Eustace, John Cretwode: A classical tour through Italy An. MDCCCII (Vol. 3): 3. ed., rev. and enl (London: J. Mawman, 1815)

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CLASSICAL TOUR

Ch. X.

soon acquired reputation and riches. In time it
rose to the dignity of a parent abbey, and be-
came the head of the numerous congregation
of Benedictins of Vallombrosa. The founder
shewed his judgment in the selection of his re-
treat, as it is difficult to discover a wilder or
more romantic solitude. The little plain in
which the abbey stands is imbosomed in the
Apennines, open to the rays of the western sun,
but enclosed on the south, east, and north by a
semi-circular ridge of mountains. The steep
acclivity is clothed to the summit with forests of
ancient firs, oaks, and beeches, waving one
above the other, and sometimes apparently hang-
ing from the very brows of the precipices and
bending over the steep. In the upper regions
an occasional glade breaks the uniformity of
forest scenery, while the naked summits expand
into wide grassy downs, and command a beauti-
ful view over the Arno and its storied vale,
Florence and all its neighboring hills on one side,
and extending on the other to the wilds of Ca-
maldoli and La Vernia. The elevation is so
considerable, even at the abbey, as to affect the
temperature of the air, insomuch indeed that
after having panted so long at Naples, Rome,
and Florence, we found ourselves delightfully
refreshed at Vallombrosa by the cool breezes of
an English summer.