nearly in the centre of Piedmont, 72 miles from Milan, and 118 from Genoa, at the confluence of a small stream, the Dora Riparia or Susina, with the Po, which even at this early stage of its course has become a deep and rapid river. The plain on which the city stands is bounded on the north and west by the giant masses of the snow-capped Alps, among whose summits that of Mont Cenis towers aloft in silent majesty; on the south by the Collina di Torino, a beautiful range of low hills dotted with villas and gardens; and to the east it extends away in unbroken continuity to the horizon, forming the commencement of the great plain of North Italy, a very garden of fertility and loveliness, that stretches from the Alps to the Apennines and to the shores of the Adriatic. The approach to the city from the west is by a magnificent avenue of trees, the longest probably in Europe, which commencing at the town of Rivoli leads thence to Turin, forming a noble vista, to which the dome of the church of the Superga forms a fitting and picturesque termination. Nor are these pleasing impressions dissipated on a nearer acquaintance with the city. The elegance and regularity of its buildings—with the cleanliness and straightness of the streets-will bear comparison with the finest capitals of modern Europe; whilst the mingled sublimity and beauty of the surrounding country impart to it an aspect which few other large cities can rival. Its total want of suburbs never fails to strike the stranger with surprise, who thus passes at once from the open country to the busy town.

The town was formerly encircled by fortifications as well as suburbs, but both have now disappeared, the only vestige remaining of the former being the citadel, now almost abandoned, and its outworks razed. This stronghold, built by Emanuele Filiberto in 1565, is the earliest specimen of regular fortification in Europe. The destruction of the fortifications of the town was mainly the work of the French, who held possession of Turin from 1801 to 1814. Their places have been supplied by gardens, public walks, and splendid rows of houses. Among the first of these may be mentioned the Ripari gardens, a favourite place of resort, and forming a boulevard encircling the city from east to south. The Dora Riparia is crossed by two, and the Po by three bridges. The principal bridge over the Po was erected in 1810, under the government of the French, in room of an ancient bridge of thirteen arches, then taken down, which had existed from the beginning of the fifteenth century. It consists of five elliptic arches, and is seen in the middle distance of the engraving. Napoleon was so highly pleased with this bridge that he used to speak of it as one of the grandest monuments of his sovereignty. The piazze or public squares of Turin are thirteen in number, the principal, though not the handsomest, being the Piazza Castello, so called from the ancient castle of the Dukes of Savoy, which stands in its centre. It is surrounded in great part by arcades, and has on its north side the royal palace, and on its east the grand theatre. The Piazza di San Carlo is the finest square in Turin. In this piazza stands the bronze equestrian statue of Emanuele Filiberto, by Baron Marochetti, of whose works it is perhaps the finest.

The oldest ecclesiastical structure in the city is the Cathedral or Duomo, founded in 1498 and completed in 1505, on the site of an older edifice erected by Agilulph, king of the Lombards. It is in the Renaissance style, but has been much altered, and is not remarkable in regard to architecture. Behind the cathedral, and communicating with it, and also communicating with the royal palace, is the chapel of the Santo Sudario, considered the master-piece of Guarini. Its cupola is original and elegant in design, being composed of a series of arched ribs, from the summits of which others. spring in succession, thus forming a species of dome, the light being admitted through the various perforations of the arches. In recesses around this chapel are placed fine marble monuments of the most renowned members of the house of Savoy. Many of the other churches are remarkable

for the splendour of their decorations, and among them may be noticed that of San Agostino, erected in 1551, and distinguished by its monuments of many eminent public men; La Gran Madri di Dio, opposite the bridge over the Po, a building in imitation of the Pantheon at Rome, seen on the right of our view; La Consolata, so called from possessing a picture of the Virgin which claims a miraculous origin; and the churches of San Filippo and the Santissima Trinita, the former the largest, and the latter one of the most beautiful sacred edifices in Turin. None of these churches however are specially distinguished for architectural merit, and contain few works of art by the great masters. Though not within the town, reference must here be made to the splendid church of La Superga, which occupies a steep and elevated position at five miles' distance, commanding the finest possible view of the city and surrounding country. It was erected in fulfilment of a vow made by Victor Amadeus II., in 1706, when looking down with Prince Eugene from the heights of the Collina upon his capital invested by the forces of Louis XIV.; he vowed, if success should crown his arms, to found a church to the Virgin; and the subsequent victory of Turin and raising of the siege were interpreted by him as an answer to his prayers, and commemorated by the erection of La Superga. It is a magnificent structure, the work of Juvara, somewhat after the model of St. Peter's at Rome, and has a fine portico of eight red and white marble columns, and a most sumptuously decorated interior. Previously to 1821 it was the burial-place of the royal family. Among the palaces of Turin the first place is due to the royal palace in the Piazza Castello, a building of unpretending appearance externally, but fitted up in the interior with great magnificence, and containing an extensive library, in which many valuable letters and manuscripts are preserved. There is also in the palace a fine collection of ancient armour, called the Armeria Regia, which being open to the public forms one of the principal sights of Turin. The apartments occupied by the Senate are in the ancient castle in the centre of the Piazza del Castello, known as the Palazzo Madama, which also contains the royal picture-gallery, a good collection of works of art. In the Palazzo Carignano, a highly decorated but somewhat fantastic building, the Chamber of Deputies holds its sittings. In the Palazzo dell' Academia Reale delle Scienze are several museums of natural history, antiquities, &c., of considerable importance.

The University of Turin is an extensive and magnificent edifice. It was founded in 1405, but the present buildings belong to the last century. The court is surrounded with a double tier of arcades, under which is a valuable collection of ancient sculptures, bas-reliefs, and inscribed marbles, many of them obtained from the ruins of the ancient Roman town of Industria, situated eighteen miles from Turin, and discovered in 1744. An extensive library is attached to the institution, which contains forty-seven professorial chairs, and has an average attendance of nearly 2000 students.

Like the other Italians the Turinese are enthusiastic lovers of music, and the Teatro Reale, or Teatro dell' Opera, is among the finest in Northern Italy, vying even with the famed La Scala at Milan. It was erected after the design and under the superintendence of Count Benedetto Alfieri, a distant relative of the celebrated tragic author of that name, and is capable of accommodating 2500 persons. There are also the Teatro Carignano, where the first tragedy of Alfieri was performed in public; the Teatro d'Angennes; the Teatro Nazionale, and other theatres, including two of fantoccini or marionettes, of which the Piedmontese claim to be the inventors.

As a place of resort for strangers, Turin cannot be said to have as yet found much favour, partly owing to its want of archæological and artistic attractions, and partly also from the severity of the climate, which in winter is apt to be foggy, and is frequently extremely cold. At other seasons, however, the air is remarkably balmy and salubrious. The population numbers about 160,000.

MODENA.

LTHOUGH now possessing few relics of ancient times, Modena (the Mutina of the Romans) claims an antiquity not much inferior to that of Rome herself, being previous to the Christian era one of the most flourishing cities in Gallia Cispadana. Situated on the Emilian Way, between Parma and Bononia, it

appears to have been originally founded by the Etruscans, from whom it was conquered by the Romans about the commencement of the third century B.C. At this period it was a considerable place, and strongly fortified; on the occasion of a sudden inroad of the Gauls, the triumvirs who had been appointed to organize the newly established colony of Placentia were constrained to take refuge within the walls of Mutina, where they were effectually shielded from the barbarians. It does not appear, however, to have been regularly settled as a colony till about B.C. 183, when, along with Parma, it was formally invested with this character, received an accession of 2000 immigrants, and its inhabitants were admitted to the honours and privileges of Roman citizens. Not long afterwards the town and adjoining territory were ravaged by the Ligurians; but these were speedily repulsed with great slaughter by the consul C. Claudius, and the colonists re-established in Mutina. From this time its prosperity rapidly increased. During the civil war after the death of Cæsar, it played an important part, and is noted for the siege which it sustained under Brutus against the blockading forces of Mark Antony. After various battles fought in its vicinity between the troops of the latter and the army sent by the senate to the assistance of Brutus, Antony found himself compelled to raise the siege. The various events connected with this stage in its history are referred to by Suetonius, under the title of Bellum Mutinense. Its importance and splendour at this period are attested by Cicero, who styles it "firmissima et splendidissima populi Romani colonia," and also by Appian and Mela, who refer to it as distinguished for opulence. The wool and wine produced in the adjoining territory were famous, and within the city were extensive manufactures of pottery and woollen stuffs. Towards the end of the fourth century it first began to decline, sharing the general fate of the western territories of the Roman empire, and in A.D. 452 was laid waste by Attila, king of the Huns. Though it partly recovered from these disasters, it was only to relapse into a state of gradual decay, in which it reached so low an ebb, that by the tenth century the city had become little more than a heap of ruins, and the adjoining country, from its irrigating streams being choked up and neglected, a desolate and impassable morass. In the course of a century or two, however, from this time, its fortunes began again to revive; and under its modern name of Modena, it ultimately became the flourishing capital of one of the republics of medieval Italy. Having its safety endangered by the conflicting factions of the Guelfs and Ghibellines, it threw itself into the arms of the family of Este, and in 1288 elected as its sovereign Obizzo II., Marquis of Este, in the possession of whose house, with the exception of a short period of independence in the fourteenth century, it remained for upwards of five hundred years. In 1598, Pope Clement VIII. wrested the duchy of Ferrara from Duke Cæsar, and the family of Este then transferred its residence to Modena. The descendants of Cæsar, as Dukes of Modena and Reggio, maintained their independence till 1796. In that year the reigning duke, Ercole III., was compelled by the invasion of the French to abandon his dominions, which were united with the Papal legations of Bologna and Ferrara to form the Cispadane republic. On the overthrow of Napoleon, his grandson Francis was invested by the

congress of Vienna with the duchy of Modena, under the title of Francis IV. He also succeeded to the duchy of Massa Carrara, and the territory of Lunigiana on the death of his mother, Maria Beatrice of Este, in 1829. The policy of government adopted by him was like that of most of the restored sovereigns, extremely arbitrary and coercive; and though temporarily checked by the popular outbreaks of 1821 and 1831, it was only resumed with greater violence on the suppression of the liberal party. Francis IV. died in 1846, and was succeeded by his son Francis Ferdinand V., whose sway was at first characterized by greater mildness than that of his father. To quell the agitation, however, for political reform, he too resorted to arbitrary and persecuting measures, and in 1848 entered, along with the Duke of Parma, into a treaty with Austria, whereby that power was authorized to occupy their territories in the event of any insurrection. In 1850 the Jesuits were reinstated in all their former possessions and privileges. The support afforded by the French emperor, Louis Napoleon, to Sardinia, and his implied favourable views to the cause of Italian independence, infused in 1859 a fresh spirit of resistance to tyranny into the Modenese, and in consequence of the disturbances that ensued, the duke, in that year, finally abandoned his dominions. They were subsequently annexed, with the other territories of Central Italy, by a popular vote, to the sovereignty of Victor Emanuel, and now form part of the kingdom of Italy.

The city of Modena is very pleasantly situated in a low but fertile plain between the Secchia and Panaro, and on the banks of a canal which connects it with these rivers. It is surrounded by walls, of no great strength indeed, but their ramparts afford a fine promenade, and present splendid views of the Apennines and the surrounding country. The citadel with its esplanade occupies nearly a third of the whole town, which is in general built with great regularity, with clean and spacious streets, lined fréquently with rows of elegant arcades. Among the public buildings may be mentioned first the Duomo or Cathedral, a fine Romanesque structure, adorned in front with many curious sculptures, and having a lofty bell-tower, in which is preserved the famous wooden bucket, now sadly worm-eaten, that was taken by the Modenese from the Bolognese in the affray of Rapolino, on 15th November, 1325, and forms the subject of Tassoni's serio-comic poem, La Secchia rapita (The Rape of the Bucket). It is seen towards the left centre of our view. The church of S. Agostino, recently restored, is also a fine edifice, and contains in a side-chapel the remarkable group by Begarelli, in terra cotta, of the Taking Down from the Cross, which called forth the enthusiastic admiration of Michael Angelo. The ducal palace, a splendid building, originally commenced in the seventeenth century, and greatly enlarged by the father of the present ex-duke, is represented in the centre of the view, towards the right. It contains a large and good collection of paintings, though many which formerly adorned it have been transferred by purchase to the Dresden Gallery. It possesses also a library, the Biblioteca Estense, rich in valuable manuscripts, and distinguished by ranking among its curators of former times the celebrated names of Zaccaria, Tiraboschi, and Muratori. There are no other buildings of great importance. With the exception of some woollen and silk manufactures, the trade and commerce of Modena is very inconsiderable, the inhabitants depending chiefly for their support on agriculture, and, previous to the late revolution, in supplying the demands occasioned by the presence of a court. The poets Molsa and Tassoni, the archæologist Muratori, and the anatomist Fallopius, were natives of this city. The population is little upwards of 30,000.

GLASGOW W. G. BLACKIE AND CO., PRINTERS, VILLAFIELD.