizza, near the river Varus, and that at Puzzuolo. That
at Nifmes is filled up with dwelling houses, in such manner that the
upper seats only are distindtly visible. The Amphitheaters of Bourde-
aux, XainHes, Arles, Garigliano, that at Rome near to the Church of
Santa Croce in Gierufalemme, and others are at present so much ruined,
that nothing of this nature distinguishable is to be expeded ; nay even
about the Arena at Verona, and the great Coliffeo, or Domitians Am-
phitheater at Rome, the ground is now risen so high, that the Podi-
um is at present either buried, or disfigured. But as the Arena at Pa-
doa is clear, and evident in this part; so is it wanting in all the rest :
and he that desires at this day to view all the Parts of an Amphithea-
ter, must not see one, but many; and by joyning them together irt
his thoughts he may colled the figure, proportion, and dimensions
of this sumptuous sort of building of the old Romans.
From the Walls of Padoa, there is a pleasant Prosped of a plain
Country to the North, East, and South; and of the Euganean Hills to
the West, which supply the Town with variety of Plants, and great
Number of Vipers. At a few Miles distance are the hot Baths os
Abano, and the Mineral drinking Waters of Monte Or tone, as also Mar-
chefe Obizzts Country House, which we saw with great delight, it be-
ing well designed, and accommodated with a good Armory, a Theater
for Comedies, handsom Stables, and a Tennis-court, and nobly paint-
ed both within, and without, by that great Master, Paulo Veronefe.
Leaving the Ancient City of Padoa, in the Two Thousand, Seven
Hundred and Eighty Fifth Year after its first Foundation, according to
their own compute, and Travelling Eighteen Miles through a fruitful
Country, we came to the pleasant City of Vicenza; a place worth the
seeing, by reason that Palladius hath here shown great skill in Archi-
tecture in his Rotunda, in. imitation of the Pantheon at Rome, in his
Theater exactly proportioned to the stricft Rules of Building, and other
fair Houses in the Town. There are also two Arches worth the ob-
serving, one near the Gate, behind which there is a noble ascent up to
Santa Maria del Monte, and another in cawipo Martio. This City is
filled with Nobility and Gentry, and drives a great Trade in making
Silk, but is not of any considerable Strength.
The Piazza della Signoria is as beautiful a place as can well be con-
trived, and besides its being large enough to receive all the Gentry in
an Evening, and to have Tilting, and Turnaments performed in it, it is
beautified with the exquisite Front of the Palazzo della Ragione, of the
Capitamols Palace, and also with the Buildings of the Monte della Pie-
ta, where Money is lent out without use to the poorer sort.
Vicenza