A WANDERER IN GENOA

Evening Star, Issue 19712, 12 November 1927, Page 22

A WANDERER IN GENOA

[Written by Fbmderick Stubbs, F.R.G.S,, for the * Evening Star.’]

“I pray you, let us satisfy our eyes With the memorials, and the things of fame, That do renown this city.” ‘Twelfth Night.’

Genoa is not hall as well known to tourists as it deserves to be. Every visitor to Italy aims at seeing Venice. Home, Florence. Ho cannot help seeing (am! smelling!) Naples, so many linos call there. But Genoa, one of the greatest, most prosperous, and most interesting of Italian cities—formerly known as La Superba—is passed by. When I last landed there* in 1925, 1 was the only British passenger to remain. And I am very glad I did reromaiu (though I had to pay a 10s landing tax), for reasons which I hope will appear in this article.

Genoa, a city of 350,000 inhabitants, is built in the form of an ampithcatre around the bay, with the Appennines in the background. As one enters the port one sees tho city rising in terraces, houses, palaces, diurclies—higher and higher until the summits of the nearer hills are reached. The harbor is deep and spacious, the business of tho port rivalling that of Marseilles. Tho coast on either side is extremely picturesque, tho bilks near the shore being covered with luxurious vegetation—oranges, lemons, palms, olives, flowers—and tho climate is mild and dry; indeed, judging from my own experience, tho winter climate is milder than that of either Home or Florence, though these are farther south. No doubt the proximity of the sea accounts for the difference.

Genoa lias had a stirring and glorious history, it must be a very ancient city, for it is mentioned by the Greek geographer Strabo, and also by tho Roman historian (hated by schoolboys!) Livy. Our own poet, Chaucer, set out for Genoa in 1373, meeting Petrarch at Padua, in the 13th and 14th centuries, Genoa was deemed superior even to its powerful rival, Venice, these two celebrated cities being aj; that time tho seats of two rival Republic, both of ivhieh possessed settlements in the Mediterranean and an extensive conuaeive in the Orient. It was the home of gieaf bankers and the depository of vast hordes of gold. It may be of interest to business men to recall tho fact that the familiar bill of exchange had its origin here. At one time the city possessed fleets which pillaged and sacked the ports of the Mediterranean, and were tho terror of neighboring States. It crushed Pisa—then a powerful State —in 1284, but was itself defeated by Venice in 1397. Tho Genoa of the 16tii century is said to have weighed as much in the councils of Europe as England does to-day. The figures seem almost incredible, but it is said to have passessed at one time 1,000 warships and 100,000 fighting men; indeed, it was its wealth and prosperity that led—as in the case of the great empires of antiquity—to its decline and fall. Luxury, accompanied as it always is by an increase of vice, enfeebled the people; their courage, their public spirit, their industry declined. The well-to-do employed others to do the hard work and the fighting; they wanted to remain at home and enjoy their pleasures undisturbed. This might have been all right if other States had been of the same mind, but they were not. and gradually tho wealth, commerce, and importance of the city declined until it no longer counted in the councils of Europe. TAKEN BY BRITAIN. „

The fortunes of the city enter 1 even into British history. Genoa at the close of the 18th century, along with most of the cities of the Continent, had fallen into the hands of Napoleon. In tho year 1800 the long, deadly struggle between Prance and Britain was in full swing, and the British fleet determined on the reduction of Genoa, which was held by the French and defended by the brilliant General Masse mi. Tho city was blockaded by the British for 60 days, during which 15,000 of the unfortunate inhabitants died of famine or disease, and when at length it surrendered, of the 6,000 French troops that garrisoned the city only 2,000 able-bodied men remained. Incorporated with tho new kingdom of Italy in the middle of last century, Genoa is still a great and busy city, retaining the memorials of past splendors and delighting tho visitor with its quaint sired*; and customs.

It is a city of contrasts, a combination of the old and tho new; of mountain and plain; of great modern docks and wharves, and of stairways rising almost vertically; of spacious thoroughfares, and miserable, yet most interesting, alleys called vicos too narrow for wheeled traffic, and therefore almost unknown to fastidious visitors. In some places I have simultaneously touched the walls on either tide. Above one’s head the family washing is observed hanging out on lines which cross from window to window. Looking still higher, one sees a narrow ribbon of blue sky. The more spacious thoroughfares are all modern. Two hundred years ago, Lady Mary Wortly Montague thought the Via Nuova, now tho Via Garibaldi, the finest street in Europe. It is almost exactly 21ft wide, with no footpaths! This shows what the streets of Europe were like at that period. It is only in recent times that broad, well-paved streets have appeared in Genoa and elsewhere. A CITY OF MARBLE.

Fifty palaces may he counted, the ancient dwellings of great families; most of them erected in tho 16th century; solidly built of marble or stone, a square court in the centre containing statues, fountains, beds of flowers; around this, a covered piazza supported by arches or columns. From the sides of tho court noble staircases ascend,' each step formed of a single slab of white marble 6in in height, so that tho ascent shall be gentle. On the first floor one generally finds, the State apartments. The family lived above where tho air was purer. Frequently there were roof-gardens where the family might sit in hot weather. To-day these palaces are for the most part converted into offices or tenements. What an illustration of the transitoriness of human glory! Even tho Royal Palace wears an air of decay. Most of the apartments are gaudy and the decorations in poor taste', which is surprising, for the Italian people are unquestionably artistic, though 1 doubt if the present generation is as artistic as those that existed when these great palaces and churches' were built. The gardens of the pa lace though small, are very pretty. But what amused m emost was a notice in Italian, English, and French, stating that gratallies were strictly forbidden; the custodian who them would be severely punished, and visitors found giving any would be required to leave the, premises. Yet, will it be believed? When I offered one of these men a modest lip. he.neither expelled me nor shoived any signs of annoyance. THE CHURCHES.

Pow of t Iso churches are attractive to tho visitor, the exteriors usually being dirty ami neglected, and decayed, though inside ono may find something of ancient splendor, marble pillars and floors, pictures, etc. In the church of St. Ambrose the. lire escape is kept. Tho cloisters of the Doria’s private chapel must have' been very beautiful with its 100 slender marble, columns', whilst within the church, above the altar, Andrea Doria’s sword, point

downwards, is still suspended. _ The most beautiful church in Genoa is the Church of tho Annuciation, which was built at tho cost of a single family —the Lomenellini. It belongs to the Jesuits, and is covered with rich marbles, frescoes, and gilding. The Church of St. Ambrose was also built by a single family—the Pallavicini, a member of which I remember seeing play cricket in London. What would his noble forebears have said had they seen him running after a ball hit by a commoner? The cathedral is heavy and uninteresting, though ono of its chapels is said to contain a portion of tho body of John the Baptist. LADIES NOT ADMITTED!

No female is allowed to enter this chapel without special permission, because it was through a female (the daughter of Herodias) that John was beheaded. In the Treasury there is a vessel which is said to have been presented by the Queen of Sheba to Solomon, though others aver that it is the dish in which tho head of tho Baptist was presented. Which is right I must leave the reader to decide. But to mo tho most interesting place in Genoa is tho Campo Santo, built up the side of a hill, terrace by terrace; a city of the dead as populous as that of the living; justly famous for its wonderful statuary, its tombs and gilded epitaphs. As I walked along the vast corridors reading the inscriptions ou the tombs 1 thought what a wonderful people! Of all these scores of thousands of men and women not one was a rascal; every ono of them was virtuous, honest, a friend of the poor. It docs one good to visit a cemetery after walking the ways of this wicked world. I congratulate tho Genoese! . Ono of the most interesting features of this very interesting cemetery is the crematorium. On my last visit 1 had the pleasure (!) of seeing a body burned, though not in the dramatic style that one sees on the shores ; of the Ganges. Beneath the main building is a furnace arranged so that the flames surround the corpse, which is thus speedily and completely reduced to' ashes. This seems to rao much the most sensible way of disposing of the poor remains after the spirit nas fled, and the only hygienic. Above one sees hundreds of small oblong urns or boxes containing the ashes of the deceased, whilst on the shelves are vases similarly employed. These are labelled so that relatives who wish may visit the remains. Here, as in all cemeteries, pathetic signs of grief are to bo witnessed — women decorating graves with flowers, lighting lamps, praying, weeping. But to me the most pathetic sight of all was an old man bowed down with years and infirmities—not less than 80 I should sn y__walking there among the tombs, almost certainly thinking of the time — not far distant—when he, too, would be called to dwell in this city of the dead.

THE BLACK SHIRTS. It was in this city that I first saw a procession of the Black Shirts. _ It was the anniversary _of tho Fascisti, and a great procession paraded the streets with hands of music, flags, and banners; soldiers in neat grey uniforms, helmets, tarbushes, black ebu’tSj and colored sashes; civilians in ordinary clothing; Boy Scouts, etc. Ono could not help admiring the physique of the young Fascisti and their determined enthusiastic mien. They were evidently in deadly earnest; it was no play to them; love of country was in their blood, and there must have been few that were not making sacrifices for their country’s good. I should not caro to defend all that they have done, but one could not doubt their sincere patriotism. They have been submitted without complaint to a reduction of wages for the sake of their country, Ma'ny spectators bared their heads as tho procession passed, and I did not observe a single sign of dissent. Icihaps it was as well! I will only add that in the very centre of the city there are gardens in which n- military band plays liigliclass music, admission and seats being free. laving in Genoa can he quite inexpensive. Two years ago a long tram ride cost me only three halfpence a shave twopence farthing, a hair cut threepence, a cup of coffee with milk, roll, and egg, sixpence. There has been a rise in the value ot tho lire since then, but I doubt if prices have appreciatively advanced. _ Genoa remains a cheap and attractive city to visit.