The
Four Colossal Figures Represent The Four River Gods Of The Four Great
Rivers In Europe, Asia, Africa And America, Viz., The Danube, The Ganges,
The Nile, And The Plata.
The statue of the Nile has his head half-concealed
by a cloak, emblematical of the source of that river not being discovered.
In the Piazza are frequently held fairs, shews of wild beasts, theatrical
exhibitions and sometimes combats of wild beasts.
I crossed the Tiber on my way to St Peter's at the Ponte di Sant' Angelo;
directly on the other side of the river stands the castle of that name, an
immense edifice formerly the Moles Adriana or Mausoleum of the Emperor
Adrian. It is of a circular form and is a remarkably striking object. From
here there is a spacious street as broad as Portland place, which leads to
the magnificent Piazza, where stands the Metropolitan Church of the
Christian world, the pride of Christendom, the triumph of modern
architecture, flanked on each side by a semi-circular colonnaded portico,
which constitutes one of its greatest beauties and distinguishes it from
all the other temples in the world. On the Piazza, considerably in front of
this wonderful edifice and nearly in the centre, stands an immense Egyptian
Obelisk, and at a short distance on each side of the Obelisk two
magnificent fountains which spout water to a great height and which
contribute greatly to the ornament of the Piazza.
Now you must not expect me to give you a description of this glorious
temple.
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