LEGHORN. 50. Route. 339
war. Montesquieu consequently calls Leghorn 'the masterpiece of
the dynasty of the Medici'. — The population amounts to upwards
of 80,000, or, including the suburbs, 97,700 souls (many of whom
are Jews), exclusive of a fluctuating sea-faring community of fully
3000. The town carries on a brisk trade with the Levant in cotton,
wool, and unbleached silk, and with the Black Sea in grain. The
most important industries are the manufactures of coral ornaments
and oil.
Leghorn, which is a well built, thoroughly modern place, con¬
tains little to detain the traveller. The Harbour is a very busy
spot. The inner harbour (Porto Vecchio, or Mediceo) is too shallow
to admit vessels of large tonnage; the Porto Nuovo was therefore
constructed during the present century, to the W. of the old har¬
bour, and protected from the open sea by a semicircular mole.
Picturesque glimpses are obtained hence of the sea with the islands
of Elba, Gorgona, and Capraja. An excursion by boat will be
found pleasant in fine weather (IV2 fr- Per hr., bargain necessary).
By the harbour is the Statue of the Grand Duke Ferdinand I. (PL
10), by Giov. delV Opera, with four Turkish slaves ('I quattro
Mori') in bronze by Pietro Tacca. On the pier, which is 500 yds.
in length, rises the Lighthouse {Faro or Lanterna; PL B, 3), the
platform of which affords a good survey of the town, harbour, and sea.
The town is intersected by canals, and connected by a navi¬
gable canal with the Arno, the influx of which is 7 M. to the N.
The Corso Vittorio Emmanuele, the principal street (PL D, E, 3),
contains tempting shops, where objects in coral, scagliolo (an
imitation of mosaic), Oriental shawls, etc., may be purchased at
reasonable prices. It leads from the harbour to the spacious Piazza
d'Armi (PL D, 3), in which the cathedral, the town-hall (PL 13),
and a small palace formerly owned by the royal family, are situated.
It proceeds thence to the Piazza Carlo Alberto (PL E, 3) , adorned
with colossal Statues of Ferdinand III. (d. 1824) and Leopold II.,
the last but one, and the last grand-duke of Tuscany respectively.
The original inscription on the latter was replaced in 1860 by
another to the effect that the 'dinastia Austro-Lorenese si e resa
assolutamente incompatibile con l'ordine e la felicita. della Tos-
cana'. — The large Synagogue (PL 22), founded in 1581, dates in
its present form from 1603. — The Protestant Cemetery contains
the graves of Tobias Smollett and Francis Horner.
Walks. Pleasant grounds to the S., outside the Porta a Mare,
and along the coast by the road to Ardenza; also in the Giardino
dei Bagni (adm. 50 c), in the same neighbourhood, where a band
plays every evening during the bathing-season (Caffe). Farther on
are the sea-bathing establishments mentioned at p. 338, and beyond
them Ardenza, with numerous villas. Comp. Plan B, 4, 5.
22*
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