Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/360

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VICENZA VICKSBURG now edition has been issued by Barreto Feio and Monteiro (3 vols., Hamburg, 1834). VICENZA. I. A N. E. province of Italy, in Venetia, bordering on Tyrol and the prov- inces of Belluno, Treviso, Padua, and Verona; area, 1,016 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 863,161. The principal towns are Vicenza and Bassano. In the north the surface is traversed by sev- eral offsets from the Alps, but in the south it is level or undulating. The most important rivers are the Bacchiglione and the Brenta. There are considerable tracts of forest with much valuable timber ; abundant chestnut trees furnish food for a great part of the pop- ulation. The level country is remarkably fer- tile. A large quantity of silk is produced. Cattle and sheep are numerous. Several coal mines are worked, and silk, linen, and wool- len goods, hardware, porcelain, paper, gold and silver articles, and leather are manufactured. It is divided into 10 districts. II. A city (anc. Vicentia or Vicetia), capital of the province, in a fine hilly region, at the junction of the Bacchiglione and Retrone, 37 m. W. by N. of Venice; pop. in 1872, 87,686. To Palladio, who was born here, is ascribed the finest of the eight bridges, and he built many of the celebrated public and private palaces. Among the former are the town hall and the prefec- ture. The finest square is the piazza dei Si- gnori, in which are the two columns character- istic of most Venetian cities. In the market place is a remarkable belfry 270 ft. high and only 23 ft. wide. Of the 19 churches, the cathedral and the church of S. Lorenzo, and especially Sta. Corona near the Corso, are noteworthy for their architecture and pictures. Palladio began to build in the piazza d'Isola the teatro Olimpico, on the ancient plan, and it was completed by his son; it is now in a rather dilapidated condition. In the museum is a large picture gallery, and there are several gymnasia, a lyceuin, a college, and a palace for the resident bishop. The sanctuary of Monte Berico is joined to Vicenza by arcades begin- ning at the triumphal arch of the Lupia gate ; at the foot of it is Palladio's villa, copied in the duke of Devonshire's villa at Chiswick, and described by Goethe as a marvel of splen- dor. The finest promenade is the Campo Marzio, which contains a triumphal arch and the railway station. The campo santo or ceme- tery is an extensive building with many fine monuments. Vicentia was a municipium of Venetia under the Romans. In the 12th cen- tury the city was among the earliest members of the Lombard league against the emperor Frederick I. In 1236 it was devastated by Frederick II. Henry VII. gave Vicenza in fief to the Scala family, and this and other local families were at the head of the government until it passed in 1404 to the Venetians, who recovered it in 1516 after it had been for some time in the hands of Maximilian I. It came into the possession of Austria in 1815. In 1848 Vicenza rose against the Austrians, who bombarded it in May and June, and it surren- dered on June 11 to Radetzky. VICEXZA, Duk of. See CACLAINXJOUBT. VICHY, a town of France, in the department ef Allier, on the right bank of the river Allier, which is here crossed by a suspension bridge, 80 m. S. of Moulins ; pop. in 1872, 6,028. It consists of an old and a new town, known as Vichy-la-Ville and Vichy-les-Bains. There are several churches and hospitals, a fine park, a new English park, and a casino consisting of three parts joined by two arcades. It has eight principal springs. (See MINERAL SPBINGS.) The season lasts from May to October. Under the second empire, when the place was greatly improved and enlarged, the annual visitors numbered over 15,000. VICKSBURG, a city and port of entry of Mis- sissippi, county seat of Warren co., on the E. bank of the Mississippi river, about 400 m. above New Orleans and nearly the same below Memphis, Tenn., and on the Vicksburg and Meridian railroad, 45 m. by rail W. of Jack- son, the state capital ; pop. in 1850, 2,678 ; in 1860, 4,591 ; in 1870, 12,443, of whom 6,805 were colored and 1,416 foreigners; in 1875, locally estimated at 15,000. The site is eleva* ted and very uneven, rising in terraces from the river. The streets are narrow but regular- ly laid out, and some of them are paved. The court house is a magnificent building, which cost about $150,000. About 3 m. N. of the city is an extensive national cemetery. Steam- ers run tri-weekly to St. Louis, and almost daily to New Orleans. The North Louisiana and Texas railroad, starting from the opposite bank of the Mississippi, extends to Monroe, La. The Vicksburg and Ship Island railroad is in course of construction. Vicksburg is surrounded by a rich cotton-growing region, and is the principal commercial point between Memphis and New Orleans. About 200,000 bales of cotton are shipped annually. The chief manufactories are one of cotton-seed oil, consuming 500 bushels of seed a day, a rolling mill and foundery, the railroad car works, two machine shops, two breweries, four planing mills, several saw mills, a manufactory of boil- ers, and several of carriages and wagons and of saddlery and harness. There are two banks, with a joint capital of $250,000; four public schools, with an average attendance of about 1,000, white and colored, besides two Roman Catholic and two private schools ; a daily and three weekly newspapers ; a city hospital ; and eight churches, Baptist, Episcopal (2), Jewish, Methodist (2), Presbyterian, and Roman Cath- olic, besides three or four for colored people. Vicksburg was settled in 1836 and incorpora- ted in 1840. As early as January, 1861, imme- diately after the adoption by Mississippi of the ordinance of secession, the governor of the state planted guns at Vicksburg to detain for exami- nation all steamers passing down the river. The capture of New Orleans in April, 1862, gave the federals virtual possession of the Mississippi