Days near Rome . uetown of Monte Fortino, a fortress of the Conti, clambering upthe side of a hill so steep that each row of houses beginsover the roof of its neighbour, and each has a clear view ofthe sky. About a mile distant, at the spot now called La Civita,is the site of the Volscian city Artena: portions of theCyclopean walls of the citadel remain. It is about three miles from Monte Fortino (passing thestation) to Valmontone, the ancient Toleria, which stands on VALMONTONE. 269 a tufa rock in the midst of the plain between the two rangesof mountains, and is girt by old republican walls,
Days near Rome . uetown of Monte Fortino, a fortress of the Conti, clambering upthe side of a hill so steep that each row of houses beginsover the roof of its neighbour, and each has a clear view ofthe sky. About a mile distant, at the spot now called La Civita,is the site of the Volscian city Artena: portions of theCyclopean walls of the citadel remain. It is about three miles from Monte Fortino (passing thestation) to Valmontone, the ancient Toleria, which stands on VALMONTONE. 269 a tufa rock in the midst of the plain between the two rangesof mountains, and is girt by old republican walls, with me-diaeval towers. From the families of Conti, Sforza, and Bar-berini, it has passed to the Pamfili, by whom the huge palacewhich crowns the town was built in 1662. The eldest sonof Prince Doria Pamfili bears the title of Prince of Valmon-tone. In the cortile of the palace are some inscriptionsfrom the Labican catacombs. Adjoining it is a rather hand-some cathedral of the 17 th century, designed by Matteo de. Valmontone. Rossi. There are several bits at Valmontone to delight anartist, especially at the entrance of the towTi, where a magni-ficent fragment of the ancient wall forms the foreground tosome very picturesque houses. Near this also is the in-teresting old church of Sant Antonio, now called the Ma-donna delle Grazie. Pakstrina is quite a different type of place from all theothers we have seen, and its people, unlike the courteous 270 DA YS NEAR ROME. peasants we have hitherto met with, are savage and lawless,violent and avaricious. Can the bitter warfare of reprisal,of which both ancient Prseneste and mediseval Palestrinahave been the scene, be setting its mark still upon the in-habitants? for perhaps no place has been more often be-sieged, and more often utterly ruined and destroyed. Prseneste is one of the towns of fabulous origin. Virgilascribes it to C^eculus the son of Vulcan : Nee Prasnestinse fundator defuit urbis,Vulcano genitum pecora inter agrestia regemI
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectromeita, bookyear1875
