looked after the rigorous observance of the statute. No law could be altered without the vote of seven-eighths of the Greater Council, and no new law could be made without a three-quarters majority of the same. The treasurers were elected from the oldest senators. At the head of the eleven administrative districts were counts or representatives; they were the only salaried officials.

Under the Venetian supremacy great precautions were taken to prevent usurpation of the rights of the Republic, while the count was received with great splendour. On disembarking, he presented himself to the people, received from the signory the standard of S. Biagio, and, with this in his hand, swore on the gospels to preserve and observe the customs and laws of Ragusa. Then he went to the cathedral, receiving at the door incense and holy water from the chapter, who gave him the gospels to kiss, upon which he renewed his oath in front of the altar.

After a canon had delivered an oration in praise of him and of the doge, he returned to the piazza, still bearing the standard, where he received the homage of the people, "who swore the holy pact with the Serenissima," the standard of S. Mark being unfurled.

The people were divided into five castes--clergy, n.o.bles, citizens, workmen (sailors, merchants, &c.), and countrymen. There was a gulf between n.o.bles and people. The countrymen were like serfs attached to the land, and spoken of as "tilings" belonging to their masters. Among the n.o.bles were two orders. Those of ancient lineage were called "Salamanchesi," from the University of Salamanca, where they had been educated; the "Sorbonnesi" (from the Sorbonne) were n.o.bles of more recent date.

After the earthquake of 1667 several citizen families were enn.o.bled. But between the two ranks of n.o.bles the antipathy was so great that they never intermarried. The plague of 1526 destroyed 20,000 persons, that of 1348, 11,000, and the earthquake of 1667 some 6,000. It has been computed that in the times of her prosperity Ragusa counted 40,000 inhabitants. In connection with the visitations of the plague it may be noted that in 1466 the musicians of the rector were ordered to go every Sat.u.r.day to play before the houses of large donors to the votive church of S. Biagio; but by the request of their descendants this custom was in 1548 replaced by a similar concert in front of the altar of the crucifix in that church.

In 1805 the first capital sentence for twenty-five years was p.r.o.nounced.

The city went into mourning, and an executioner had to be brought for the purpose from Turkey.

The salt monopolies and the customs were the most important parts of the revenue, but there were also important manufactures. Ragusa made woollen and silk stuffs after the looms for silk were brought from Tuscany in 1539, and shoes and gla.s.s, coral wares and wax, besides salt and other things were produced and sent into the interior by caravans. Ships went to India and America, France, Spain, England, and Holland. A doc.u.ment addressed by Cromwell to the Senate is extant, granting privileges in all English harbours to Ragusans, and they were as daring sailors as the Bocchesi, as many as 300 serving as captains in the navies of Charles V. and his successors.

The earliest law of Ragusa relating to the coinage is one of 1327 imposing penalties for falsification of money. This shows that it had a mint before that time. At this date the "grosso" is the only silver coin of the town known, but the fines are all calculated in "iperperi." The word "zecha" occurs for the first time in a law of 1338. A few years afterwards all importers of silver had to present themselves at the mint within three days of their arrival, the tenth part of their silver being liable to purchase at "14 iperp: and 2 grossi" the pound. If they did not do so the tenth part was confiscated, half going to the informer. In 1420 the price was half as much again, and in 1161 it was worth 38 iperperi the pound. In 1748 the mint had ceased issuing money, but was at work again from 1791 till 1806. The iperpero was worth 12 grossi, and 3 of them went to a scudo. The earliest known is of 1683. In Ralph of Coggeshall's time it was worth 3 sous of silver--that is to say, about 10s. At Ragusa this coin still pa.s.ses, according to a writer in the _Bullettino di Storia Dalmata_.

Six miles beyond Ragusa is Ragusa Vecchia, the ancient Epidaurus, which became a Roman colony in 10 A.D. under the Consul Cornelius Dolabella, and was destroyed by the Avars. Near here is the grotto of aesculapius, on Mount Snienitza, thought to be the Mons Cadmaeus of antiquity, entered by a hole 8 ft. across in the living rock. The cave is in the form of a cross, 92 ft. long and 164 ft. broad, with stalact.i.tes and stalagmites.

In the middle is a pond called "The Nymph's Bath," with slightly acidulated and intensely cold water. A legend, which goes back to the tenth century, says that a dragon lived here, going out at night and slaughtering men and women. The hermit S. Hilarion attacked and burnt it, calling on the people to thank G.o.d, and declaring that it was the Devil. According to one tradition aesculapius was born in Epidaurus of a beautiful Dalmatian, Jupiter being his father. His statue, in the form of a serpent, was erected there, but was taken to Rome in 393 B.C., during a visitation of plague, which then ceased.

XXIV

THE BOCCHE DI CATTARO

The fine harbour known as the "Bocche di Cattaro" is thirteen miles long from the entrance to Cattaro itself, which lies at the extreme south.

The "bocche," the mouths, lie between the Punta d'Ostro and the Punta d'Arza, both fortified, and in the channel is the little rock Rondoni, on which is another fort, Mamola. These defensive works were completed in 1897. The bay was known to the ancients as "Sinus Rhizonicus,"

Rhizon, from which it was then named, being the modern Risano at the extremity of the northern arm. The "Tavola Peutingeriana" gives the name "Resinum." The first mention of the "Rhizinitie" is about B.C. 229, at the period of the unfortunate wars waged by Teuta, widow of Agron, against the Romans. Their origin is variously ascribed to Colchis, Troy, and to Sicilian colonies sent by Dionysius of Syracuse. The Bocchesi prefer a Sicilian origin; but the Greeks called all this part of the continent Illyris Barbara. Livy mentions the Rizuniti among the peoples of the kingdom between the fall of Teuta and the ruin of Genzius. Risano was Teuta's capital, and there she died in 220 B.C. Her husband Agron had conquered the country as far as Friuli.

Teuta allowed her subjects to be pirates, with the result that Issa (Lissa), the only island which had remained independent, complained to Rome, and the Romans sent an emba.s.sy to protest; but the youngest amba.s.sador offended her majesty, and was beheaded in consequence. This decided the Romans to destroy her power, and treachery made the task easy. From 227 B.C. Corfu, Lesina, and Lissa were under Roman protection; the Illyrians were only allowed two ships, and were not permitted to pa.s.s the Issus. Subsequent intrigues between Demetrius (who had gained the lordship over the Ardiei by treachery) and Philip III. of Macedon, wars and revolts, brought about the subjection of Illyria to the Romans, and its conversion into a province in 168 B.C. The far-seeing Rizuniti had already put themselves under Roman protection, and were therefore given privileges, exempting them from all public burdens.

At Prevlacca, near Punta d'Ostro, are remains of antique walls, thought to be those of the ancient Epidaurus, by those who maintain that it was at the gates of the "Sinus Rhizonicus." Most authorities, however, agree in placing it at Ragusa Vecchia. Objects of the bronze age have been excavated at Risano, and sepulchral stones and altars of strange and un-Roman form have been found at Lastua Inferiore and Perzagno.

Cattaro appears as a Roman city under the name of Ascrivium or Acrivium, and it and Risano are the only two towns known at the fall of the Illyrian kingdom. The Romans made a road from Aquileia to Durazzo. It pa.s.sed by Epidaurus and along the Sutorina Valley to Castelnuovo, where it turned along the coast to Risano, Perasto, Orohovac, Dobrota, and Ascrivium. Thence it went to Castel Trinita. This road put the Rizuniti into communication with the Dalmatians, and with the tribes to the south. Rizinum was a Roman colony, and inscriptions show that it belonged to the Sergian tribe and was governed by decurions. It was the seat of the G.o.d Medaurus, of whom all that is known is contained in an inscription found at Lambessa in Mauritania, set up by a Dalmatian legate sent to Numidia as consul by Marcus Aurelius (161-180 A.D.). It records the dedication of a lance to him.

Ascrivium was also a Roman colony. The munic.i.p.al senate was presided over by duumvirs, who held office for a year, and had power over the entire administration of the city and of justice. The greater part of the ancient Rhizon is now under water, and Cattaro has been many times destroyed by invaders, so that there are very few antique remains.

At Risano are the remains of a building vaulted in two compartments, like an ancient tomb, and a few stones. Some thirty sarcophagi found there in 1870 raised hopes of the discovery of a necropolis, but these hopes were disappointed. A colossal foot of an ox in bronze and one of white marble were found in 1868, and a few inscriptions, one of which, at the entrance to the Greek church, shows that the 7th Legion was stationed there. It is to a distinguished soldier, who had twice gained a golden garland of honour, neckchain, and bracelets, which he wore in the triumph after the Dacian war. At Prevlacca, Cattaro, Scagliari, Scoglio S. Giorgio, and Perasto are also inscriptions.

After the death of Theodosius the "Sinus Rhizonicus" became subject to the Western Empire (395 A.D.), and till the days of Diocletian it was the southern limit of Dalmatia. Justinian took it from the Ostrogoths, and, considering it as part of Dardania, fortified the castle of ?atta??? in 532 to defend it from barbarian inroads. Risano, like Salona and Epidaurus, was destroyed by an inroad of the Huns in 639, after which Heraclius handed Dalmatia over to the Croats and Serbs, who divided it between them. He, however, reserved to himself the important coast-towns. In 867 the Saracens destroyed Budua, and went with thirty-six ships to attack Porto Rose and Ascrivium, which they burnt.

The inhabitants took refuge in the fort, and after the Saracens had gone, with the help of some n.o.bles from the Bosniak city of Kotor (as is said), rebuilt it. The Slav name is still Kotor.

The bishopric of Cattaro is said to date from the fifth or sixth century as suffragan to Spalato (that is, to Salona, as Spalato only became metropolitan in 650); but the first certain date occurs in 877, in which year an act of the Concilium Delmitanum, when the ancient rights of Salona were divided with Spalato, enacts that Cattaro and Budua shall be suffragan to Dioclea. Bishops of Risano are mentioned in 141 and 591. In 1033 the metropolitan of Salona called a council, and the bishop of Cattaro went with those of Dulcigno, Antivari, and Suacia. They were caught in a storm and wrecked at Bacile near Torcole, twelve miles from Lesina, and were all drowned. The sailors have never forgotten the catastrophe. The Cattarines in consequence sent to the Pope, pointing out the difficulties of communication, and obtained transference to the arch-diocese of Antivari.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RUINED BASTION, CASTELNUOVO, BOCCHE DI CATTARO

_To face page 373_]

The "bocche" consist of several expanses of water, separated by narrow ca.n.a.ls and surrounded by lofty mountains, which often rise so nearly directly from the water's edge as greatly to increase their impressiveness. The scenery is exceedingly fine, and indeed the view from the road to Cettinje is claimed as almost unsurpa.s.sed in Europe.

The first of the narrows is between the Kobila range (1470 ft.) and the west point of the peninsula l.u.s.tica. It leads into the Bay of Topla, and the steamer heads direct for Castelnuovo, leaving on the left the Sutorina, the lower part of the Ca.n.a.li valley, a portion of the territory of the Republic of Ragusa ceded to Turkey in 1699 to form a buffer state between herself and Venice. The Slav name of Castelnuovo is Erzegnovi, and it was founded in 1373 by the Bosniak king Tvarko I., Kotromanovic. In 1483 it was enlarged and raised to the position of princ.i.p.al place in the dukedom of Herzegovina, founded by Duke Stephan Sandalj (1435-1466). It lies on the slopes of Monti Dobrastica and Radostak, piling up most picturesquely above the little harbour, with great bastions split with wide cracks and deformed by the loss of pieces which have fallen into the sea, but clothed with ivy which hides much of the ruin. It has often changed its masters. After the death of Stephen Sandalj it became Turkish; in 1538 the Turks were driven out by the Spaniards and Venetians. At that time the Spaniards built the fort which crowns the hill to the north of the town. It was the only part of Dalmatia ever held by the Spaniards. Next year the Sardinian renegade, Ha.s.san Barbarossa, put the whole garrison to the sword, and also conquered Risano. The Turks retained possession of Castelnuovo till 1687, when, by the a.s.sistance of the Knights of Malta, it again became Venetian. Three Turkish inscriptions still remain; one over the door of the Spanish fort, which was restored by the Turks, a second of 1660 over the Porta Terra Ferma, and a third on the well in the piazza.

Towards the east is Kloster Savina, a monastery said to have been founded in 1030, and now the summer residence of the Servian Orthodox bishops of Cattaro. There is, however, nothing to be seen authorising so early a date; the smaller of the two churches may perhaps date from the thirteenth century, since it has a pointed wagon vault and transverse ribs without mouldings. In this church the Knights of Malta who died some two hundred years ago lie buried. The interest of the place lies in the seventeenth-century silver-work, in which the treasure is rich. It includes some twenty carved crosses mounted in silver and enamel from Mount Athos; hanging lamps of pierced silver, in which the design is much older than the workmanship, with medallions of saints; silver-mounted book-covers, one of which is decorated with enamels; a most curious "five-bread platter," with a cup in the centre, and two little cruets and two little platters on projecting arms, all in pierced work of archaic design enriched with blue enamel; and some embroidered vestments of the fifteenth century, all of which are said to have been brought from Studenitza. Farther on is Meljina, with a lazaretto of the seventeenth century.

The view from the road between these two places is enchanting. Above the blue waters of the Bay of Teodo the ground rises to the mountains, which divide it from the Gulf of Cattaro, while farther still and bluer, the greater heights of Montenegro cut the sky with their serrated edges. To reach the Bay of Teodo another of the narrows is pa.s.sed, the Ca.n.a.l of Kombor, by the foot of Mount Dvesite. Here is a naval station. The land is the most fertile in the whole district, and here is grown the famous Margamino wine. At Bianca, near Teodo, Danilo, Prince of Montenegro, used to pa.s.s the summer. Farther on is the Strait of Le Catene, so called because in 1381 Lewis of Hungary actually put chains across it to protect the inner portions. Opposite to the channel is Perasto, to the left the Valle di Risano, to the right the Gulf of Cattaro. In front of Perasto are two little islands, with picturesque buildings upon them--the Scoglio S. Giorgio, and the Madonna del Scarpello, a little church with a green cupola, containing a picture of the Madonna ascribed as usual to S. Luke, a Byzantine work decked with gold and silver, brought hither from Negropont in 1452. For many years the Bocchesi brought shiploads of stone to increase the size of the island, and still, on July 22 of each year, a stone-laden boat goes from Perasto to the rock. There are two festivals celebrated here, of which the more important is that of the a.s.sumption, August 15. The other, the Birth of the Virgin, on September 8, is less so. There is a proverb "Entre le due Madonne cade la pioggia," the greatest rainfall occurring between the two festivals. On festival days the picture is decked with rings, chains, &c., kept locked up at Perasto during the rest of the year. The property of the church is over 30,000. For five hundred years it has been a centre of interest in the Bocche. According to the legend, a luminous figure of the Madonna was seen by a sailor on the rock on July 22, 1452, and on that spot a chapel was erected. The present church was built in 1628. Inside are a good many late seventeenth-century pictures, and in two rooms close by are votive pictures of the usual kind. There is a cafe on the island for the benefit of pilgrims. The island of S.

Giorgio is gradually wasting away. The monastery is said to have been the most ancient in the district, and a list of the abbots "in commendam" from 1166 exists, with notices of the church and monastery, going back to the tenth century. There was a long contest for its possession between Cattaro and Perasto, ending in the a.s.sa.s.sination of the abbot by the Perastines, who took the property by force. Venice gave the commune of Cattaro an annual subvention as _solatium_. The abbey, destroyed in 1571, was rebuilt in 1624, and in 1654 was plundered by the Turks, and then almost ruined by earthquake in 1667. The French erected a battery upon it, which was abandoned some thirty years ago. The church-was restored for service on October 27, 1878.

Near Risano, at Sopoti (the rushing), is an intermittent waterfall 45 ft. high, which I was told was 100 ft. wide. As soon as it runs dry the cave from which it issued can be entered for several hundred yards. The flow commences after heavy rains, and at the same times a well, or spring, at Cattaro spirts up with such force as to throw out stones of several pounds' weight. Above Risano are two strong fortresses, erected after the insurrection of the Crivoscians in 1881. The revolt of 500 men against conscription necessitated the mobilisation of a whole _corps d'armee_ to subjugate them. They lived on the slopes of inaccessible mountains, and the troops had to make the mountain paths into roads practicable for artillery. The rebels were taken between troops from Risano and Orohovac, and others who came from the Herzegovinian mountains. Part laid down their arms, and part fled into Montenegro. To prevent a recurrence of the trouble, and perhaps also with an eye to Montenegro, the forts and a number of blockhouses were built, which one may see high up the mountains, sometimes against the sky-line.

A white line about 3,000 ft. high marks the military road between Perasto and Cattaro; the way of access to the blockhouses, in each of which a detachment of twenty-five men, with two non-commissioned officers and one lieutenant, is on duty for a year at a time, bearing great heat in summer (for it is said that an egg laid on the rock in the sun is hard in eight minutes), while in winter they are often blocked by the snow for two or three weeks together.

Perasto is now a little place of some 500 inhabitants, but shows in its ruined palaces and unfinished church that it was once populous and prosperous. It has had a stormy history, during which the Perastines have shown themselves st.u.r.dy fighters and loyal supporters of their overlords, and is the one city of the Bocche which remained faithful and grateful to Venice, even after Campo Formio. When the Austrian troops came to take possession, the gonfalon, which had been confided to the Perastines by the Republic, as a reward for their faithful services almost four centuries before, was buried beneath the altar of S. Nicol with a solemn requiem, as if for the burial of a father. It was a red flag with a yellow border, and the winged lion in the centre, prepared to defend the cross planted upon a base rising out of the sea. It was only consigned to the army in maritime and land enterprises in the Levant. The city was distinguished by Venice with the t.i.tle of "fedelissima gonfaloniera." The guards were selected from the twelve "casate" into which the city was divided, the names being those of the original feudal families. It is a.s.serted that the Perastines had the same honour conferred upon them by the Servian kings, the guard consisting of a company of twelve. Some say that it was their valour in taking the citadel of Cattaro in 1378 which was the origin of the trust.

After the contests with Cattaro in 1160 it followed the fortunes of that city till 1365, but in that year Perasto put itself under Venice. The activity shown in a.s.sisting Victor Pisani in 1378 had other results, for it was attacked shortly afterwards and sacked by the allies of Lewis of Hungary. Till about 1400 it was subject either to Lewis or Tvartko of Bosnia. It is now quite a little place, with some 500 inhabitants. The palaces, with fine stone balconies now falling into ruins, which were inhabited by the n.o.ble families, show how it prospered under Venetian rule, as do the high campanile and the fragment of a large church on the model of La Salute at Venice, commenced some hundred and thirty years ago, but never completed. It is entered from the sacristy of the small church, the arch and vault of the apse towering above it, and showing the whole of the vault and the caps of the pilasters over its roof. In the museum are a banner taken from the Turks in 1654, a sword presented to the commune by Peter Zrinyi, and the gonfalon already mentioned, which was buried beneath the altar. A fine processional cross, a sixteenth-century filigreed chalice, a monstrance, and several reliquaries are also preserved in the place; and here is also the mausoleum of Bishop Zmajevic of Antivari, who took the Albanians to Borgo Erizzo near Zara, and was a Perastine by birth. It lies at the foot of Monte Ca.s.sone (about 2,900 ft. high), upon which is Fort S.

Croce. From its base the Bay of Ljuta stretches away south-eastwards towards Dobrota, with Orohovac at its foot. The two Stolivos beneath the lofty Vrmac, and Perzagno may be seen on the opposite sh.o.r.e. This last-named place stands finely on a promontory, with a large domed church (an unfinished sh.e.l.l with gaping window-openings) crowning the eminence, whilst many houses, of the same date as those at Perasto, and with fine angle balconies, are scattered about the road along the sh.o.r.e, from which there are delightful views. A late Renaissance church has a rather pretty rose-window with radiating shafts recalling the Romanesque.

Nearer to Cattaro is Mula, and on the other side Dobrota; along both roads are red and white oleanders, orange and lemon trees, ancient figs and chestnuts, locust beans (carob), olives, pomegranates, and main'

flowers, among which may be specially named beautiful pale mauve irises.

The torrent Skurda, or Fiumara, separates the mountains Pestingrad and Mrajanik from the lofty Lovcen, which towers above Cattaro to the height of 5,770 ft. It is the holy mountain of Montenegro; on it the great Wladika Pietro, the singer of the Servian redemption, chose to be buried, as if from that height his spirit might watch and protect the land to which he devoted his life. Every year a pilgrimage climbs to the white-walled little chapel which sparkles on the dark mountain side. The Servian dream is for the waters of Cattaro to be covered with ships under the eagle of the Nemagna, for the country folk know well the story of Uros, the great Stephan Nemagna, and the epic of the wars against the Turks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: DOBROTA, BOCCHE DI CATTARO

_To face page 378_]

In the city of Cattaro, the ancient Ascrivium or Acrivium, some small remains of the Roman period are to be seen encrusted in the walls of the clock-tower, an altar and a memorial to a girl and her teacher. At the beginning of the ninth century it boasted several fine buildings, to which a rich man named Andreaccio Saracenis, mentioned as "Certo zitadino n.o.bile zintilh.o.m.o si de generazion come di richeza,"

contributed. Towards the end of the eighth century S. Maria Infunara was built by him in the rope-makers' district, and here he also founded a convent to enable his second daughter Theodora to lead the life of contemplation. He also paid for the first cathedral of S. Trifone, which Porphyrogenitus says was circular. The body of this martyr of the third century was being brought to Venice from Asia Minor by certain merchants, when a storm obliged them to shelter in the Bocche. The magnates of the city and Andreaccio treated with the pilot for its purchase, and paid 200 Roman solidi for the shrine, and 100 for a gemmed crown above it. On January 13, 809, clergy and people went by ship to Porto Rose to fetch the body. On their return the bishop invited them to stop on the spot where the church was to be built, and hymns were sung.

February 3, the reputed day of his martyrdom, was accepted as the festival, and a figure of S. Trifone was put on the standard of the city. Certain coins which bore his effigy were named after him. The sarcophagus of Andreaccio, in which his wife was also buried, was found beneath the street in 1840, between the cathedral and the bishop's palace. A portion of the ciborium of his church is encrusted in the wall of the sacristy inscribed: "Andree sci ad honorem sociorvmq majorem," and other fragments of the same period have been found during the restoration, which is still going on. That these fragments were part of an ambo on three columns, to which reference has been found, is proved by the inscription from the Ash Wednesday service which runs along it, "Memento te homine," &c. The front had two crosses beneath semicircular heads, with conventional trees or candlesticks beside them, and a great piece of circular interfacings, small and large, like the slabs at S. Maria in Trastevere, Rome. The sides had bands of ornament dividing the surface into unornamented sunken panels. A capital or two of the same period were also found, a relief of peac.o.c.ks drinking from a vase, and some antique fragments, a piece of a frieze, a column of cipollino and several of granite, and a few antique caps.

The rock above the town, called Stirovnik, has a chapel upon it, the Madonna della Salute, now used as an ossuary, which has a piece of Lombard carving inserted in the tympanum above the door. The present cathedral was built about the middle of the twelfth century. A great effort was made, contributions were invited, and a tax of three per cent, on legacies was imposed. Success crowned the effort, and on June 19, 1166, Bishop Malone consecrated the altars, amid the rejoicings of the Bocchesi. The head of S. Trifone, stolen in 968, was brought from Constantinople in 1227 by Matteo Bonascio. At first deposited in S.

Pietro, it was brought to the cathedral on December 20, with great pomp.

In return, he was given the field of S. Theodore, and his family was exempted from communal taxes in perpetuity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLAN OF THE CATHEDRAL, CATTARO]

The plan of the cathedral is that of a Roman basilica with nave and aisles. The three apses are semicircular, with pilasters externally. The nave has three quadripart.i.te bays, and a half-bay to the west. The aisles have seven quadripart.i.te bays, two to each one of the nave, with columns between the three pairs of piers upon which the vaults rest. The bay before the apse has been a step higher than the rest. What the arrangement will eventually be it is difficult to say, judging from the state of the interior on the two occasions when I was in Cattaro.

The columns of the nave are some of them Byzantine-Roman, and some of them Corinthian. The aisle windows and the fine east window are Gothic.

The vaults are most of them of the sixteenth century, the towers of the facade seventeenth or eighteenth, and the great rose-window and the doorway below, late Gothic with Renaissance details, rebuilt after the earthquake of 1667. The nave is about 88 ft. long, the aisles within the towers 81 ft., breadth of nave, 19 ft. 6 in., of the aisles 9 ft. 9 in.

The ciborium is exceedingly interesting. It rests upon four octagonal columns of the red marble of l.u.s.tizza, a place not far away. The altar was rebuilt and beautified in 1362, and it is probable that the baldacchino is of that date. On the base on which the pillars rest are sinkings showing that the altar had a central octagonal pillar, with four smaller circular ones surrounding it. The caps of the ciborium are rather richly carved, and the lintel bears on three sides subjects in relief from the legend of S. Trifone, the back being carved with ornament. The ill.u.s.tration shows the three stages of trefoiled arches, the two lower with coupled colonnettes. The lowest has caryatid figures of a warrior and a civilian in front of the angles to the west. The next stage has twisted colonnettes at the angles, the third squat single shafts, and on a little crowning member pierced with four arches stands a gilded angel, the rest of the canopy being octagonal. The proportions of the figures are squat, and the carving rather rough. The first time I saw it I was able to examine it closely, as it was surrounded by scaffolding, and there were some remains of colour on the figures; but I should not like to a.s.sert that it was original, since I understand that the reliefs were painted to imitate marble, and the figures gilded about the middle of the last century. The silver pala is said to be fixed on the wall of the apse during the completion of the restoration; it certainly was not there when I visited the cathedral, and I have not seen it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CIBORIUM OF S. TRIFONE, CATTARO

_To face page 383_]

The treasury contains a good many rather uninteresting objects, such as arm and leg reliquaries of the fourteenth century, or later rather, decorated with nielli and bosses in relief, and a few others shaped like vases borne on stems; on some of them the date 1483 can be traced. The reliquary of the body of S. Trifone is of silver, and rather rough sixteenth-century work, but encloses a wooden coffer, upon which remains of ninth-century paintings have been discovered. The head reliquary is of gold and enamel, the stem and an arcade round the upper part of fourteenth-century work (the upper portion re-made in the seventeenth), and the foot apparently of an intermediate period, with early Renaissance details upon a Gothic plan, medallions in relief, and rough scroll-work. The knop has eight roundels with niello crosses crossleted; on the stem are saints in niello in vesicas. The arches of the canopied arcade are filled with figures in relief in couples and enamels in _ba.s.se-taille_, red and blue alternately. The nielli have had a ground of blue enamel. These two reliquaries and a crystal cross in a very graceful setting, early Renaissance in style, are kept in a receptacle lined with cut velvet, upon which are embroideries of half-figures of saints beneath niches raised in gold; above the niches are domes, and between them twisted columns, probably originally part of a vestment. A globe-shaped ciborium, with cresting and knop of the fourteenth century, is interesting. Upon the globe a pattern with beasts and leaves is chased; the foot is conical and s.e.xfoil in plan, with little niello medallions and piercings on the perpendicular parts of two steps. The knop has pinnacles and pierced gables. A half-length figure of Christ in silver, upon a seventeenth-century pierced hemispherical base, is well modelled and designed, and a reliquary cross of wood used by the Capuchin monk Marcus Avia.n.u.s, on September 12, 1683, to bless the allied hosts on the Leopoldsberg before the relief of Vienna from the Turks, deserves mention. In the treasury is also a great Romanesque crucifix of painted wood, over life-size, with the feet crossed. According to tradition it belonged to the church of the Franciscans outside the walls, built in 1288 by Elena, wife of Orosius I. The church was pulled down when there was war between Venice and the Turks, and moved within the Porta Gordicchio, which was therefore called the Porta S. Francesco.

Most of the convents are now used by the military authorities.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RELIQUARY OF THE HEAD OF S. TRIFONE, CATTARO

_To face page 384_]