The Journal of Montaigne's Travels in Italy (Volume 3)

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1903. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... X THE BATHS OF LUCCA All the country round this place is hilly. In front of the bath and along the river the ground is level for some three or four hundred feet, and above this the bath-house is built upon the side of a hill of moderate height, at somewhat the same elevation as the spring at Banieres, where the patients drink the water close to the town. The bath itself stands on a level site and includes thirty or forty houses, excellently appointed for the purpose, with beautiful rooms, which are all private and entirely at the disposition of the hirer, and with an inner cabinet. Each apartment has two doors, one for communication with other chambers, and the other for separate use. I inspected almost every house before I made my bargain, and fixed ultimately on the one which commanded the fairest view, that is, with regard to the chamber I selected. From this I could look over the whole of the little valley, the course of the Lima,1 and the mountains, which enclose the valley aforesaid, all beautifully cultivated and green to the summit, thick set with chestnuts and olives, and in some places with vines, which they plant all round the mountains, letting the circles rise one above the other in terraces. The outside edge of each terrace is varied somewhat and is planted with vines, while the lower portion of the same is under corn. In my chamber I could hear all night long the soft ripple of the river below. Near to the houses a space is set apart for promenade, open on one side, and built terrace fashion, with a trellis constructed at the public cost. From here may be discerned, lying two hundred feet below on the bank HOUSEHOLD DETAILS 39 1 A tributary of the Serchio, which rises near Pistoia. of the stream, a pretty little village, where also baths ...