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Doc. 206.] 111
SWEDENBORG’S TRAVELS IN 1738.
of importance are the fortifications ; the town is also fortified
by nature on all sides, for it is surrounded by a morass,
1200 paces wide. It has two or three stone bridges ; the water
is higher on one side than on the other.
August 21. I went by barque to Ferrara, which belongs
to the chair of St. Peter; it is a handsome town and has large,
wide streets ; the cathedral is fine. In the church of S. Maria
del vado are very fine paintings ; the remaining churches were
passable. Afterwards I was in the palace of Baron Cerveles,
which is superb and well kept; there are rooms with mirrors,
and others decorated with pictures, &c.; also a fine silver
service. In Ferrara the pope has a cardinal ; an abbé is
placed over the militia, etc.
August 23. I arrived in Bologna. I was in the cathedral,
and also in the monastery and church of the Dominicans,
where St. Dominic died ; his tomb, head, etc. are shown ; in
the church there are paintings of the best masters. In the town
are many handsome palaces.
August 24. I was present at their annual festival, which
assumed the form of an entertainment, when there was thrown
to the people a large quantity of chickens , pigeons , geese,
turkeys, and afterwards sheep ; lastly Cardinal Spinola and
two other persons distributed peacocks, then money, and finally
purses. In the museum everything is in perfect order, and
they have a complete collection in all the arts and sciences ;
in sculpture, painting, chemistry, physics, and astronomy. There
are two cardinals in the town, and fifty governors, who are
drawn by lot every two months. I saw the Bologna Stone,*
which is obtained on a mountain two or three miles [leagues]
from the town. I went some distance out of town to a
monastery of the white Benedictines, which is large and costly.+
* The Bologna Stone is a radiated sulphate of barytes, found in roundish
masses, composed of radiating fibres, first discovered near Bologna. It is
phosphorescent when calcined.
S. Michele in bosco is situated on an eminence about a quarter of
an hour’s walk from the town southwards. It belonged to a fraternity of
the Benedictines called Olivetans, after the monastery on the Monte Oli
veto near Florence, with which they were affiliated. The monastery was
abolished in 1797, and changed into barracks.
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