Yet at the foot of the hill on which La Turbie stands is Monte Carlo, the most modern of modern abodes5 of men. A town without walls, lying scattered6 in all directions like a great drop of bright paint that has fallen on a rock and spattered it. Here are the hubbub7 of Vanity Fair, the frou-frou of silks, the flash of bold pigments8, the scent-tainted air.
LA TURBIE: THE OLD BAKEHOUSE.
Let such as are tired of this Vanity Fair and of its make-believe palaces, climb up to the hill town. As they pass through the old gateway9 they enter into a world that was, into a town where the streets are silent and the houses homely10 and venerable. The blaze of clashing colours is forgotten, for all here is grey. The bold, imperious purple of the sea is changed for the tender forget-me-not blue of a strip of sky above the roofs. The dazzle of the sun is beyond the gate, but within are shadows as comforting as “the shadow of a rock in a weary land.” Such light as enters falls upon an old lichen-covered wall, upon the arch of a Gothic window and upon simple things on balconies—a garment hanging to dry, a bird-cage, a pot of lavender. To those who are surfeited11 with riot and unreality La Turbie is a cloister12, a place of peace.
Outside the town, on the east, is the Cours St. Bernard, so named after an ancient chapel13 to St. Bernard which stood here. The town is entered by the gate called the Roman Gate, for it was by this way that the Roman road passed into La Turbie. The gate, which dates from the Middle Ages, has a plain, pointed14 arch and over it the remains15 of a tower. The old road passed through the town from east to west along the line of the present Rue16 Droite and left it by the Nice Gate which has also a pointed arch and a tower and which belongs to the same period as the Portail Romain. There are some fine old houses, strangely mutilated, in the Rue Droite and one elegant window of three arches supported by dainty columns. This pertains17 to a house at the corner of the Rue du Four.
The Rue du Four, or Bakehouse Street, enters the town from the Corniche Road by a modern gate passing under the houses. In this street is the ancient public bakehouse, a queer, little building, low and square, with a tiled roof and on the roof a very solid cross cut out of a block of stone. Within the building the ovens are still to be seen. M. Philippe Casimir, the learned mayor of La Turbie, in his very interesting monograph[44] states that in old days the inhabitants paid to the Lord of La Turbie un droit de fournage for the privilege of using the bakehouse. The impost18 took the form of one loaf out of every eighty. This medi?val four became in time the property of the town, but its use has now been long abandoned.
The Rue du Four leads to the Place Saint-Jean, the centre of the town. It is a very tiny place—little more than a courtyard—which derives19 its name from the chapel of St. Jean which stands here. The chapel has been recently rebuilt (1844) and is of no interest. In the place is a large and still imposing20 house which was the old H?tel de Ville. Passing beneath it is a vaulted21 passage of some solemnity which leads to the gate known as the Portail du Recinto. The arch at the entrance of this vaulted way has a curious history. It was composed of blocks of marble taken from the monument and from that frieze22 of the trophy23 which bore the inscription24. The great bulk of the inscribed25 stones had been removed to the museum at St.-Germain-en-Laye, but it was found that the wording was incomplete. Some letters from the list of the conquered tribes were missing. An arch?ologist chancing to visit La Turbie in 1867 noticed on the voussoirs of this arch the very letters that were wanting.
The pieces of marble were therefore removed to complete the inscription in the museum and their place was taken by common stones. To compensate26 La Turbie for this loss the Emperor, Napoleon III, presented to the church of St. Michael a copy of Raphael’s “St. Michael” from the Louvre in Paris. This picture now hangs on the left wall of the church near to the entrance.
LA TURBIE: LA PORTETTE.
The vaulted passage under the old H?tel de Ville leads to a square called the Place Mitto. This piazza28 is, I imagine, the smallest public square in existence, for it is no larger than the kitchen area of a London house. In it is the most beautiful gate of La Turbie. It has a pointed arch and above it a low tower with three machicolations. The gate is called the Portail du Recinto—a mixture of French and Italian—which signifies the gate in the enceinte or main wall. It opens directly upon the Roman monument.
In order to appreciate the significance of this gate it is necessary to refer once more to the history of the great trophy. Some time in the thirteenth or fourteenth century the site of the monument was converted into a fort. The trophy itself was stripped of all its original features and was built up in the form of a round and lofty watch tower. It was ornamented29 at its summit by two rows of arcading30. These are still to be seen and on the parapet will be observed three upright pieces of stone which are the remains of the crenellations or battlements with which the tower was surmounted31. These details, which belong to the centuries named, are shown in ancient prints. The ruin, therefore, now existing is the ruin rather of the medi?val tower than of the original Roman monument. The persistent32 attempts to destroy the tower of La Turbie were due, in the first place, to the fact that it represented oppression and an arrogant33 claim to victory, and, in later years, to the fact that it was part of a fortress.
About the base of the great watch tower was a square and solid keep, of which no trace remains and, beyond that, a great semicircular wall with its back to the town. This wall shut in the stronghold on the north and was terminated at the cliff’s edge by a pair of towers. Now the Portail du Recinto was the gateway that pierced this encircling wall or enceinte and through it, and through it alone, could access to the fort be attained34.
To the right of the gate is a narrow street, the Rue Capouanne. It is curved because it follows the line of the enceinte and is, indeed, a passage between the actual fortress wall on one side and houses on the other. This mighty35 thirteenth century wall is one of the most interesting relics36 in La Turbie. It has been cut into, here and there, to make stables, but it is still a great wall presenting many huge blocks of stone which show that it was constructed from the fabric37 of the monument. The Rue Capouanne ends in a modest little gate with a pointed arch green with ferns. This gate, called La Portette, gave access to the old church which stood near the west corner of the present cemetery38 and, therefore, above the level of the existing church. La Portette is shown in the old prints of La Turbie. Beyond La Portette and a modern house which joins it the great enceinte or fortress wall is continued for a little way as a curved but isolated39 line of masonry40. Between this isolated fragment and the main wall there is a wide gap. This was cut about 1764 in order to obtain direct access to the monument for the purpose of the building of the church, which was constructed out of stones derived41 from the monument.
LA TURBIE: THE NICE GATE.
M. Casimir gives an interesting explanation of the curious name, Rue Capouanne. It was originally Gapeani and it is easy to understand how the G has changed to a C. In 1332 La Turbie obtained local independence, was allowed to manage its own urban affairs and to appoint a bayle, governor or mayor. The first bayle was one Jacques Gapeani and it is in his honour that the street was named. Humble42 as the lane may be it can at least claim an ancestry43 of nearly six hundred years.
Between the Place St. Jean and the Portail du Recinto is a narrow and gloomy way called the Rue du Ghetto44. The name serves to recall the fact that during the troublous times of the Middle Ages Jews sought refuge in this hill town and security in the shadow of its fortress. The street is of interest on another account. During the Terror the monks45 of the monastery46 of Laghet were in fear for the safety of their much revered47 image of the Madonna. So in the dead of night they carried it up to La Turbie and hid it in a house in the Rue du Ghetto. The house was occupied by a pious48 man named Denis Lazare.[45] It is the first house in the street on the left hand side and high up between the first and second floors is an empty niche2 by means of which the house can be identified. At the moment the house is unoccupied. It is very small. A narrow stone stair leads up to the living room which takes up the whole of the first story. It is a room that has probably been altered little since 1793. There are the ancient fireplace, the massive beams in the ceiling and, by the hearth49, a curious trough or basin fashioned out of a block of stone. So cramped50 is the house that it is hard to imagine where the Madonna was hidden, unless in the stable which opens on the street and constitutes the ground floor of the humble little dwelling51.
The church of La Turbie is very simple and modest, subdued52 in its decoration and in keeping with its place. It has a steeple whose summit is shaped like a bishop’s mitre and is covered with brilliant tiles which are very glorious in the sun. An inscription in the nave53 shows that the building was commenced in 1764 and completed in 1777, that it was constructed out of material from the monument and was erected54 by the hands of the people themselves.
There are in the town the remains of fine houses solidly built of stone but now turned into humble dwellings55. One such house is conspicuous56 in the Rue de l’Eglise. The type of house that is most characteristic of La Turbie has the following features. It is narrow. Its ground floor is occupied by a deep recess57 in the shadow of a wide rounded arch upon which the front wall of the building is founded. Within the recess on one side is a door leading to a stable and on the other a stone stair which mounts up to the entry into the house.
There is one street with a name that always excites curiosity—the Rue Incalat. M. Casimir states that the term “incalat” indicates a paved way that is steep and it is to be noted58 that the Rue Incalat is the only street in La Turbie that can make any claim to be steep.
[44]
“La Turbie et son Trophée Romain,” Nice, 1914.
[45]
“La Turbie,” by Philippe Casimir, Nice, 1914.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
enveloped
|
|
| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
niche
|
|
| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
eddy
|
|
| n.漩涡，涡流 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
heed
|
|
| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
abodes
|
|
| 住所( abode的名词复数 )； 公寓； （在某地的）暂住； 逗留 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
hubbub
|
|
| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
pigments
|
|
| n.（粉状）颜料( pigment的名词复数 )；天然色素 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
gateway
|
|
| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
homely
|
|
| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
surfeited
|
|
| v.吃得过多( surfeit的过去式和过去分词 )；由于过量而厌腻 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
cloister
|
|
| n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
chapel
|
|
| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
rue
|
|
| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
pertains
|
|
| 关于( pertain的第三人称单数 )； 有关； 存在； 适用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
impost
|
|
| n.进口税，关税 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
derives
|
|
| v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
imposing
|
|
| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
vaulted
|
|
| adj.拱状的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
frieze
|
|
| n.(墙上的)横饰带，雕带 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
trophy
|
|
| n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
inscription
|
|
| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
inscribed
|
|
| v.写，刻( inscribe的过去式和过去分词 )；内接 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
compensate
|
|
| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
fortress
|
|
| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
piazza
|
|
| n.广场；走廊 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
ornamented
|
|
| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
arcading
|
|
| 连拱饰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
31
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： |
|
|
|
|
32
persistent
|
|
| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
arrogant
|
|
| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
attained
|
|
| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
mighty
|
|
| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
relics
|
|
| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
fabric
|
|
| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
cemetery
|
|
| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
isolated
|
|
| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
masonry
|
|
| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
derived
|
|
| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
humble
|
|
| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
ancestry
|
|
| n.祖先，家世 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
ghetto
|
|
| n.少数民族聚居区，贫民区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
monks
|
|
| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
monastery
|
|
| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
revered
|
|
| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
pious
|
|
| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
hearth
|
|
| n.壁炉炉床，壁炉地面 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
cramped
|
|
| a.狭窄的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
dwelling
|
|
| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
subdued
|
|
| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
nave
|
|
| n.教堂的中部；本堂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
ERECTED
|
|
| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
dwellings
|
|
| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
conspicuous
|
|
| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
recess
|
|
| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
noted
|
|
| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |