John Evelyn’s diary, 1645

We saw pass the new officers of the people of Rome; especially, for their noble habits were most conspicuous, the three Consuls, now called Conservators, who take…

Was the ceremony of our Savior's baptism in the Church of St. Athanasius, and at Ara Celi was a great procession, del Bambino, as they call it, where were all the…

A sermon was preached to the Jews, at Ponte Sisto, who are constrained to sit till the hour is done; but it is with so much malice in their countenances, spitting,…

The heads of St. Peter and St. Paul are exposed at St. John Laterano.

The zitelle, or young wenches, which are to have portions given them by the Pope, being poor, and to marry them, walked in procession to St. Peter's, where the…

I went to see the Pope's Palace, the Vatican, where he for the most part keeps his Court. It was first built by Pope Symmachus, and since augmented to a vast pile…

We went without the walls of the city to visit St. Paul's, to which place it is said the Apostle bore his own head after Nero had caused it to be cut off. The…

I went again to the Palazzo Farnese, to see some certain statues and antiquities which, by reason of the Major-Domo not being within, I could not formerly obtain.…

We dined at Sermonetta, descending all this morning down a stony mountain, unpleasant, yet full of olive trees; and, anon, pass a tower built on a rock, kept by a…

We descried Mount Cæcubus, famous for the generous wine it heretofore produced, and so rode onward the Appian Way, beset with myrtles, lentiscuses, bays,…

About noon we entered the city of Naples, alighting at the Three Kings, where we found the most plentiful fare all the time we were in Naples. Provisions are…

We were invited to the collection of exotic rarities in the Museum of Ferdinando Imperati, a Neapolitan nobleman, and one of the most observable palaces in the…

This day we beheld the Vice-king's procession, which was very splendid for the relics, banners, and music that accompanied the Blessed Sacrament. The ceremony took…

We went by coach to take the air, and see the diversions, or rather madness of the Carnival; the courtesans (who swarm in this city to the number, as we are told,…

The next day, being Saturday, we went four miles out of town on mules, to see that famous volcano, Mount Vesuvius. Here we pass a fair fountain, called Labulla,…

Returned to Naples, we went to see the Arsenal, well furnished with galleys and other vessels. The city is crowded with inhabitants, gentlemen and merchants. The…

I went to Santa Cecilia, a church built and endowed by Cardinal Sfrondæti, who has erected a stately altar near the body of this martyr, not long before found in a…

Mr. Henshaw and I walked by the Tiber, and visited the Stola Tybertina (now St. Bartholomew's), formerly cut in the shape of a ship, and wharfed with marble, in…

I was invited, after dinner, to the Academy of the Humorists, kept in a spacious hall belonging to Signor Mancini, where the wits of the town meet on certain days…

We walked to St. Nicholas in Carcere; it has a fair front, and within are parts of the bodies of St. Mark and Marcellino; on the Tribuna is a painting of…

I went, this afternoon, to visit my Lord John Somerset, brother to the Marquis of Worcester, who had his apartment in Palazzo della Cancellaria, belonging to…

I went, as was my usual custom, and spent an afternoon in Piazza Navona, as well as to see what antiquities I could purchase among the people who hold market there…

I walked in the morning up the hill toward the Capuchins, where was then Cardinal Unufrio (brother to the late Pope Urban VIII.) of the same order. He built them a…

I went to Trinitá del Monte, a monastery of French, a noble church built by Louis XI. and Charles VIII., the chapels well painted, especially that by Zaccara da…

I went to hear a sermon at St. Giacomo degli Incurabili, a fair church built by F. da Volterra, of good architecture, and so is the hospital, where only desperate…

We walked to St. Roche's and Martine's, near the brink of the Tiber, a large hospital for both sexes. Hence, to the Mausoleum Augusti, between the Tiber and the Via…

I was invited by a Dominican Friar, whom we usually heard preach to a number of Jews, to be godfather to a converted Turk and Jew. The ceremony was performed in the…

Ascending the hill, we came to the Forum Trajanum, where his column stands yet entire, wrought with admirable basso-relievo recording the Dacian war, the figures at…

In the morning Mr. Henshaw and myself walked to the Trophies of Marius, erected in honor of his victory over the Cimbrians, but these now taken out of their niches…

At the Greek Church, we saw the Eastern ceremonies performed by a Bishop, etc., in that tongue. Here the unfortunate Duke and Duchess of Bouillon received their…

St. Veronica's handkerchief (with the impression of our Savior's face) was exposed, and the next day the spear, with a world of ceremony. On Holy Thursday, the Pope…

Having seen the entry of the ambassador of Lucca, I went to the Vatican, where, by favor of our Cardinal Protector, Fran. Barberini, I was admitted into the…

We took coach, and went fifteen miles out of the city to Frascati, formerly Tusculum, a villa of Cardinal Aldobrandini, built for a country house; but surpassing,…

We rested ourselves; and next day, in a coach, took our last farewell of visiting the circumjacent places, going to Tivoli, or the old Tiburtum. At about six miles…

I intended to have seen Loretto, but, being disappointed of moneys long expected, I was forced to return by the same way I came, desiring, if possible, to be at…

We dined at Viterbo, and lay at St. Laurenzo. Next day, at Radicofani, and slept at Turnera.

We dined at Sienna, where we could not pass admiring the great church built entirely both within and without with white and black marble in polished squares, by…

The next morning, finding myself extremely weary and beaten with my journey, I went to one of their bagnios, where you are treated after the eastern manner, washing…

I had news from Padua of my election to be Syndicus Artistarum, which caused me, after two days idling in a country villa with the Consul of Venice, to hasten…

My dear friend, and till now my constant fellow-traveler, Mr. Thicknesse, being obliged to return to England upon his particular concern, and who had served his…

Michaelmas day, I went with my Lord Mowbray (eldest son to the Earl of Arundel, and a most worthy person) to see the collection of a noble Venetian, Signor Rugini.…

Being my birthday, the nuns of St. Catherine's sent me flowers of silkwork. We were very studious all this winter till Christmas, when on Twelfth-day, we invited…

In January, Signor Molino was chosen Doge of Venice, but the extreme snow that fell, and the cold, hindered my going to see the solemnity, so as I stirred not from…