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Tour in Austrian Lombardy, the northern Tyrol, and Bavaria
Tour in Austrian Lombardy the northern Tyrol and Bavaria Author:John Barrow Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. FROM COIRE, BY THE VIA MALA, ACROSS THE SPLUGEN. City of Coire—St. Lucius—Reichenau—The two branches of the Rhine—The Usher, Louis Philippe—A g... more »reat contrast— Valley of Hinter-Rhein—Place of execution—The Via Mala, and artificial roads, galleries, and bridges—Destruction by rush of waters—Village of Spliigen—Route for Merchandise over the Pass—Excursion to the Source of the Rhine—Hinter- Rhein—Ascent of the Pass—The Summit—The Austrian Custom-house on the other side. Coire (Curia Rhcetorum), the capital of the Grisons, is a small ancient walled city, with narrow lanes and old-fashioned houses, many of them presenting their gable and overhanging ends to the streets, or, as I have called them, lanes. Its principal buildings are an old Gothic church and the Episcopal palace, probably still older. We were not tempted to visit either, nor even to pay our respects to the bones of St. Lucius, the king of the Britons (Welsh), which, travellers inform us, are said to be lodged there; how they came there it would be rather puzzling to explain. This martyr tothe faith, as appears by the old historians, and, among others, in " Fox's Book of Martyrs," was a man of considerable influence ; he made several bishops, erected many churches; one writer mentions that of St. Peter, Cornhill, and also the Cathedral of Colchester. He is supposed to have died some time between 150 and 180 of the Christian era, about which period, Severus, the Roman emperor, took into his own hands the government of the British empire. Instead of exploring in this old town, a task for which we could not afford much time, we contented ourselves with the good accommodation at the " White Cross," and slept comfortably, after a day of considerable exercise; and, moreover, enjoyed at dinner a bottle of the ...« less