| p. 15flowers in to adorn the edifice, with the addition of some superb
work in Mosaic. [Eguides?] [[Eudes of Metz?]] was commissioned to execute the plan.
The form of the temple [soar?] antique, a rotund supported by pillars,
in the circle of wh: [which] were comprised 32 columns with Cor'nthian [Corinthian]
Capitals. Leo the 3.d [[Pope Leo III]] consecrated the edifice with much religious
ceremony & a vast concourse of dignified Ecclesiastiques in 804.
It was much inspired by the [Nossnaus?], but Otto, the 3.d [[Otto III]] reestab-
blished & aggrandized it one hundred years later. One part was
afterwards consumed by fire in 1236, & in 1366., & in 1358 the choir
was added, a structure at once simple, & noble, with lancet win-
-dows, & a very bold & high roof, arched. The Columns of the temple
were carried off by the French, during the Revolutionary war, to [[Paris]],
but have been restored in part since. The interior of the Cupola is
adorned with paints & sculpture, of modern date, & not excellent.
In the centre of the rotunda is the tomb of [[Charlemagne]], (who died
here in 814) with the simple inscription, in brass letters,
"Carolo magno"
Above the tomb is an enormous crown of silver, & gilt copper, suspen-
-ded by a chain affixed to the ceiling, the present of Frederic le grand [[Frederick II]],
capable of holding 48 wax tapers. In our Saviour's chapel, where
is his image on the cross, said to have been brought from [[Italy]]
by the first Bishop of this town, we were shewn two columns
of porphyry, & two of Granite, brought hither from [[Constantinople]]
by [[Charlemagne]]. The wall over the altar is [covered?] with "ex voto",
of silver legs, arms, eyes, & noses, & faces, which I looked upon with ra-
-ther more complacency, than I did upon those at Einsielden [[Einsiedeln]], be-
-because these expressed rather more a belief in the only intercecessor
Xt [Christ]. But when I saw little bit bits of wax, [shoved?] into various parts
of the human body, tied to the grating of the Chapel, & people praying
with their arms extended, as if on the cross, my patience forsook me,
& I turned away disgusted with the melancholy state of [formal?]
delusion, in which these misled votaries are kept chained
by their artful Priests. I went into the Sacristry with the hope
of finding admission to the Relic, & other precious absurdities
preserved for Ecclesiastical Juggle. Some excuse was made a-
-bout the key being lost, but, altho' [although] I did not gain a sight of them,
I found out a catalogue of them. Just the scull, & the arm
bones of Charlemagne, inclosed in a precious chest. A
golden cross, adorned with precious stones, & a bit of the true
cross, wh: [which] "on dit" Charlemagne always wore - the "cor de chasse"
of the Emperor, in Ebony, ornamented with plates of Gold. | p. 15flowers in to adorn the edifice, with the addition of some superb
work in Mosaic. [Eguides?] [[Eudes of Metz?]] was commissioned to execute the plan.
The form of the temple [soar?] antique, a rotund supported by pillars,
in the circle of wh: [which] were comprised 32 columns with Cor'nthian [Corinthian]
Capitals. Leo the 3.d [[Pope Leo III]] consecrated the edifice with much religious
ceremony & a vast concourse of dignified Ecclesiastiques in 804.
It was much inspired by the [Nossnaus?], but Otto, the 3.d [[Otto III]] reestab-
blished & aggrandized it one hundred years later. One part was
afterwards consumed by fire in 1236, & in 1366., & in 1358 the choir
was added, a structure at once simple, & noble, with lancet win-
-dows, & a very bold & high roof, arched. The Columns of the temple
were carried off by the French, during the Revolutionary war, to [[Paris]],
but have been restored in part since. The interior of the Cupola is
adorned with paints & sculpture, of modern date, & not excellent.
In the centre of the rotunda is the tomb of [[Charlemagne]], (who died
here in 814) with the simple inscription, in brass letters,
"Carolo magno"
Above the tomb is an enormous crown of silver, & gilt copper, suspen-
-ded by a chain affixed to the ceiling, the present of Frederic le grand [[Frederick II]],
capable of holding 48 wax tapers. In our Saviour's chapel, where
is his image on the cross, said to have been brought from [[Italy]]
by the first Bishop of this town, we were shewn two columns
of porphyry, & two of Granite, brought hither from [[Constantinople]]
by [[Charlemagne]]. The wall over the altar is [covered?] with "ex voto",
of silver legs, arms, eyes, & noses, & faces, which I looked upon with ra-
-ther more complacency, than I did upon those at Einsielden [[Einsiedeln]], be-
-because these expressed rather more a belief in the only intercecessor
Xt [Christ]. But when I saw little bit bits of wax, [shoved?] into various parts
of the human body, tied to the grating of the Chapel, & people praying
with their arms extended, as if on the cross, my patience forsook me,
& I turned away disgusted with the melancholy state of [formal?]
delusion, in which these misled votaries are kept chained
by their artful Priests. I went into the Sacristry with the hope
of finding admission to the Relic, & other precious absurdities
preserved for Ecclesiastical Juggle. Some excuse was made a-
-bout the key being lost, but, altho' [although] I did not gain a sight of them,
I found out a catalogue of them. Just the scull, & the arm
bones of Charlemagne, inclosed in a precious chest. A
golden cross, adorned with precious stones, & a bit of the true
cross, wh: [which] "on dit" Charlemagne always wore - the "cor de chasse"
of the Emperor, in Ebony, ornamented with plates of Gold. |
EN