The Shores of the Adriatic Part 13

The line climbs slowly up the slopes of Monte Dinara, towards Perkovic-Slivno, the junction for Knin through a rather stony landscape above rich and well-cultivated valleys. The hills in the middle-distance look barren, but the foreground is interesting on account of the variety of broken forms caused by projecting rocks and stones. It is starred with green humps, and there are trees in places. The humps are stunted growths of juniper, sloe, bramble, hawthorn, or a trifoliate plant, with gra.s.s growing in the shadow. The trees are hawthorns, ilex, olive, fig, almond, chestnut, mountain ash, hornbeam, or elm, and I thought I saw oak, though it is said that it does not grow in Dalmatia.

Colour was added by many flowers, orchids, iris, yellow daisies, asphodel, and fields of pink pyrethrum; while the dresses of groups of peasants on their way to or from Ma.s.s gave brilliant patches of reds and blues. Vines grew in pockets of earth among the rocks from which loose stones had been collected to build rough terrace walls.

At Perkovic-Slivno, the song ol nightingales beguiled the tedium of waiting, shut within a barrier, for the train from Knin, for one is not allowed to stray about until the train arrives. After a little further climbing, the summit of the range was pierced, and the lovely Riviera of the Castelli lay spread before us far below. The long island of Bua stretched towards the strait, by which the ancient port of Salona was approached; a land-locked bay, from the other side of which above the peninsula of Monte Marjan rose the campanile of the cathedral of Spalato, swathed in the scaffolding of its long-continuing restoration; beyond was the sea, with the southern islands in the distance, and the littoral chain growing pale in aerial perspective. It formed an enchanting whole, equalling views which have a world-wide reputation, opalescent in the morning sunlight, with pale purples, blues, and greens thrown like a veil over the rich soil and the grey limestone of the mountains. The line descends rapidly, too rapidly for one's desires, and approaches the sh.o.r.e near the fourth of the castelli, rounds the bay in which Vranjic lies, pa.s.sing beneath Salona, and, crossing the Jader, arrives at the Spalato station through cuttings which prevent one from seeing anything of the palace wall.

On other occasions we went by boat, reaching Spalato in the evening.

After the Punta Planka, the ancient Promontorium Syrtis is pa.s.sed, where the water is often rough, since there is no protecting screen of islands, the campanili and towers of Trau come into sight, between which and Bua there is a swing bridge across the channel. Beyond this the boat pa.s.ses under the lee of Bua, on the sh.o.r.e of which is a solitary white monastery; whilst on the opposite sh.o.r.e the buildings of the Castelli throw long tremulous reflections across the water, and boats with sails painted in various colours and patterns pa.s.s to right and left, flushed with the rays of the setting sun, and leaving trails of light or dark behind them according as the water reflects the land or the sky. As the sun sinks lower, leaving the sea in shadow, the glow upon the hills becomes more and more roseate, till at last it fades, as the strait is pa.s.sed and the harbour opens. The smoke from a cement factory hangs in the air like evening mists in an English valley; and, as we approach still nearer, the long line of buildings upon the quays, dominated by the great campanile and the colonnade of Diocletian's palace, gradually grows more impressive in the failing light.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PORTA MARINA AND CUSTOM HOUSE, TRAu

_To face page 265_]

It is distinctly a.s.serted by Strabo that Trau, the ancient Tragurium, was founded in the fourth century B.C.. by Greek Sicilians from Lissa.

At a later date it was certainly a Roman colony. After the fall of the Western empire it was subject to the emperors of Byzantium, and for forty years or so in the ninth century to the Franks, after which Hungarians, Byzantines, Genoese, and Croats struggled for it, till in 1420 it was taken by Venice. Its first privilege was granted by Coloman of Hungary in 1108, renewed and amplified by Stephen in 1124, Geysa III. in 1151, and Bela III. in 1182. Bela IV., with his family, treasures, and a brilliant following, took refuge here in 1241 from the Tartar hordes. He was received with due honours, and conceded in return the confirmation of ancient privileges, &c. The city was mainly Slav during the Middle Ages, and, on the whole, was happy and peaceful under Hungarian rule, though sacked by the Saracens in 1123, and by the Venetians in 1194, under the leaders.h.i.+p of Vitale Michiele. Between 1322 and 1358 it belonged to the Venetians.

Under Venetian rule the walls of Dalmatian cities, towards the sea were weak, and often formed merely by houses and towers belonging to private persons. Those of Trau are no earlier than the thirteenth century, and only small portions of that date remain by the tower of the nuns of S.

Nicol. In 1289 a wall was commenced round the suburbs; and Law XX. of the first book of the Statutes obliged each count to build ten "canne"

of wall in the suburb each year, as Lucio states. Notwithstanding this regulation, it was not finished till 1404, and one tower even was not completed till 1412. The suburb was called Citta Nova, and the dividing wall was subsequently demolished. In 1290 Stefano d'Ugerio of Ancona, podesta, was freed from the obligation of paving fifty paces of the street between the two main gates, which was laid on every podesta, so one may suppose that the paving was completed. In Venetian times Trau had seven gates. Of these three remain--a plain pointed arch near S.

Nicol, the Porta Marina, and the Porta a Terra. This latter is also known as Porta S. Giovanni from the figure of S. Giovanni Orsino which crowns it, and before which a lamp continually burns. The gate is Renaissance, with the S. Mark's lion in an oblong panel above the arch.

From the middle of the base of this panel a little cypress grew, which remained the same size for generations. The country people believed that its growth was due to the wonder-working power of the saint, and that its colour foretold scarcity or a fruitful year. When I was there the second time, in 1906, the podesta told me it had died. The sea gate is also Renaissance; from the jambs still hang the ancient doors thickly studded with iron nails, and behind the door is a S. Mark's lion with the book closed, though they say it was open till the fall of the Republic. Above the gate is another lion with an inscription of 1642.

Close by is the custom-house, which groups picturesquely with the gateway.

The castle at the end of the quay, the Castel del Camerlengho, was built in 1424. It is very well preserved. The three smaller angle towers have been altered for cannon. It is now a store-house for sand and such things, with a small garden and a few almond-trees. In the corner is a little chapel nearly covered by the sand, and I was told there was a shallow cistern in the middle. The round tower to the north-west dates from 1378, when the Dalmatian towns were allied with Genoa against Venice, and Trau was the _rendezvous_. The walls are battlemented, the octagonal angle towers have had machicolations (tolerably well preserved on one of them), and above each of the two entrances is a projecting defensive work of the same kind.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PORTA S. GIOVANNI, TRAu

_To face page 266_]

A few discoveries have been made of pre-mediaeval things. In 1899, some half-mile towards Spalato, two terra-cotta urns were found, one of which had been mended with straps of lead. It contained seven bits of a statuette of Bacchus, which have been put together, and three bits of a larger figure. They are now in the museum at Spalato. In 1903, remains of an early church were excavated on the mainland, close to the wooden bridge which crosses the isolating arm of the sea, bringing to light a mosaic pavement, part of the apse, and one column. It was probably part of a cemetery basilica of the fifth or sixth century, just outside the ancient wall of Tragurium. Two Christian inscriptions of the fifth century have been found near, upon one of which are the words "sancta ecclesia"; and close by was discovered the torso of a prisoner of war, apparently Roman work. Close to the cistern is the reversed cover of an antique sarcophagus, and part of the front of another with a sixth-century cross. A curious custom still existing suggests a traditional memory of the site of the ancient cemetery. On Holy Thursday the Confraternity, after visiting the churches in the town, and that of the cemetery (about half a mile away), returns to the cistern, and, gathering round it, prays for the dead.

At one time there were twenty-one churches in the city. Those of S.

Nicol and S. Barbara are early. S. Nicol (formerly S. Doimo) was founded in 1064 by Giovanni Orsini for ladies of n.o.ble descent, but little remains to show its age. There is said to be a Greek fragment of the third century B.C. in the court of the convent. Two early caps in the entrance portico appear to belong to the period of foundation.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLAN AND SECTIONS, S. BARBARA, TRAu]

S. Barbara was originally dedicated to S. Martin, but the name was changed when the altar from the church of S. Barbara was brought here during the Turkish siege of 1537; it is mentioned in 1194. It is the most ancient church in Trau, and the lintel of the door has an inscription upon it with diamond-shaped O's, as used in the eighth century. The ornamental carving also is consistent with that period in its design, with crosses of interlaced work in the centre and at the ends, two griffins with tails entwined in a circle, one on each side of a central feature, with a rosette within a cable moulding, and rough trefoils filling up gaps. The interior has nave and aisles, with four stilted arches resting upon columns on each side, and three apses (of which the central one is larger and longer than the others) with two niches in the wall, covered by a semi-dome on squinches, the plan being square. The caps and columns appear to be antique for the most part, and just outside is a shallow cap of the same pattern as one at Kairouan.

The aisles are very narrow, and are vaulted with cross-vaulting without ribs, but with strengthening arches thrown across to the wall. The nave has a barrel vault with pilaster strips running up to the springing of the strengthening arches, which are all round and unmoulded. A moulding with three projecting corbels runs round the base of the apse vault. It is said that there was once a central cupola. The east window still retains a lattice-pierced slab. The church is now a store-house for odds and ends, with a floor halfway up over the western part, but the podesta told me that they hoped to clear it out and make it into a museum.

S. Domenico retains portions of Gothic work. The building was finished in 1372. A rough relief in the tympanum shows a Virgin and Child, and on the right a local saint, Augustino Ca.s.sioti, canonised by Pope John XXII. (1313-1334), with mitre and pectoral, and on the left S. Mary Magdalene. At the feet of the saint kneels the foundress, his sister Bitcula. A Gothic inscription gives her name, and that of the sculptor, "Maiste Nicolai de te dito cervo d Venecia fecit hoc opvs." Within are a picture of the Circ.u.mcision by Palma Giovane, with a pretty Virgin, the marble sarcophagus of the family Sobota, a grandiose Renaissance production, and six panels of saints on gold ground, rather like the Gubbio school in style, arranged in threes on the wall of the choir.

The cathedral, however, is the glory of Trau. It replaces an earlier building, reported to have dated from the sixth century, but destroyed by the Saracens in 1123. At this time the Traurines fled to Spalato, and apparently did not venture back till 1152. The builder of the main part of the cathedral was Bishop Tregua.n.u.s, a Florentine who came from Hungary, and was bishop from 1206 till about 1256. The south door bears the date 1213, the great west door 1240, but the west gable has the arms of Bishop Casotti (1362-1371) upon it, and the campanile was not finished till 1598. The plan shows a nave and aisles five bays in length, terminating in three apses, while to the west is a broad and lofty porch, above one end of which the tower rises. This porch is entered by an arch at the south end, but there is another opposite the great west door; and at the further end is the fifteenth-century baptistery. Round it runs a low seat with arcaded panelling, which serves as base to all the shafts. It is vaulted in three bays, with twisted colonnettes in the angles of the piers. The vaulting is quadripart.i.te, with ribs and two arches three feet broad repeating the divisions of the nave, all the arches being round. The central compartment rises like a dome upon the surface of the terrace above. In the aisle walls are two pierced circular windows, Romanesque in design.

In one, two dragons are represented devouring a man; in the other are two lions rearing against a twisted pillar on which is a cup. The bodies are broken, and the tails, which remain, encroach upon the wall surface.

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

The great west door is the pride of all Dalmatia, and is unsurpa.s.sed in the elaborate richness of its carving. It is dated in the lintel inscription 1240, and signed Radua.n.u.s, a Slav name Radovan latinised.

There are two orders and a tympanum with octagonal shafts in the angles, those nearest the door apparently having fragments of highly carved work inserted, since the plain octagonal shaft is visible both above and below the carving. A flattish gable surmounts it, with a kind of tabernacle work at each end above the figures of Adam and Eve, and a cresting of crockets shaped like eighth-century crockets in a similar situation. In the centre is a little niche with a later figure of S.

Laurence, the patron saint. The tympanum is occupied by the subject of the Nativity, arranged in two stages. In the centre above is a curtained recess, with the Virgin in bed, and the Child in a kind of cradle, above which the heads of the ox and a.s.s appear. Over them are two angels, one of whom holds a star from which rays stream down on the Child, whilst the other speaks to the shepherds. Below are Joseph and two women, one of whom pours water into a tub, while the other washes the Child in it.

Behind Joseph is a shepherd (these two figures are named). On the left are the shepherds and their flocks; on the right the three kings ride up. "Guasper" and "Balthssar" are also named. The arches above are unmoulded, but carved on the face. On the outside order at the top is the Crucifixion, with the Virgin and S. John and two kneeling figures.

Commencing from the bottom on the left the subjects run: the Flight into Egypt; the Entry into Jerusalem; the Marriage of Cana, or the Feast at Simon's House; the Scourging of our Lord; the Watchers at the Grave, or the Resurrection; the Temptation, or Casting out of Devils; and the Baptism of Christ. Some of the reliefs are damaged. The inner order has at the top the Adoration of the Kings (Joseph stands behind Madonna's throne); at the base the Annunciation (the Virgin spinning on one side, and Gabriel with a long staff on the other). This and the cupola on the building behind the Virgin suggest a Byzantine model, as well as the incorrect monogram, which is ?T. The rest of the arch is filled with censing angels. The jambs bear four-feet figures of Adam and Eve outside the orders of the arch, holding fig-leaves in the same manner as the figures at Sebenico, which they much resemble. Below Eve is a lioness with two cubs under her, and a lamb in her claws; below Adam a lion with a dragon in its claws; very decorative in their effect, and standing upon brackets with channelled supports enriched with b.a.l.l.s. The pilasters are not quite h.o.m.ogeneous, and indeed scarcely agree even with their fellows on the opposite side. Next to Adam are three figures of Apostles with nimbi, in panels made by the crossing of foliated stems; next to Eve are also three figures without nimbi, but smaller, though the panels are similar; two have small canopies. On the other face are foliage scrolls with animals within them; on Eve's side an a.s.s, horse, camel, elephant, hippopotamus, and the Oriental _motif_ of a griffin stooping over its prey; on Adam's side a woman riding on a horse, a centaur with a dart, a mermaid, a sea-horse, and at the bottom a griffin devouring a scroll, with a human head attached. Below the ornament are semi-nude caryatid figures on one side; on the other they have turbans and shoes, and one has ankle band-ages. In the angle is an octagonal shaft of green marble which continues round the arch. The reliefs on Eve's side in the next order show details of burgher life and agriculture, probably labours of the months or seasons--pruning leafless trees, the preparation of leather, a man seated by a fire on which is a cauldron, whilst a woman fills his cup from a skin over her shoulder, behind hang sausages. Above is a pig which a man is about to kill. The other side is similar. Above are shepherds shearing sheep in a wood; then comes a figure holding a scroll upon which there is no inscription; below is a warrior with sword, baton, and s.h.i.+eld, below him a nude man with flying hair, both among twining branches. Upon the other face are spirals of leaf ornament with heads of men and beasts, resembling a piece of antique carving at Spalato, finished with extraordinary care and mastery. Caryatid figures support this order also, turbaned and clothed with tunic and cloak. The carved portions of the inner columns are of a white limestone, while the octagonal shafts are of green marble; and this gives some support to the legend that they were brought from Bihac, a castle of the kings of Croatia and Dalmatia, and later of the kings of Hungary, a short distance away, of which scarcely a sign now remains.[3] These shafts have elaborate scrolls of intertwining branches and leaves, with animals, including some not found in Dalmatia.

The hunter has a greyhound. There are a stag, a bear, a sow, hares dragged out by peasants, &c.; here there is a female centaur; there a girl seated on an ox, a wood-devil with two horns, &c. On the other side are lions and bears, figures fighting, a young man with a falcon, loose dogs, &C., all most carefully carved. Beneath the lintel two caps with _amorini_ of the fifteenth or sixteenth century have been inserted.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CARVING ON RIGHT JAMB OF WEST DOOR, CATHEDRAL, TRAu

_To face page 272_]

The south door is simpler, but in the same round-arched style. It has square orders with rolls laid in the reveals, of which the inner one resembles a cable, and the outer chain mail. In the semicircular tympanum is a round window enclosing a quatrefoil surrounded by an inscription with the date 1213 and the name of Bishop Tregua.n.u.s. The side walls are divided into five s.p.a.ces by piers; an arched corbelled cornice terminating in mouldings runs along them, and returns up the slope of the east wall. Above it is a curious little loggia with very squat pillars and brackets imitating the wood forms of Venetian courtyards, but cut in stone. The alteration in the slope of the east end shows that it is a later addition. The same kind of cornice finishes the east gable and the nave walls, and also runs round the apses, but with richer mouldings above it, especially round the central one. The curious Dalmatian square-leaf enrichment, channelled in six radiating striae, and terminating in a small volute at the top corner occurs here.

There are two shafts to each small apse dividing the wall s.p.a.ce, and one window, but the central apse has four twisted shafts and three windows, of which the central one is largest. In the gable is a rose-window. On the roof of the northern aisle the lines of the plan and elevation of parts of the campanile are cut, working drawings for the masons. Heads of beasts project beneath the aisle cornice as gargoyles.

Above the ground story the tower is Gothic, and has two Gothic windows of two lights on the south side, with octagonal shafts and traceried heads. The other sides have arcading divided into two panels. Here there is an inscription giving the date of 1422, and the names of the Masters Mateus and Stefa.n.u.s, probably the Matteo Goykovic who contracted for the repair of church and campanile with the "operarius" of the church in 1421. The stage above has tall square-headed windows, with reticulated tracery in the heads of cusped circles or quatrefoils, and two lights below with central colonnette. The angles have shafts, and there is a pointed trefoiled cornice with carved mouldings and cornice above. The third story is Renaissance, finished in 1598 by Trifon Boccanich. Gothic details still appear as in the shafted two-light windows, with the pierced quatrefoils above and the twisted shafts at the angles. The whole finishes with a pyramidal spire, imitating the Venetian campanile.

The gable above the portico has an enormous wheel-window of sixteen divisions, which had a door beneath it.

The nave is 19 ft. 6 in. broad. Its piers vary in width, and the round-arched arcade is irregular in its s.p.a.cing. The north aisle is broader than the south. The piers and arches are unmoulded; the arches have two orders, carved imposts, and a very small base. The main arches of the vault have mouldings at each side of a fiat surface, and are pointed; the lesser ribs are twisted. The central bay only has a rib running east and west at the summit of the arch. The aisles are vaulted in the same manner, but with semicircular section. All the vaults are domical, and those of the nave spring from corbels carved in the style of Venetian fifteenth-century work. This agrees with the statement that the vaulting dates from 1427-31, and was strengthened by chains and iron anchors in 1440. The central bay has the south door on one side of it, the chapel of S. Giovanni Orsini to the north; and the pulpit against the north-eastern pier marks the commencement of the choir, which is raised two steps above the level of the nave. A stone bench runs round the apse, but there is no sign of an episcopal seat in the centre. The ciborium is somewhat of the type used by the Roman marble-workers in the twelfth century, but the proportions resemble those at S. Nicola, Bari, more than the other Italian examples. It is of grey marble, and bears upon the western angles of the square portion figures of the Virgin and the Angel Gabriel, the latter kneeling, for which the change to octagonal plan for the upper portion leaves room. The figures are fifteenth-century in character, and on the bases are the names of the artist and of the overseer--on that of the Virgin, "Mavrvs me fecit"; on the angels', "Bitalis qda Martini oprarii," in Lombardic letters. The "operarii" were generally n.o.bles, and had control of the church works. A gilded inscription on the front of the architrave gives the angelic greeting. The columns are of cipollino; the caps, once gilded, are very like those of the pulpit, which seems to be of the same date. It is octagonal and surrounded by round-arched arcading, two arches to a side, with coupled columns on the sides and three at the angles, above single arches resting upon shafts of precious marbles with elaborate caps which also at one time were gilded. The design suggests the copying of a metal original in the treatment of the foliage scrolls and the heads of the monsters, and contrasts with the pulpit at Spalato, in which a wood treatment of the capitals is suggested. The column for the book-rest stands on a little lion bracket; of the eagle which once surmounted it only the claws remain. Beneath it William, son of Baldwin, emperor of Constantinople, was buried in 1242. The choir stalls are of the fourteenth-century Gothic type, like those at Arbe and Zara, touched with colour and gilding. They cost eighteen ducats of gold each, and were restored in 1757 and 1852. The carved portions are added, not cut out of the solid. The chapel of S. Jerome at the west end on the north was built in 1458. It has a qua trefoil wooden grille, made by cutting triangles out of the uprights and cross-pieces equal in size to the angles remaining. On the west wall is a little relief of a Virgin and Child, S. Jerome, and a saint with halberd, beneath early Renaissance niches and channelled pilasters. On the nave piers are paintings, most of them of little value. A S. Jerome and S. John the Baptist show decorative feeling in the landscape and its combination with the figure; and on the second pier on each side is a row of nine saints and angels, small figures as if from a predella, which show a combination of Peruginesque and Florentine design and colour. Eitelberger says the paintings above the side altar are ascribed to the younger Palma. The cross of lamps which hangs in the nave recalls S. Mark's, Venice, as do the harmonious tone of the interior and the colonnettes of precious marbles of the pulpit. The great crucifix was brought from Venice in 1508. The organ was made by Frater Urbinus in 1485. Its wings, painted in 1489 by Giovanni Bellini, are now on the first pier. In 1767 another organ replaced it. The sacristy, an irregular building of 1444-1452, cost 4,020 zecchins. It has a pointed barrel vault, and contains a very fine row of cupboards worked by Gregorio di Vido in 1452, made of walnut, carved and inlaid, and costing 125 ducats. The treasury was once the richest in Dalmatia, but now only contains a few objects--arm reliquaries, ostensory, and a silver-gilt ewer, &c. The most interesting things are some embroideries and a MS. of the ninth or tenth century, with very beautiful script. The embroideries are the centre of a cope, with S. Martin dividing his cloak, in high relief (the horse, drapery, and crown in seed pearls, the hair in gold, and the canopy ornamented with gilded discs and seed pearls) of the beginning of the fifteenth century, and a mitre said to have been Bishop Casotti's, with the Virgin and Child standing in the centre (at each side Byzantine roundels painted on gold, the whole set in jewels and with seed pearls).

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL, TRAu

_To face page 276_]

The chapel of S. Giovanni Orsini and the baptistery remain to be described. S. Giovanni was the greatest of the bishops who rilled the see of Trau, and was canonised in 1192. He came to the city with the legate John of Toledo in the time of the Croatian king Cresimir. The papacy desired to unify the ritual of the Church, subst.i.tuting the Latin language and the Roman use for the national liturgies, as it had done in Spain, in Milan, and Aquileia. At this time there was no bishop of Trau.

The piety and strict life of S. Giovanni were soon noised abroad, and the people desired him for their bishop. In this they were supported by the legate, and he was consecrated in 1064 by Archbishop Laurentius of Spalato. He dismissed his servants, and went through long night-watches, lying naked on straw spread on the floor, to mortify the flesh. The fame of miraculous occurrences accompanied his austerities. His hand on the wine-press produced abundance of juice; he escaped dry-shod from a wreck near Sebenico; and destroyed by his words the war-engines of Coloman in 1105, when he was attacking Zara. A white dove which settled on his head when in conference with the king at Castell, near Sebenico, was taken as a spiritual symbol. He prophesied his own death and the destruction of Sebenico, and miracles were performed at his grave. The body was found in Bua after the Traurines returned from Spalato in 1152, though another account says that it was discovered within the area of the cathedral, near the high-altar where there is now a well. In 1174 he is reported to have appeared above the building in the form of a s.h.i.+ning star; and after that the commune adopted a comet as the arms of the city. The chapel stands on the site of the more ancient double chapel of SS. Doimus and Anastasius. It was begun under Bishop Turlon in 1468, the architects being Masters Nicol Fiorentino and Andrea Alexci of Durazzo, the stipulated price being 3,300 ducats, and the work occupying six years. The chapel is rectangular, with a barrel vault. Round the walls a seat runs, the front of which is ornamented with diamond forms filled with foliage. Above it is a kind of stylobate with pilasters supporting the columns of the next stage, the s.p.a.ces between them decorated with reliefs of torch-bearing _putti_, who are represented as issuing from partly open double doors, some of which are very pretty. Each side contains six arches, two of which are pierced with windows, the others having sh.e.l.l-headed niches divided by channelled pilasters or twisted columns, and tenanted by statues nearly life-size. Those which are named are "S. Tomas, S. Ioannes Evangelista, S. Pavlvs, and S. Filippo."

Others recognisable by their attributes are S. John the Evangelist as an old man, with the eagle at his feet, S. Mark with his lion, Madonna and S. John the Baptist on the end wall, with our Lord in the centre. Vasari says that Alessandro Vittoria did four Apostles in the church of Trau, and it is suggested that the named figures are these four. The architects carved the first figure, that of S. John the Evangelist, in 1482, at a cost of twenty-five ducats. Between the heads of the niches little children stand on the capitals, and above the cornice is a s.p.a.ce pierced by oculi between pilasters. The ceiling is coffered with a cherub's head in each panel, except the central one, which is four times the area of the others, and contains a half-length of Christ, surrounded by a wreath, holding an orb, and blessing. On the lunette is the Coronation of the Virgin. Above the altar is the ancient tomb of the saint, upon the lid of which is his effigy, with silver-plated mitre, and crozier, gloves and shoes. It is of red marble, the front being divided into three panels by twisted colonnettes, once gilt, with statuettes at the corners, and bears an inscription giving the date 1348. The angels are modern. On the pier opposite the side door an inscription records the gift of the right femur of "B. Jo. Ursinus" to Benedict XIII. by the Venetian senate in 1724.

The baptistery is of the same date as the chapel, and was founded by the same bishop, who belonged to the Anconitan family of Turglonia. The door externally is square-headed, and has an architrave with sculptured della Robbia like fruits. Over it is a Baptism of Christ, with G.o.d the Father and the Dove above. Within is a frieze of _putti_ bearing garlands, with sh.e.l.l-head niches and channelled pilasters below. Above this is a band of Venetian-Gothic leaves, and in the coffered ceiling are rosettes.

This ceiling is a pointed wagon vault, cut from two great blocks of marble, which meet in the centre. A round window in the west gable lights well a life-sized figure of S. Jerome above the altar, the warm brown tint of a portion of the stone being cunningly used to give the effect of shadow on the upper part of the figure. A seat runs round the base of the wall as in the chapel. An inscription gives the name of Andreas Alexius of Durazzo, and the date 1467. The cost was 4,980 zecchins. The resemblance of this baptistery to portions of the cathedral at Sebenico is striking.

The Loggia faces the cathedral at the other side of the _piazza_. One of the shorter ends is open; the other is closed by the clock-tower, and on this wall is elaborate carved ornamentation, behind the seat of the judges. The floor is three feet above the piazza, and is approached by five semicircular steps. Towards the _piazza_, five marble pillars (in several pieces) support moulded brackets, upon which an architrave beam rests, and there is one on the shorter side. The caps are of different dates, and for the most part come from older buildings, one indeed being antique. Between the columns is an early Renaissance bal.u.s.trade. Stone benches run along the walls. Above the judges' seat the wall is panelled. In the central top panel is a figure of Justice seated upon a winged globe; right and left of her are half-lengths of winged figures with inscribed scrolls, laudatory of Justice, emergent from circles.

Below Justice is a great lion of S. Mark, and below the other figures are S. Giovanni Orsini with a model of Trau, and S. Laurence with his gridiron. At each side is a long panel with a candelabrum very like those in panels in the chapel in the cathedral, which make it pretty certain that the carving is by the same hand, especially as the date 1471 appears in one of the inscriptions. There are other inscriptions with the dates 1513 and 1606, and later coats of arms. On the corner shaft are the arms of Pietro Loredano. By the judges' seat is a piece of iron which marks the place where the criminal was chained when his crime was announced. The restoration was carried out in 1892 by Professor Hauser. Right of the steps three standard measures stood till 1843.

It is interesting to note a few of the pains and penalties inflicted.

The statute was revised in 1291 and 1303 by the first Venetian Count, M.

Morosini, who collected the chapters into three volumes. The town physician was not allowed to leave the town without permission from the count under a fine of twenty-five lire di piccoli. No one could go about at night without a light, and a fine of forty soldi was incurred by gambling anywhere except in the piazza. Spinning was forbidden to the saleswomen on the loggia--fine, five soldi. A servant who stole from his lord had his nose cut off, or lost one or both eyes if the value was ten to twenty-five lire. If the value was greater the thief was hung up till he died. In Trau there was neither bridge-playing nor company-promoting.

Trau is tolerably rich in the remains of ancient houses, of which the drawing shows an example. The most celebrated is the Casa Cippico facing the cathedral, of late Venetian-Gothic verging on Renaissance. The court inside was built in 1457. In the entrance hall are preserved two wooden prow ensigns taken from the Venetian galleys during war between Trau and Spalato; one is in the form of a c.o.c.k standing on a clenched hand, the other a fragment of a small figure of a man. Also an inscription flanked by two s.h.i.+elds with rampant lions, which are good. Opposite the Loggia, on the other side of the street, is a highly decorative lintel, which appears to have belonged to a palace of the Cippico, with two contemplative lions and half-length angels in roundels with scrolls. The caps have the same kind of foliage as is seen at Curzoia and Sebenico.

The Austrian-Lloyd office is on the ground floor of a tower of the Venetian period, now a nunnery. It has a trefoiled ogee-window and a great balcony above it, with trellises behind which the nuns can take the air without being seen, recalling those of Sicilian nunneries. All the other openings are square-headed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A DECAYED PALACE, TRAu

_To face page 282_]

The ruined church of S. Giovanni, formerly belonging to a Benedictine nunnery, has exactly the same patterns about it as the cathedral, and must be of the same date. Along the nave walls, and ramping up the gables, is a double-arched corbel cornice with pilasters at the angles, and a bell turret consisting of a prolongation of the nave wall, gabled and with three pointed arched openings, two below, and one above. In the tympanum of the door is a pierced roundel with the Agnus Dei.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LATE GOTHIC LINTEL AT TRAu]

The Palazzo Comunale has been rebuilt, preserving the portions which were of special interest, and also pieces of architectural carving from other parts of the city. Its interest is therefore rather that of a museum now. I was fortunate enough, on one of my visits, to have the guidance of the podesta, Commendatore Madirazza, to whom I had been introduced by Professor Bulic at Spalato. I have to thank him for showing me several things I should otherwise have missed.

From Bua (Bavo or Boa), an island used by the Romans as a place of exile, a comprehensive view of Trau may be obtained, with towers and campanile breaking the line of the houses, with the strait in the foreground, and with boats drawn up on the sh.o.r.e. In a private garden is a palm-tree said to be the most northerly specimen in Dalmatia, though there are several at Lussin Piccolo, which is much farther north.

Our first visit to Trau was made by carriage from Spalato, and occupied the whole of a most delightful day, for we did not get back till long after dark. The excellent road is due to the French, but follows the line of that made by the Romans or before their time, pa.s.sing quite near the Castelli, some of which we were able to visit. It was spring: the vines were making long shoots, and the fields and banks were gemmed with flowers; on one side, the sapphire sea; on the other, the mountain slopes, with scented breezes to cool the ardour of the sun. For the most part the peasants, men and women, were busy in the fields, or was.h.i.+ng by the stream, and appeared well-to-do, though we pa.s.sed one man half naked, searching his garments upon a heap of stones. But he, we gathered from a gendarme near, was considered weak in the head. Long before the town is approached, the towers of Trau are silhouetted against the horizon, emphasising the point of land which they terminate, grey walls and dark trees running together into a ma.s.s, but contrasting with each other on a nearer view. We started on our return a little before sunset, while the sun's level rays cast long simplifying shadows across the landscape, and enjoyed the glow upon flowery hillside and purple crag, from which the houses flashed out like jewels, and the water beneath changed its colour with the changing sky. The twilight faded while we were pa.s.sing Salona, and in the long climb to the crest of the rising ground above Spalato we had only the light of the carriage lamps, finally alighting outside the northern wall of the palace (for carriages cannot enter within the town) weary, but filled with delightful impressions and recollections. Another time we went by boat, starting at 6 o'clock, and enjoying the early morning freshness of effect. In this trip also we had the opportunity of visiting some of the Castelli, which are interesting generally rather for their picturesqueness than for archaeological reasons. In the chapter dealing with Spalato will be found some details as to remains of the early Croatian period found along the coast and in the environs. At Castel Vecchio we saw on the wall of the churchyard a cross with a much damaged antique cap as base, and another antique base on a larger scale beneath it. It was 6.40 a.m., and along the sh.o.r.e, a little way off, a procession was pa.s.sing with a tinkling bell, two banners, and processional crosses, preceding a figure in a cope of white and gold beneath a canopy. It was Low Sunday (called Piccola Pasqua in Dalmatia), and the priest was bearing the Host either to some sick person or to a neighbouring church. Such sights are frequent in the country places, where religious observances are more evident than in the towns.

Whichever way Trau is visited from Spalato (given pleasant weather) the day may be looked forward to as giving a constant succession of delightful experiences, of which the central point will be the mediaeval-looking city with its magnificent cathedral and glorious west door, though the quaintness of the costume of the country people, very individual and unlike other Morlacchi costumes, will count for something.