Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . as a ladder carved in the rock still testifies) until finallythe Carraras came. But the mastery did not remain with them, either ; for all the power-ful families of Italy whose names fill the Middle Ages with a clash of arms, vied with eachother for the fine bold eagles nest—the Viscontis of Milan, and the Doges of Venice,and even Kaiser Max himself, the latter of whom conquered it in 1509, and united itpermanently with Tyrol. Dal Pozzo, who visited the fortress at the end of last century, has given us a livelypicture of it. At that time the only means of en
Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna . as a ladder carved in the rock still testifies) until finallythe Carraras came. But the mastery did not remain with them, either ; for all the power-ful families of Italy whose names fill the Middle Ages with a clash of arms, vied with eachother for the fine bold eagles nest—the Viscontis of Milan, and the Doges of Venice,and even Kaiser Max himself, the latter of whom conquered it in 1509, and united itpermanently with Tyrol. Dal Pozzo, who visited the fortress at the end of last century, has given us a livelypicture of it. At that time the only means of entrance within its lofty walls was a rope, tothe end of which a broad girdle was attached, and which was wound up by a cog-wheel, FROM VERONA TO THE MOUNTAINS OF VENETIA. 51 Every chamber was hewn out of the solid rock :—the armoury and the casemates, the littlechapel, and the dungeon for prisoners. Deep, dark corridors lead into the interior ofthe cavern, where two springs of water spurt out from the rock, and arc received into. NEAR PRIMOLANO IN THE VAL SUGANA. stone reservoirs. In the chapel, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the holy sacrament iskept; and when we leave it, we come upon a double door—the outer of oak, the inner ofiron—behind which powder and lead are stored! Muskets and carronades, old field-pieces that once stood in the loop-holes, and thousands of grenades lie piled up here. Inone corner is a chaos of sharp-cornered stones, which were to be used for throwing down h 2 52 ITALY, on the besieging foe. The number of the garrison must always have been but small,for the casemates could accommodate but a few hundred men. At the time of which DalPozzo writes there were sixteen habitable chambers.
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Keywords: ., bookauthorcavagnasangiulianidig, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870
