Byways in southern Tuscany . eir small discoveries. Rules are stringent. We must have leave now before we plant a tree, they saydespondently, but they make no appeal for charity. From Vetulonia there is no cross-road to Castiglionedella Pescaja, so there is the pleasant winding way to betaken again, leading down to the plain and then skirtingthe hills, sometimes beside the River Bruna, now grownbroader than when we met it near Castello di Pietra, some-times leaving it to pass through a grove of cork oaks andtouch the border of a canal patterned over with water-lilies. Where the Bruna empties i
Byways in southern Tuscany . eir small discoveries. Rules are stringent. We must have leave now before we plant a tree, they saydespondently, but they make no appeal for charity. From Vetulonia there is no cross-road to Castiglionedella Pescaja, so there is the pleasant winding way to betaken again, leading down to the plain and then skirtingthe hills, sometimes beside the River Bruna, now grownbroader than when we met it near Castello di Pietra, some-times leaving it to pass through a grove of cork oaks andtouch the border of a canal patterned over with water-lilies. Where the Bruna empties into the sea Castiglionelies on a declivity above it, guarding the little harbor withits mild commerce in charcoal. It was well fortified as allsuch places once had need to be; its walls are almost perfectstill and a stout castle crowns the summit. Once therewere battlements, but they have been filled in, and a toocomplacent hand has emphasized restorations with un-usually wide joints of white cement. Where there is brick- 32. Castiglione della Pescaja. BYWAYS IN SOUTHERN TUSCANY work to renew, fancy has been allowed to run riot and thefresh mortar becomes a conspicuous pattern to which thebricks are quite subordinate. The people take much pridein the improvements that are in progress. At the east portal the great timbered gates strengthenedwith iron still hang upon their hinges, and between themyou enter the Street of Love, a narrow thoroughfare pass-ing between the high wall of the city on one side and tallbuildings on the other, and under many broad archesheavily braced. Part way up this street stands the mostimportant house that Castiglione boasts, once the seat ofthe government of Leopoldo, whose grandiose stemma,surmounted by a crown, still keeps its place above thedoor. Its present occupant is the landed proprietor ofgreatest local importance. The house parallels the citywall for some distance, and being but about thirty feet indepth is composed of a long series of apartm
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjecttuscany, bookyear1919
