By Italian seas

Peixotto Ernest Clifford

New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Bodleian Library, British Library

Scritta a quattro mani insieme alla moglie e pittrice Mary Glascock Hutchinson, l’opera vuole descrivere le coste italiane da un punto di vista naturalistico. Vuole anche essere una fedele “registrazione dello charme” che può trovarsi lontano dagli itinerari turistici più battuti. Così, se da un lato le illustrazioni dell’autore restituiscono le bellezze architettoniche e naturali dei paesaggi, dall’altro le descrizioni dei gruppi umani incontrati donando alla narrazione del viaggio un certo gusto del pittoresco.

La Dalmazia viene inserita nella descrizione odeporica dell'opera di Ernest Clifford Peixotto perché considerata essentially Italian: nell’ottobre 1901 i coniugi Peixotto giungono a Venezia e lì si imbarcano per Fiume, proseguono verso Zara, poi Sebenico. Da Spalato compiono due escursioni via terra risalendo la Riviera dei Sette Castelli, fino a Traù, e discendendo lungo la costa attraverso il monte Biocovo fino al delta della Narenta e a Mostar. Le ultime tappe del viaggio sono la peace-loving Ragusa e le Bocche di Cattaro.

Itinerari del libro di viaggio

“A quiet day lolling in steamer-chairs with the propeller’s thud beneath us. The breath of the bora bears us along, the crested whitecaps chase us. To the east, the Vélébit wraps its ashen summits in foggy sheets; low-lying islands girt with s... leggi tutto

Zara

“No suspicion of a town has yet been revealed to the eye when the grim walls and ugly throats of the guns of Fort San Niccolo threaten to dispute the rocky defile into which our steamer enters - a passage so narrow that one can throw a stone across... leggi tutto

Sebenico

“From Sebenico a little railroad, recently constructed, takes one on to Spalato. The distance is about forty miles, to which one gives five hours in the train! The track first winds through small inlaid valleys planted with vines, whose autumn russ... leggi tutto

Monte Mosor

“Almost half of Spalato’s 20,000 souls live within the walls of Diocletian’s palace. This latter is a rectangle, built upon the plan of the fortified Roman camp, enclosing within its cyclopean walls, eighty feet in height, an entire quarter of ... leggi tutto

Spalato

“DRIVE ALONG THE RIVIERA OF THE SEVEN CASTLES. Our light open carriage, drawn by two fast horses, skims over a broad white road. The driver, a Dalmatian of the coast, speaks good Italian and cocks his red cap saucily, like Tommy Atkins, over his le... leggi tutto

Sette Castelli

“Stone tables rest on classic pillars and inverted Roman capitals take the place of benches. So we know that we are approaching ancient Salone - Rome’s proudest city in Illyria. Soon antique walls appear and the horses pull heavily over loose sto... leggi tutto

Salona

“Among tall shafts of aloes the spires and towers of Trau appear, and we leave our carriage at its gate. Trau is not clean; in fact, it is the only dirty town we found in Dalmatia. The streets are dark and dismal and a ray of sunlight scarce ever t... leggi tutto

Traù

“The cliffs of Biokovo were long dreaded by honest mariners, for all through the middle ages they were a favorite haunt of pirates. But what a superb front they turn to the sea! Ashen mountains tower to the very heavens. On their summits, as on Jov... leggi tutto

Monte Biocovo

“As I lean over the rail, the blue, transparent sea suddenly turns yellowish and turbid. Looking up, I see that we have changed our course and are heading landwards, and in a moment we enter the mouth of a river, the Narenta. Its murky waters are c... leggi tutto

Delta della Narenta

“After leaving the Trebisnjica with the moon shining on its waters or hiding behind the racing clouds, our train crossed the mountains, then corkscrewed in wide loops down the peaks. Far below in fathomless hollows lay villages, slumbering on hill-... leggi tutto

Ragusa

“A narrow passage between two formidable forts and the heavy waters of the open sea, dashing in foam on rocky crags, are still as if by magic, and we glide into a land-locked bay. Ahead of us mountains tower. A wondrous pearly light flitting throug... leggi tutto

Bocche di Cattaro

“Cattaro, intrenched behind grim walls, hums with early morning life, and the markets and bazaars swarm with Montenegrins and Albanians driving bargains with Herzegovinians and swarthy Turks, for Cattaro is a focal point in West Balkan life. […].... leggi tutto

Cattaro