he chapels, transepts, nave, and
towers rising one above another, a beautiful specimen of early Italian
Gothic, still strongly impressed with the Lombard spirit.

[Illustration: SANTA ANASTASIA.]

This Romanesque character is what gives the particular stamp to most of
the sacred buildings in Verona, making them a study as distinct in their
way as the Norman churches at Caen. They belong to one period and one
style, although this is a transitional one: the slender pillars of the
porches resting on crouching lions, the round-headed arches, the plain,
square, soaring _campanili_, a majestic boldness and simplicity in general
effect, an unconscious quaintness in detail, the line of the prevailing
red marble contrasting gratefully with the layers of many-toned gray
spread by time over the walls, produce a combination of form and color
delightful to the eye. The older, original edifice is seldom visible from
without: what remains of it is completely built in and over, and is
generally to be found in the crypt. Notwithstanding the stateliness and
interest of the cathedral, San Zenone was the church to which our steps
returned most persistently. It is composed of three churches of very
different date, the first having been erected soon after the year 800, the
second in 1138, the third three hundred years later. The main building,
which is of the twelfth century, is sunk far below the level of the
ground: one descends into it from the main portal by ten steps; and this
unusual mode of entrance, the depth, the great height, the rigid absence
of ornament, the grave colors, the long unbroken lines of the nave, give
the interior a remarkable solemnity, and create an impression and emotion
as different as possible from those excited by churches of a later
construction, with their florid architecture, their opulence of sculpture
and carving, their statues and ornate monuments, their gorgeous paintings,
their stained-glass windows--temples

Where the awe of worship mingles with the throbbing of delight.

The austere grandeur of San Zenone turns the soul inward upon a range of
meditations which a Puritan need not disclaim. The nave terminates in one
double flight of steps leading up to the second, most modern church, which
is raised above the first and terminates in a pointed tribune; and another
double flight which leads down to the vast vaulted crypt, with its pillars
and recesses, which is the oldest part of the structure. This