The road lies in a right line the whole way. About three miles
distant from Pavia on the Milan side stands the celebrated _Certosa_, which
we stopped to visit. The church of the _Certosa_ contains the greatest
quantity of riches in marbles, and precious stones, of any building in the
world, probably. The architecture is Gothic, and the workmanship of the
exterior exquisite; but the ulterior is most dazzling; and at the sight of
the rich marbles and innumerable precious stones of all kinds with which it
abounds, I was reminded of Aladdin and began to fancy myself in the cavern
of the Wonderful Lamp. This church was built by Galeazzo Visconti, whose
coffin is here, and his statue also, in white marble. There are several
bas-reliefs of exquisite workmanship. There are no fewer than seventeen
altars here and of the most beautiful structure you can conceive, being
inlaid in mosaic with jasper, onyx and lapis-lazuli. Besides these precious
marbles of every colour and quantity under heaven, here are abundance of
rubies, emeralds, amethysts, aquamarines and topazes, incrusted in the
different chapels and altars. Here again is a proof of the falsehood and
injustice of the aspersions cast on the French army, as being the
plunderers of churches; for if they were so, how comes it that the
_Certosa_ the richest of all, was spared? Mr Eustace[119] in his admiration
of Church splendour, should at least have given the French no small degree
of credit for their abstinence from so rich a prize.
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