PRATICA.

RATICA is a locality of no importance except to the antiquary, who finds in it the site of the ancient Lavinium, the city founded by Æneas in honour of his wife Lavinia. It is distant about eighteen miles from Rome, and three miles from the sea coast; and is so afflicted with malaria, that its meagre population of some sixty souls carry in their countenances the melancholy evidence of its fatal presence amongst them. A large baronial mansion of the Borghese family exists at Pratica; and from its lofty central tower, the spectator obtains an extensive panoramic view of the surrounding country.

Lavinium was the regal city of Latium during the reign of Æneas; but after his death, his son Ascanius built Alba Longa, and removed thither the seat of government. We learn from Virgil that during the wanderings of Æneas, the prophetic Helenus directed the Trojan fugitive where to find a large white sow, with thirty young ones white like their dam, and declared that in the place of her concealment he should make settlement and build a city. Dionysius relates that Æneas was led to the site of Lavinium by this white sow; but the fable appears to be a little confused. The god of the Tiber, according to Virgil, revealed to Æneas the prophetic sty, and informed him that it was to be the site of a city (Alba Longa), which after thrice ten years Ascanius should build as the metropolis of the empire. The only information we can extract from the fable seems to be this: that it was not always the path of ill luck to "go to the pigs;" at least in classic times, when little pigs were oracles.

CASTEL GANDOLFO.

HE village of Castel Gandolfo, principally remarkable as the summer residence of the popes, is situated about twelve miles from Rome, on a spot of singular beauty, in the immediate vicinity of the Lake of Albano. It derives its name from the Gandolfi family, by whom it was possessed in the twelfth century. The Savelli, who afterwards became the proprietors, held the castle nearly four hundred years against the popes and barons and the neighbouring towns. It was sacked in 1436, by Eugenius IV., in consequence of sanctuary having been given to an enemy of the pope; but the Savelli resumed possession in the reign of Nicholas V., and continued thenceforward to enjoy it until 1596, when the descendant of this house finding himself unable to maintain baronial dignity, sold the property to the Apostolic Chamber for 150,000 scudi. Clement VIII. annexed it to the temporalities of the papal see. and converted it into a pontifical summer residence. The palace 2 B-2 C

was begun in 1630, from the designs of Carlo Maderno; it was afterwards enlarged by Alexander VII.; and subsequently, in the last century, restored by Clement XIII., who gave it the form which it retains to this day. It is a building of no great pretensions; but it commands fine views of the lake, and is surrounded by the ruins of towns which had existence before Rome itself, and the sites of ancient imperial villas. Since the restoration of the edifice by Clement, the Roman nobility have erected suburban residences in its vicinity.

Castel Gandolfo stands on a volcanic peak, nearly fifteen hundred feet above the level of the sea, and more than four hundred feet above the Lake of Albano. Adjoining the papal palace is a church dedicated to St. Thomas of Villanuova, containing an altar-piece by Pietro da Cortona, and an Assumption by Carlo Maratti. The lake, which is the great attraction of the locality, is between two and three miles long, and nearly three miles in width.*

OLEVAN O.

N the mountain road between Palestrina and Subiaco, on a rocky hill at the foot of Monte del Corso, stands the picturesque village of Olevano, a locality rich in materials for artistic study. Its history does not go back beyond the middle ages, and its name is derived from the appropriation of its revenues to provide incense (olibanum) for the churches in its neighbourhood. The approach to Olevano from the side of Subiaco is extremely fine. The old baronial castle of the thirteenth century, built by the Colonna family, stands on a massive rock of Apennine limestone. The town and castle now belong to the Borghese, to whom it gives the title of marquis. The views from the rocks in the neighbourhood of Olevano command the vale of Latium, bounded by the high range of the Volscian mountains. The town of Paliano, containing about three thousand inhabitants, is situated upon an insulated hill, and forms a striking object. During the middle ages the fortress of Paliano was the scene of many contests with the papal government.

The most interesting circumstance connected with the Lake of Albano, apart from its natural beauties, is the history of its Emissary. This subterranean canal was constructed by the Romans, B. c. 394, whilst besieging Veii, for the purpose of lowering the waters which threatened to burst their banks and inundate the adjacent country. The Emissary is upwards of a mile in length, varies from seven to ten feet in height, and is not less than four feet wide in the narrowest part. In the Mont' Albano, which rises to the height of two thousand feet above the lake, may still be seen the spiracula, or air-holes, which served to ventilate this ancient tunnel. The construction of this canal was begun by command of the Delphic oracle, which directed that the waters of the lake should not be allowed to escape by their natural outlet. An Etruscan soothsayer had predicted that Veii should be entered by a path underground, and the Romans, who were previously unacquainted with mining, took advantage of the knowledge gained in the formation of the Emissary, to sink a mine by which Veii was eventually entered and taken.

The Alban Mount is the site of interesting classic traditions. On the ridge above Marino stood the city of Alba Longa. The theatre of the combat between the Horatii and Curiatii is in the same vicinity. The tombs of the heroes are probably some of the many mounds which still arrest the traveller's attention.