DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.847#0294
vulci. 273
to avenge their quarrel on the effeminate descend-
ants of their rude destroyers.
Thus endeavouring to recall the distant past, and
to depict the last expiring struggles of Etruscan
liberty, and the subsequent extinction of the wealth,
civilisation, and very existence of that great people,
we had forgotten the desolate scene around us, when
we were suddenly called to observe the castle of Ponte
Labadia, the only inhabited place we had seen since
leaving Musignano. It is a gothic fortress, of the
middle ages, picturesque with its towers, and curious
in a country where there are few remains of that
period of modern antiquity. It is finely situated on
the precipitous banks of the river Fiora, over which
was thrown the noble bridge which gives its name
to the place, and which is one of the finest specimens
extant of Etruscan architecture. It is elevated very
high over the channel of the river, and forms a
beautiful arch. Its masonry is of that huge and du-
rable character peculiar to Etruria,—the con-
necting link in the history of Italian architec-
ture between the Cyclopean and the Roman styles,
having the beauty and regularity of the latter, with
the gigantic size and strength which distinguish the
former, but without that forndess rude appearance
which seems to say that it had been rolled up by
giants in sport. The outer wall of one side of this
bridge is strikingly peculiar, showing evident traces
of an aqueduct, the bridge having thus served the
double purpose of a viaduct and an aqueduct to the
«ty of Vulci, on the site of which now stands the
n5
to avenge their quarrel on the effeminate descend-
ants of their rude destroyers.
Thus endeavouring to recall the distant past, and
to depict the last expiring struggles of Etruscan
liberty, and the subsequent extinction of the wealth,
civilisation, and very existence of that great people,
we had forgotten the desolate scene around us, when
we were suddenly called to observe the castle of Ponte
Labadia, the only inhabited place we had seen since
leaving Musignano. It is a gothic fortress, of the
middle ages, picturesque with its towers, and curious
in a country where there are few remains of that
period of modern antiquity. It is finely situated on
the precipitous banks of the river Fiora, over which
was thrown the noble bridge which gives its name
to the place, and which is one of the finest specimens
extant of Etruscan architecture. It is elevated very
high over the channel of the river, and forms a
beautiful arch. Its masonry is of that huge and du-
rable character peculiar to Etruria,—the con-
necting link in the history of Italian architec-
ture between the Cyclopean and the Roman styles,
having the beauty and regularity of the latter, with
the gigantic size and strength which distinguish the
former, but without that forndess rude appearance
which seems to say that it had been rolled up by
giants in sport. The outer wall of one side of this
bridge is strikingly peculiar, showing evident traces
of an aqueduct, the bridge having thus served the
double purpose of a viaduct and an aqueduct to the
«ty of Vulci, on the site of which now stands the
n5