Access to the town is gained by the Rampe Major, a broad and steep, paved path which has been, in large part, hewn out of the side of the rock. Up and down this path there is an endless procession of townfolk and harbour folk, soldiers and priests, schoolboys and girls, hurried officials and gaping9 visitors. Below the Rampe lies a carriage road up to the town, traversed by a tram line. This way, the Avenue de la Porte Neuve was constructed in 1828. Before that date Monaco could only be reached on foot or on horseback.
Three gates are met with in ascending10 the Rampe. The first is a ceremonial gate rather than a defence work. It was built in 1714 and affects a faintly classical style, being fashioned of narrow bricks and white stone. The Rampe beyond bends upon itself and, skirting a platform surmounted11 by a sentry12 tower as yellow as old parchment, comes face to face with the great battery (now bricked up) which stands at the foot of the palace walls. It can be seen how perfectly13 this gun emplacement commanded not only the Rampe but also the entrance to the harbour. On the east side of the battery is an immense military work in the form of a rounded buttress14, very like the fold of a hanging curtain turned to stone. This is the oreillon which served to mask the battery from the land side.
Below the battery the Rampe turns again upon itself and so reaches the second gate. It is a gate in white stone, frail15 and ghostlike, and inscribed16 with the date 1533. Beyond it was the drawbridge. Here the Rampe bends sharply in its course for the third time and passes through the main gateway17 by a vaulted18 passage of great solidity. This was the famous Mirador or post of the guard.
The Rampe now ends in a bald square with the palace on one side and the town on the other. On the remaining sides of the square are only a parapet and the winds of heaven.
There are trees and seats in the square, for it is a place for idleness where old women knit and young women sew, where children play and ancients ruminate19. There are cannon20 in the square pointing towards innocent Cap d’Ail. They were presented to the reigning21 prince of the time by Louis XIV. They are quite innocuous, but serve to remind the careless that the place is a stronghold and to provide a plaything for small boys who—with the happy imagination of the young—regard these implements22 of war as horses (or more probably as donkeys), sit astride of them, strike them with whips and urge them to “get up.”
The palace covers the whole of the northern extremity23 of the rock. It is disappointing in that it fails to realise the emotional past of the place, its dramatic and picturesque24 history, the dire25 assaults and bloody26 frays27 without its gates, the tragedies within its walls. It has been so mutilated in the past and so improved and modernised in the present that it has become inexpressive. The strong, rigid28 lines, the grim wrinkles, the determined29 frown have been so smoothed away that the face has become vacuous30. The new clock tower and the rows of modern windows do not recall the stern halberdier who held the place against all odds31, nor the bull-necked men in armour32 who yelled damnation to the Genoese.
The battlements are more suited for the display of flowers than for a line of determined faces under steel caps glaring along the barrels of their muskets33. As the official residence of a prince it is becoming and appropriate, but it is not that palace on a rock that bid defiance34 to the world for flaming centuries. Monaco has a great and a glorious history, but it is not written on the walls of the palace of to-day.
By the generosity35 of the prince the palace is thrown open to visitors on certain days but it presents little that is of interest. It has been so ruthlessly treated in days gone by and subjected to such base uses that there is little left to recall the stirring days of the old Grimaldi. In, or about, 1842 the palace was completely restored, so that it assumes now all the characters of a modern structure. It is of little concern to know that the south wing was built in this century or the north wing in that, since the traces of age have been nearly all removed. A full account of the lines of the palace, both old and new, is given in M. Urbain Bosio’s excellent treatise36 “Le Vieux Monaco.”[32] Between the gate that leads from the Rampe and the gate of the palace itself is a curved wall, with machicolations of an unusual type. This wall (now much restored) is said to date from the fourteenth century and behind it was the hall for the main guard.
The palace is entered by a fine gateway bearing the Grimaldi arms and erected37 in 1672. It leads into a court which is rather bare and cold. Here is to be found a double staircase of marble which is a little out of keeping with its surroundings. There are frescoes38 in the arcades39 which line the court, but they have been recently and rather crudely restored. The little chapel40 at the north end of this Cour d’Honneur is simple and dignified41 and in a modest way beautiful. It was built in 1656 and restored in 1884. The long range of reception rooms, with their lavish gilt42 decorations and their florid frescoes, fulfil the average conception of “royal apartments.” There are a few pictures of interest but none of especial worth. There is an old renaissance43 chimney-piece of carved stone which is, however, memorable44.
The garden is very fascinating with its deep shade, its solemn paths, its palm trees and its little orange grove45. In one corner of the garden are the ruins of an old defence work which surmounts46 the northern wall and which may claim to be part of the palace in its fighting days.
Behind the chapel is an ancient tower with battlements of a forgotten type upon its summit. It is square and plain and covered with ivy47 upon one side. It has no windows, but presents a few square openings, about 18 inches in width, which are the soupiraux which alone admitted light and air into the interior. This tower is the only substantial part of the original palace that is left and is said to date from 1215. According to M. Bosio[33] it has two stories above the ground floor. On each story is a single room lit and ventilated solely48 by means of the small, square vents49 (soupiraux) already mentioned. He states that these two rooms were used as prisons and that on the walls are to be seen names cut in both Italian and in Spanish. The Italian would pertain50 to the time of the wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines and the Spanish to the period of the Spanish occupation (1549-1641).
On the other side of the square and directly facing the palace is a large official building known, at one time, as the House of the Governor. It has seen many changes. It was the headquarters of the Revolutionists during the Terror. On the restoration of the Grimaldi it became the seat of the Civil Tribunal and of the schools. It later was occupied as a large hotel and café and finally by the Gambling51 Rooms pending52 the completion of a casino at Monte Carlo in 1860.[34] On the west side of the square is the Promenade53 Ste. Barbe, so called after the chapel of Sainte Barbe which stood here. The chapel has been converted into a dwelling54 house, but its door still stands and over the portal are still the initials S.B. By no little ingenuity55 this entry has been converted into a shop for the sale of picture postcards.
The town is pleasant, clean and orderly. It has the aspect of a place of much content. Its few streets are parallel and follow the line of the rock. They are narrow, so narrow, indeed, that the notice at the entrance of the Rue56 des Briques to the effect that no motors are admitted would seem to be an official jest based upon the more ancient estimate of the camel and the eye of the needle. There are some picturesque houses and fragments of old buildings in the town. In the Rue du Milieu57 are certain beautifully carved doorways60 in stone of the seventeenth century or earlier.
MONACO: THE SENTRY TOWER ON THE RAMPE.
MONACO: THE DRAWBRIDGE GATE, 1533.
The winter visitor is apt to pity the Monégasques for their narrow streets which keep out the life-giving sun. When the mistral blows he has less contempt for the sheltering lane and as the end of May is reached—when the sun is shunned61 as if it were mustard gas—he bolts across the square, like a man under fire, and diving into the cool, dim ways of Monaco thanks his creator for the blessing62 of shade.
The old church of St. Nicolas has been replaced by a new cathedral which was completed in 1897 and professes63 to be in the Romanesque-Byzantine style. This cathedral is, no doubt, a worthy64 example of modern art, but the building is so immense, so glaring and so ornate that it is quite out of touch with the humble65 little dun-coloured town. It is as inappropriate as would be the Albert Memorial if found by the duck-pond of a village green.
The old church was a loss to Monaco much to be deplored66. It dated from the twelfth century, was in the form of a Latin cross and contained a number of curious chapels67. It was composed largely of stone from the monument at La Turbie. M. Bosio describes it fully58 in his work and adds that its disappearance68 is very regrettable from the point of view of art.
Near the cathedral are two admirable museums, little as they may be expected on this war-battered rock. One is devoted69 to anthropology70 and the other to oceanography. They were instituted by the present prince whose attainments71 as a man of science are known the world over.
Immediately opposite to the cathedral is the old H?tel de Ville or Maison Commune. It is a simple building of two stories, the door of which on the upper floor is approached by a double staircase ending in a modest balcony. It was constructed in 1660 and is, in spite of its simplicity72, the most charming house in Monaco. The lower floor—M. Bosio states—was used for the storing of corn and meal for the people in times of siege, while the upper and more dignified rooms were the offices of the mayors, échevins or consuls73.
Opposite the side door of the cathedral is the Rue des Carmes. It was so called because it contained a figure of the Madonna of Mount Carmel. “On the eve of the fête of Notre Dame74 du Mont-Carmel the old Monégasques surrounded this hallowed figure with flowers and lighted candles and sang hymns75 before it.”[35] The place of this figure is indicated by a painting of the Madonna of Mount Carmel on a wall of one of the houses.
The Rue des Briques is worth following to the end. It leads to the Mairie—a modern building of no interest—but just beyond the Mairie, on the right side of the road, is a humble-looking old house with a wide, round-arched doorway59 and square windows fitted with grilles. This was the Mint where money was struck when the Principality of Monaco had its own coinage. The use of the Mint appears to have been abandoned about 1840, although the currency of Monaco was not abolished until some years after.
A little farther down the street, and still on the right hand side of the way, is a long wall. This shuts in the famous Giardinetto or Little Garden. It belonged to a house built by Charlotte de Grammont, wife of Prince Louis I, who left the Court of France and retired76 to Monaco in order to be near her daughter, who had taken the veil in the convent adjoining. This convent—the Convent of the Visitation—is a large, yellow, barrack-like building which occupies one side of the Place de la Visitation, having on the other side the H?tel du Gouvernment. The convent was founded by Charlotte de Grammont in the middle of the seventeenth century and here her heart is buried. On the chapel—which is singularly plain—is an inscription77 to note that it was built in 1663 and restored in 1870.
The south-eastern extremity of the rock is occupied by the gardens of St. Martin, which were designed by Prince Honoré V in 1816 to give employment to the people during a year of dearth78. These gardens are most enchanting79. They occupy the edge of the cliff and even climb some little way down the side of the cliff by hesitating paths. They are represented by a maze80 of shady walks with, here and there, a terrace overhanging the sea or a sheltered look-out on a point of rock. It is a wild garden partly tamed, a wilderness81 where every path is made smooth. Its vegetation is partly Italian, partly African. Here are pine trees, olives and palms, with prickly pear, aloes and agave, pepper trees and mimosa, eucalyptus82 and the mastic bush, jasmine and myrtle, hedges of choisya, banks of rosemary, beds of violets and cascades83 of scarlet84 geranium. Below at the foot of the glowing cliff is the cool purple of the sea with a fringe of white foam85 to show where the rock and the waters meet.
Just beyond the Oceanographic Museum is a wide, paved platform on the brink86 of the cliff with parapet and sentry house. Beneath it is the Great Casemate built about 1709 to provide shelter for the people during bombardment and to accommodate a cistern87 for the storing of water when the outer world was cut off. This great underground “dug-out” is now used as a prison.
At the end of the garden is the rugged88 old fort built by Prince Antoine over 200 years ago. It is looking towards the casino of Monte Carlo, just as a toothless, old brigand89 might look at a dancing girl. It is a romantic spot with its winding90 stairs, its great gun embrasures, its mysterious doorways and its deserted91 sentry walk. It no longer bristles92 with armed men; it no longer thunders, with flashes of flame, across the sea; it no longer awakens93 an echo that shakes the astonished hills; for it is now a kind of “Celia’s Arbour,” a place of whispers where lovers meet and ruffle94 the silence with nothing more unquiet than a sigh.
[32]
Published in Nice, 1907.
[33]
“Le Vieux Monaco.”
[34]
The present Casino at Monte Carlo was built in 1878.
[35]
Bosio. “Le Vieux Monaco.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
assertive
|
|
| adj.果断的，自信的，有冲劲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
bland
|
|
| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
gorge
|
|
| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
surmount
|
|
| vt.克服；置于…顶上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
lavish
|
|
| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
ledge
|
|
| n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
lodge
|
|
| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
shrub
|
|
| n.灌木，灌木丛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
gaping
|
|
| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
ascending
|
|
| adj.上升的，向上的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
surmounted
|
|
| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
sentry
|
|
| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
perfectly
|
|
| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
buttress
|
|
| n.支撑物；v.支持 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
frail
|
|
| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
inscribed
|
|
| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
gateway
|
|
| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
vaulted
|
|
| adj.拱状的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
ruminate
|
|
| v.反刍；沉思 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
cannon
|
|
| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
reigning
|
|
| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
implements
|
|
| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
extremity
|
|
| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
picturesque
|
|
| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
dire
|
|
| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
bloody
|
|
| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
frays
|
|
| n.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的名词复数 )v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
rigid
|
|
| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
determined
|
|
| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
vacuous
|
|
| adj.空的，漫散的，无聊的，愚蠢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
odds
|
|
| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
armour
|
|
| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
muskets
|
|
| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
defiance
|
|
| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
generosity
|
|
| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
treatise
|
|
| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
ERECTED
|
|
| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
frescoes
|
|
| n.壁画( fresco的名词复数 )；温壁画技法，湿壁画 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
arcades
|
|
| n.商场( arcade的名词复数 )；拱形走道（两旁有商店或娱乐设施）；连拱廊；拱形建筑物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
chapel
|
|
| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
dignified
|
|
| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
gilt
|
|
| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
renaissance
|
|
| n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
memorable
|
|
| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
grove
|
|
| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
surmounts
|
|
| 战胜( surmount的第三人称单数 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
ivy
|
|
| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
solely
|
|
| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
vents
|
|
| （气体、液体等进出的）孔、口( vent的名词复数 )； （鸟、鱼、爬行动物或小哺乳动物的）肛门； 大衣等的)衩口； 开衩 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
pertain
|
|
| v.(to)附属，从属；关于；有关；适合，相称 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
gambling
|
|
| n.赌博；投机 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
pending
|
|
| prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
promenade
|
|
| n./v.散步 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
dwelling
|
|
| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
ingenuity
|
|
| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
rue
|
|
| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
milieu
|
|
| n.环境；出身背景；(个人所处的)社会环境 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
doorway
|
|
| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
doorways
|
|
| n.门口，门道( doorway的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
shunned
|
|
| v.避开，回避，避免( shun的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
blessing
|
|
| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
professes
|
|
| 声称( profess的第三人称单数 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
deplored
|
|
| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
chapels
|
|
| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
disappearance
|
|
| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
devoted
|
|
| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
anthropology
|
|
| n.人类学 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
attainments
|
|
| 成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
simplicity
|
|
| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
consuls
|
|
| 领事( consul的名词复数 )； （古罗马共和国时期）执政官 （古罗马共和国及其军队的最高首长，同时共有两位，每年选举一次） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
dame
|
|
| n.女士 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
hymns
|
|
| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
retired
|
|
| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
inscription
|
|
| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
dearth
|
|
| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
enchanting
|
|
| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
maze
|
|
| n.迷宫，八阵图，混乱，迷惑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
wilderness
|
|
| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
eucalyptus
|
|
| n.桉树，桉属植物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
cascades
|
|
| 倾泻( cascade的名词复数 )； 小瀑布（尤指一连串瀑布中的一支）； 瀑布状物； 倾泻（或涌出）的东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
scarlet
|
|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
foam
|
|
| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
brink
|
|
| n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
cistern
|
|
| n.贮水池 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
rugged
|
|
| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
brigand
|
|
| n.土匪，强盗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
winding
|
|
| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
deserted
|
|
| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
bristles
|
|
| 短而硬的毛发，刷子毛( bristle的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
awakens
|
|
| v.（使）醒( awaken的第三人称单数 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
ruffle
|
|
| v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |