which a council had been held by Pope Nicholas II.; and the castle, with its superb towers, the famous seat of the Normans; the spire of the cathedral, which had resisted the earthquakes of 1348 and 1456, and, above all, that of 1694, which desolated these regions, as we learn from several documents, lost its summit. The dome, which had been thrown down by the last-mentioned earthquake, and rebuilt in another style, was once more destroyed; the college, the other churches, the monasteries, and convents, were thrown down, and the nuns were obliged to remain for many days in a log hut erected expressly for them, from which they were removed by the royal command to another convent near Avigliano.[1] The rest of the buildings, mostly ill constructed, could not stand when the best fell. The rock itself on which the city was built, being naturally incoherent, was split, fractured, or opened, so that in many places you could see to the foundations of the houses. At Porte Calcinara the ground opened more than a metre and a half in diameter, and shortly after the walls of the gate were swallowed up, On the south side of the hill, portions of building belonging to the foundations of the houses were seen rolled together with the dislodged tufa. Similar fragments of tufa and lava were observed in other places, both in Melfi and its environs: for instance, near the fallen Church of Madonna di Macera, three miles north of the city, and on the Bendina road, near the Ponte del Passo. The ruins of the desolated city of Melfi show evident signs of the vertical shock: for example, pillars broken at the base, or at the joinings of the stones, while they still retain their upright position; chimneys lifted up and replaced in a somewhat different position. This has been erroneously considered by some a sign of rotatory motion, but we found no trace of the kind.[2]
- ↑ Melfi had seventeen churches, large and small, comprising those of the P.P.Osservanti, commonly called Capuchins: of these, three, besides the cathedral, formed parishes; all were destroyed, or rendered dangerous. At this present time some are being repaired through the liberality of the king, who, with paternal solicitude, hastened to visit his distressed subjects.
- ↑ Signor D. Francesco Granata, of Rionero, to whom, as well as to the brothers Catena we beg to express our gratitude, told us, that, being seated at table with the Bishop of Melfi, on the 14th of August, he observed that his Grace's snuff-box was several times thrown up and down on the table with great violence.
