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Handbook for travellers in central Italy including Florence, Lucca, Tuscany, Elba, etc., Umbria, the Marches, and part of the late patrimony of St. Peter
Handbook for travellers in central Italy including Florence Lucca Tuscany Elba etc Umbria the Marches and part of the late patrimony of St Peter Author:John Murray This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1892 Excerpt: ...Siena is an unfavourable climate at all seasons. For nervous, relaxed people it forms a better summer retreat than either Naples or even t... more »he baths of Lucca." From the Porta S. Marco a good road descends S.W., passing below the Monastero (see above) to the (5 m.) Osteria delle Volte, where the turning to 1. must be avoided. The road continues due E. to 7 m. Ponte alio Spino, 10 m. beyond which, on the 1., is the Ch. of S. Giovanni (1026) formerly Cistercian. It has clustered piers of travertine and stufa, disfigured with yellow paint; quaint capitals, round arches, and picturesque remains of mediaeval painted work in the courtyard. A winding road leads, below hills on the rt., to 11 m. Eosia, the ch. of which village has a good tower, plain front with 3 lancets, and an oblong font of 1332, with relief of Baptism and 5 angels. A mile S. lies Torri, with an ancient Vallombrosian monastery, of which the interesting cloisters yet remain. They are in two tiers, with a loggia above; the capitals are mostly black; in the upper tier the shafts are of brick, with stone capitals and bases; the cushions of the lower capitals are all curiously carved. Returning to Rosia, the road becomes prettier, following the 1. bank of a rivulet through woods of ilex for 1 m., then crossing it, and mounting to (£ m.) a sign post, where the carriage road commences a steep ascent to 1. and mounts by zigzags in % hr. (very rough short cut) to 16 m. Montebello, on the summit of the ridge, with a splendid view. Thence the road descends to 18 m. Froslni, crosses the river, and turns to the 1. The conspicuous hilltown on the rt. is Chiusdino. At the wayside shrine of 21 m. Madonnina a by-road turns rt., and leads to the ruined Cistercian monastery of 23 m. S. Oalgano, here called ...« less