rau is tolerably rich in the remains of ancient houses, of which the
drawing shows an example. The most celebrated is the Casa Cippico facing
the cathedral, of late Venetian-Gothic verging on Renaissance. The court
inside was built in 1457. In the entrance hall are preserved two wooden
prow ensigns taken from the Venetian galleys during war between Trau and
Spalato; one is in the form of a cock standing on a clenched hand, the
other a fragment of a small figure of a man. Also an inscription flanked
by two shields with rampant lions, which are good. Opposite the Loggia,
on the other side of the street, is a highly decorative lintel, which
appears to have belonged to a palace of the Cippico, with two
contemplative lions and half-length angels in roundels with scrolls. The
caps have the same kind of foliage as is seen at Curzoia and Sebenico.
The Austrian-Lloyd office is on the ground floor of a tower of the
Venetian period, now a nunnery. It has a trefoiled ogee-window and a
great balcony above it, with trellises behind which the nuns can take
the air without being seen, recalling those of Sicilian nunneries. All
the other openings are square-headed.

[Illustration: A DECAYED PALACE, TRAU

_To face page 282_]

The ruined church of S. Giovanni, formerly belonging to a Benedictine
nunnery, has exactly the same patterns about it as the cathedral, and
must be of the same date. Along the nave walls, and ramping up the
gables, is a double-arched corbel cornice with pilasters at the angles,
and a bell turret consisting of a prolongation of the nave wall, gabled
and with three pointed arched openings, two below, and one above. In the
tympanum of the door is a pierced roundel with the Agnus Dei.

[Illustration: LATE GOTHIC LINTEL AT TRAU]

The Palazzo Comunale has been rebuilt, preserving the portions which
were of special interest, and also pieces of architectural carving from
other parts of the city. Its interest is therefore rather that of a
museum now. I was fortunate enough, on one of my visits, to have the
guidance of the podesta, Commendatore Madirazza, to whom I had been
introduced by Professor Bulic at Spalato. I have to thank him for
showing me several things I should otherwise have missed.

From Bua (Bavo or Boa), an island used by the Romans as a place of
exile, a comprehensive view of Trau may be obtained, with towers and
campanile breaking the line of the houses, with the strait in the
foreground, and with boat