Ceder the fine portico on the north side of the building, constructed by Pope Sixtus V. from designs by Fontana, Is the celebrated Scala S.W.% or' Holy Staircase,' which it said to contain a number of steps from the hones of Pilate, which Josue Christ ascended, and which are held in great %alteration. Pious people ascend them on their knees, and to prevent the steps from being worn out, they have been covered sr4th board& East of the Lateran, and in the eastern angle of the city, stands the Boothe* of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, which was built. near the Ansphithestrnm Castrenas by the empress Helena. It derives its name fives the circumstance that • portion of the true cross is deposited lo it, and that earth brought from Jerusalem was mixed with the foundation& This basilica was consecrated by St. Sylvester, and has been often repaired. Underneath the church is the chapel of St. Helens, which is decorated with mosaics. The consecration of the Golden Rose, soot by the Pope annually to one of the great Catholic sovereigns, takes place in the Basilica of Santa Croce.
The great basilicas, namely St. Peter's, St. John, Lateran, Santa Maria Maggiors, and Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, are within the walls. Outside the walls are three other basilicas of great antiquity and historical interest. 1. The Baglica of San Paolo Fuori le 31uro (or St.. Paul without the walls), about 4 miles from the city on the road to Oetl., was founded by Constantine the Great above the tomb of the apostle. It was rebuilt by the emperor Theodosius on the original plan, which was carefully preserved in all the subsequent repairs and restorations. This church, formerly unrivalled for its magnificence and for its collection of Christian antiquities, after divine worship had been performed in it for about 1500 years, was destroyed by fire iu 1 S 2 4. It has been since rebuilt, and was consecrated by Pope Pius IX. in 1554. The site of this church is exposed to malaria in the summer months. This basilica was under the protection of the kings of England before the Reformation. 2. The Basilica of San Lorenzo is a mile outside the walls on the road to Tivoli. It was founded by the *wpm. Placidia, and entirely rebuilt by Pope Pelagius If. in A.D. 578. The portico, of six Ionic columns, four of which are twisted, is sup posed to date from the 8th century. Among the vast collection of Christian antiquities in this church, which is built over the tomb of St. Lawrence, are two marble ambones, or pulpits, relics of the earliest ages of Christianity. From one of the chapels in this church there is a descent to the catacombs of Santa Cyriaca. 3. About two miles out of the city, on the Appian way, is the Basilica of San Sebastiano, which was founded about the time of Constantine, but the' present structure was erected in 1611 by Cardinal Borghese. The sanctuary is
famous for its relics. Under the altar of one of the chapels is the tomb of St. Sebastian. There is an entrance from this basilica to the celebrated catacombs of St. Caliatus, in which the Christians of Pagan Rome met for divine worship and for concealment, and in which they buried the remains of martyrs to the faith.
The palaces of the nobility form another class of interesting objects. They are generally buildings of princely magnitude and imposing style. containing vast coorta and long ranges of spacious apartments, and Rome can boast of a greater number of these than any other capital in the world. In point however of interior comfort, neatness, or splendour, most of them are sadly deficient. The walls are of Travertino, or Ttburtioe stone, the pillars and staircases are frequently of marble and other costly materials. The ground-floor is either let as shops or used for coach-houses, stables, kitchens, or other menial tame, and the sriod owe are guarded with • strong iron-grating, without glass behind it, which givra to the lower part of the building the appearance of a prison. Several of the Roman palaces are partly let to lodgers, and the owners occupy only one floor, or part of a floor; the building being too large for any aloes family to live in, except ouch as • baronial family of the feudal times with its numerous dependents. The higher and wealthier Roman nobles however, the Borgbaes, Colonna, Doris, Rosplglioai, end others, still retain some thing of that feudal state, although they have lost their feudal jurisdiction.
The villas of the Roman nobility are more pleasant than their pettier*, and resemble much the country-houses of the wealthy ltomaos of old. Several of the villas are within the walls of Rome, such as Medici, Plombino, Mattel, and Coraini; others are outside of the walls, such as the Villa Parnfill, on the Janiculum; Villa Pattiz', outside of Porta Pia; and the 'ala Madams, upon Monte Mario. The Villa Albaol, although plundered by the French in 1798, has recovered so much of Its tresauros as to be reckoned the third museum of anti quities in Rome, and next to the Vatican and the Capitol. Cardinal Alessandro Albani, who created this noble villa and its still nobler museum towards the middle of the 18th century, made it the business of his life; he was a man of taste and an enthusiast for antiquity and the fine arts. Among the finest sculptures are—the rilievo of Antinoue, the Thetis found in the villa of Antoninus Pius at Lent:villa:, the Minerva, the Jupiter, the Apollo Saurectonos, Diogenes in his tub, the two Caryatides representing Grecian basket-bearera, the bassi-rilievi of the triumph of M. Aurelius and others. The contents of the museum Albani are illustrated in the works of Winckelmann.