DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61894#0396
366
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. XI.
waves that bathe the terrace wall, enjoys at once
their freshness and their murmurs.
Proceeding1 westward along1 the Chiaia and
keeping towards the beach, we came to the quar-
ter called Mergyllina. To ascend the hill of
Posilipo over whose sides this quarter spreads, we
turned to the right, and followed a street winding
as a staircase up the steep, and terminating at a
garden gate. Having entered, we pursued a
path through a vineyard, and descending a little
we came to a small square building, flat-roofed,
placed on a sort of platform on the brow of a pre-
cipice on one side, and on the other sheltered by
a super-incumbent rock. An aged ilex spread-
ing from the sides of the rock, and bending over
the edifice covers the roof with its ever verdant
foliage. Numberless shrubs spring around, and
interwoven with ivy clothe the walls, and hang in
festoons over the precipice. The edifice before
us was an ancient tomb—the tomb of Virgil!
We entered ; a vaulted cell and two modern win-
dows alone present themselves to view : the poet’s
name is the only ornament of the place. No sar-
cophagus, no urn, and even no inscription to feed
the devotion of the classical pilgrim. The epi-
taph which though not genuine is yet ancient,
was inscribed by order of the Duke of Pescolan-
piano, then proprietor of the place, on a marble
3
CLASSICAL TOUR
Ch. XI.
waves that bathe the terrace wall, enjoys at once
their freshness and their murmurs.
Proceeding1 westward along1 the Chiaia and
keeping towards the beach, we came to the quar-
ter called Mergyllina. To ascend the hill of
Posilipo over whose sides this quarter spreads, we
turned to the right, and followed a street winding
as a staircase up the steep, and terminating at a
garden gate. Having entered, we pursued a
path through a vineyard, and descending a little
we came to a small square building, flat-roofed,
placed on a sort of platform on the brow of a pre-
cipice on one side, and on the other sheltered by
a super-incumbent rock. An aged ilex spread-
ing from the sides of the rock, and bending over
the edifice covers the roof with its ever verdant
foliage. Numberless shrubs spring around, and
interwoven with ivy clothe the walls, and hang in
festoons over the precipice. The edifice before
us was an ancient tomb—the tomb of Virgil!
We entered ; a vaulted cell and two modern win-
dows alone present themselves to view : the poet’s
name is the only ornament of the place. No sar-
cophagus, no urn, and even no inscription to feed
the devotion of the classical pilgrim. The epi-
taph which though not genuine is yet ancient,
was inscribed by order of the Duke of Pescolan-
piano, then proprietor of the place, on a marble
3