from Voyages historiques de l'Europe... par Claude Jordan de Colombier, 1694

Plaifance eft la feconde Ville des Etats du Duc de parme, qui en fon particulier a titre Duché, & un Eveché fuffragant de Boulogne; on croit que fon nom lui a été donné de fa fituation, qui eft dans une plaine extremement fertile; elle eft voifine de la riviere du Po, & peut avoir cinq mille de circuit. On montre prés de la Ville, du coté du couchant, l'endroit où St. Anthoine fit perir par le feu du Ciel, les Soldats qui fe monquoient de fon nom. On voit dans la grande place de Plaifance, la fontaine que Cesar Augufte y fit conduire, & la Statue de bronze à cheval, d'Alexandre I. duc de Parme.

A travers la Provence et l'Italie : souvenirs de voyage par Mme Noémie Dondel Du Faouëdic, 1871

Plaisance n'a rien de plaisant; trop grande pour sa population, son aspect est désert et triste, et ses anciens remparts, couronnés de fleurs et de verdure, au lieu de bronze et de fer, servent de promenade. A quelque distance, nous avons cotoyé du railway, l'ancienne voie Emilienne, construite par le consul Emilius Lepidus, 187 ans avant notre ère.

from The Pension Beaurepas by Henry James, 1886

She hesitated a moment. "Everywhere that there's a pension. Mamma is devoted to pensions. We have lived, at one time or another, in every pension in Europe."

"Well, I should think you had seen about enough," said Miss Ruck.

"It's a delightful way of seeing Europe," Aurora rejoined, with her brilliant smile. "You may imagine how it has attached me to the different countries. I have such charming souvenirs! There is a pension awaiting us now at Dresden,--eight francs a day, without wine. That's rather dear. Mamma means to make them give us wine. Mamma is a great authority on pensions; she is known, that way, all over Europe. Last winter we were in Italy, and she discovered one at Piacenza,--four francs a day. We made economies."

from Notes et souvenirs par Fiorillo Fournier, 1882

Juin, 1863 A Plaisance, la plaine recommence, et cette ville est aussi peu accidentée qu'Alexandrie, sa rivale en fortifications; le canon des remparts commande le Po, et c'est de là que part la voie Emilienne, qui, sans déviation, traverse les anciens duchés et les Romagnes: un beau ruban! De Plaisance les Italiens on fait un vast camp retranché; la paix de Villafranca a laissé la Lombardie sans protection contre un retour offensif des Autrichiens, le camp de Plaisance la protège, quoique imparfaitement. C'est une cité fort ancienne, dont toute l'importance est dans la position stratégique; on la dit monumentale, dèpeuplé, sans industrie, sans commerce, un désert de maisons et de palais, avec deux ridicules statues équestres des Farnèse.

from Notes sur Rome et l'Italie par Louis Teste, 1873

Novembre, 1872. Je n'ai eu que le temps d'entrevoir Plaisance et je l'ai vu trop peu pour vous parler des impressions que j'y ai à peine ébauchées. S'il me fallait visiter minutieusement chaque ville, contempler chaque monument, braquer mes yeux sur chaque fresque, je ne reviendrais probablement pas d'Italie, ce dont je me concolerais, à la rigueur. Plaisance n'a pas d'ailleurs une physionomie très-engageante; ses remparts ruinés, ses palais et ses églises en briques sales, ses maisons délabrés, ses voies désertes, bien que ce soit aujourd'hui jour de marché, m'ont fait prendre la fuite aussi vite que mes occupations l'exigeaient. Il n'y avait plus de neige dans les champs, meme avant Plaisance. La pluie avait cessé en meme temps; et, soit satisfaction de ne plus me croire au Groenland, soit que la campagne fut plus belle, j'y promenais ma lorgnette avec un plus vif intérèt.

from Notes of a journey through France and Italy by William Hazlitt, 1826

This became more remarkably the case, as we entered the territories of Maria-Louisa (the little States of Parma and Placentia) when, for two whole days, we literally travelled through an uninterrupted succession of cornfields, vineyards and orchards, all in the highest state of cultivation, with the hedges neatly clipped into a kind of trellis-work, and the vines hanging in festoons from tree to tree, or clinging "with marriageable arms"¹ round the branches of each regularly planted and friendly support. It was more like passing through a number of orchard-plots or garden-grounds in the neighbourhood of some great city (such as London) than making a journey through a wide and extensive tract of country. Not a common came in sight, nor a single foot of waste or indifferent ground. It became tedious at last from the richness, the neatness, and the uniformity ; for the whole was worked up to an ideal model, and so exactly a counterpart of itself, that it was like looking out of a window at the same identical spot, instead of passing on to new objects every instant. We were saturated even with beauty and comfort, and were disposed to repeat the wish "To-morrow to fresh fields and pastures new."² A white square villa, or better sort of farm-house, sometimes stared on us from the end of a long, strait avenue of poplars, standing in ostentatious, unadorned nakedness, and in a stiff, meagre, and very singular taste. What is the cause of the predilection of the Italians for straight lines and unsheltered walls ? Is it for the sake of security or vanity ? The desire of seeing everything or of being seen by every one? The only thing that broke the uniformity of the scene, or gave an appearance of wretchedness or neglect to the country, was the number of dry beds of the torrents of melted snow and ice that came down from the mountains in the breaking up of the winter, and that stretched their wide, comfortless, unprofitable length across these valleys in their progress to the Adriatic. Some of them were half a mile in breadth, and had stately bridges over them, with innumerable arches (the work, it seems, of Maria Louisa) some of which we crossed over, others we rode under. We approached the first of them by moonlight, arid the effect of the long, white, glimmering, sepulchral arches was as ghastly then as it is dreary in the day-time. There is something almost preternatural in the sensation they excite, particularly when your nerves have been agitated and harassed during several days' journey, and you are disposed to startle at everything in a questionable shape. You do not know what to make of them. They seem like the skeletons of bridges over the dry bones and dusty relics of rivers. It is as if some mighty concussion of the earth had swept away the water, and left the bridge standing in stiffened horror over it. It is a new species of desolation, as flat, dull, disheartening, and hopeless as can be imagined. Mr. Crabbe should travel post to Italy on purpose to describe it, and to add it to his list of prosaic horrors. While here, he might also try his hand upon an Italian vintage, and if he does not squeeze the juice and spirit out of it, and leave nothing but the husk and stalks, I am much mistaken. As we groped our way under the stony ribs of the first of these structures that we came to, one of the arches within which the moonlight fell, presented a momentary appearance of a woman in a white dress and hood, stooping to gather stones. I wish I had the petrific pencil of the ingenious artist above-named, that I might imbody this flitting shadow in a permanent form.

Notes:

1. From John Milton's Paradise Lost

2. From John Milton's poem Lycidas

from Letters from France and Italy by P. Pounden, letter XV, 1830

Placentia is the capital belonging to the ex-Empress Maria Louisa ; she arrived in it on the same day as we. The city was illuminated on the occasion, and the Duchess at evening went in procession through the town, affording a lesson for ambition to muse upon ; and realizing to our view, the sad features of splendid misery. Her dignity degraded by an alliance she disdained ; or her wodded heart for ever bleeding, while she thinks upon her hope, less separation from the man she loves.

from Travels of the late Charles Thompson esq., Vol. I, 1744

From Cremona we had fifteen Miles to Piacenza, or Placentia, fo call'd from its pleafant Situation, in a fruitful Plain, about half a Mile from the Po. It is a Bifhop's See, and has an ancient Cathedral, the Infide of which is well adorn'd. The Streets are broad, the Buildings regular, and the Squares fpacious; particularly that which has an Equeftrian Statue of Alexander I, Duke of Parma and Piacenza, in the Middle of it. We fee here a Fountain, which is much admir'd for its Antiquity, fuppofed to have been erected by Augustus Caesar. Here is alfo a Palace belonging to the Dukes of Parma. The City is wall'd round, has a ftrong Citadel, and other Fortifications. It is not populous; and its Trade confifts chiefly in Cheefe, being furrounded with the richeft Paftures, water'd with numerous Rivulets.

from Memories of my exile by Lajos Kossuth, june 1859

No railway runs beyond Stradella. I started at ten o'clock at night by carriage, and reached Piacenza at two o'clock in the morning. In the night at the post stations in the villages the intelligence as to who the traveller was died away. I arrived unknown at Piacenza ; we could scarcely awake the gatekeeper of the fortress to let us pass in. We had to knock loudly, and he received us with a ' Che diavolo fate cosi tardi ?' I alighted at the St. Marco Hotel, where nobody knew me, and went to bed.
Piacenza, as you know, is a border fortress of Parma, which the Austrians, after having garrisoned it by virtue of the Treaty of Vienna of 1815, therefore for forty-four years, left seventeen days ago, after having blown up many fortifications, and with wanton cruelty cut down the mulberry-trees standing along their route. Seventeen days ago the headquarters of three Austrian army corps were there : Culoz and Benedek stayed there too.
I slept peacefully, and at eight o'clock sat down to breakfast still unrecognised. At this moment the waiter brought in the visitors' list. Nicholas Kiss entered my name; the waiter says, ' Grazie ' and goes. At the door he cast a look over the names, and looked back to us with eyes that can only be compared to the first eruptions of fire from a volcano. He ran like mad down the steps, and before five minutes no, scarcely three minutes had passed by, the 30,000 inhabitants knew it they rushed into the streets as if the alarm-bell called them ; they were coming from all directions, and stood underneath my window and shouted, ' Evviva ! ' as if they intended to bring down the firmament of heaven by their voices. The mayor and all the municipal officers came into my room to pay their respects to me, to offer their services, to beg my commands; the venerable Montanelli, a late Minister of Tuscany, who lost his left arm at Curtatone, where he fought as a volunteer in 1848, came accompanied by many officers of the civil guard, but he himself dressed like a private soldier ; in a word, everybody came. Half an hour afterwards, when I was stepping into a carriage, everybody who could come near me kissed my hands and clothes. We moved along with great difficulty, and had scarcely reached the street when the people unharnessed the horses and themselves drew us through the town, while crowds streamed towards me from every street, thousands followed me, flowers were thrown from the windows, and the people honoured the poor homeless traveller with the perfect frenzy of young liberty's first intoxication. And why? Because they identify his name with that of liberty, the perception of which runs like a current of electricity through the nerves of humanity.
And still how much servitude ! How much oppression there is in this world ! And for how long has it existed, and how long will it last !
It was a scene such as you saw in Vienna in 1848. But here the five minutes were the ' marvel ' the clue to which I cannot find. Perhaps souls, too, have telegraphs which work more quickly than the electricity running along the wires.

from Memorials of John Mackintosh by Norman MacLeod, 1849

Sept. 8. (On the road near Piacenza.) I started from Lodi at five A.M. on foot ; passed the Austrian frontier about eight. Soon after a turn in the road brought me in presence of a scene which I would find it difficult to convey by words. Immediately before me the broad full-shining Po, one of the four or five monarchs of European rivers, which the fancy is prepared to welcome with a thrill of emotion. On its southern bank, a little to the eastward of where I was standing, Piacenza, most picturesquely situated, with an unusual abundance of minaret, dome, and tower for a Lombard city ; the dark stone spire of the Cathedral, in particular, gave character to the pictorial effect of the town. Lastly, behind the town, and skirting the whole southern horizon from east to west, the beautiful outline of the Apennines, ridge over ridge, fold within fold, here a peak, there a dome, with soft but variegated lights on their various parts, as you see on many of the bonny hills of Scotland. This association, their intrinsic beauty, together with the surprise of coming upon mountains after the dreary plains of Lombardy, filled me with delight, I may say intoxicated me.
I lingered long and drank the spectacle ; the desolate beauty of Placentia, which seemed as if it had lost its way upon those forlorn banks ; the river itself, fringed with willows and sand, rolling on its dreary channel - a waste though fertilizing all around - smote my soul with one of those notes of melancholy which are profound but not unpleasing. I followed its "wild and willowy shore" for a considerable way beyond Placentia, until I reached the appropriately forlorn and rickety bridge of boats by which the highroad crosses it. Nothing, in truth, could be more in keeping or more significant of the departed grandeur of Placentia. With such emotions I entered the town, and found my way to the hotel.
* Sunday , Sept. 9. To-day I had the rampart with its promenade entirely to myself. I tried to retrace, realize, and re-people the history of Placentia. Visions of Roman greatness rose before my eyes, her haughty senators, dames, patricians ; her stern, stately soldiers ; her worship, in so far as I could make it out j and while I regretted that in former days I had learned those details so much by rote as to have now forgotten much which I would wish to have recalled, I was still able to make the picture complete enough to please myself. How singular the contrast between their civilisation on the one hand, and their religious darkness on the other ! while those two things to our minds must ever go together. It is like a dark cloud tinged by the moon shining behind, which is at once beautiful and the re verse. I cannot help thinking that, for character and mode of life, the transition between later Rome and Italy of the middle ages was not so great or so sudden as we sometimes imagine. Those lovers of luxury, those patrons of art, those monsters of tyranny and cruelty, might belong to one or other epoch ; the later, whom we have accurately sketched to the life, were the lineal inheritors of the names and nature of the former.
Thus then I passed to Placentia of the middle ages, and endeavoured to collect all I had gathered in history or romance of their glory, their splendour, and their shame. Finally, I passed on to more recent times ; the universal revolutions effected by Napoleon, the long peace that followed, and the poets who have visited and sung these lands from my own and other countries. I know not which of all these phases seemed endowed to my mind with the richest halo. All are equally blended with my youthful dreams in that season when the cold reason is allowed to slumber, and Imagination is lord of the ascendant.
*I entered the Cathedral towards dusk. There is frothing in it particularly to arrest the attention or elevate the thoughts; but mine were for the moment independent of outward aids, and sitting down with my book of Psalms in hand, I turned my soul towards Him, the events of whose marvellous life, from the cradle to the tomb, were portrayed around me. I cannot say that in general those pictures or frescoes, however good, awake devotion in my mind. This may be the defect of habit, or that the aesthetic predominates in regarding them ; or that, among so many, the soul has not time for an operation so absorbing and profound as that of devotion. Be this as it may, excepting by the Supper of a Leonardo, or the Crucifixion of a Guido for which, besides their being masterpieces, you give yourself time and scope for religious musings I have rarely felt myself sanctified in Italian churches. To night, however, all was dim excepting to the spiritual eye ; and the marvellous love and work of Him who Himself purged our sins, and wrought out a righteous ness for His people, shone out with peculiar lustre. No wonder that, when the tide of genius first flowed in its various channels since the conversion of the world to Christianity, this should be the all-absorbing topic of its efforts, whether on canvas or in verse. My Saviour, I am Thine, and I desire to appropriate the prayer, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after ; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to in quire in His temple."* Under many aspects, there is much to be said in favour of these solemn cathedrals calm retreats for the thirsty soul amid the bustle of the world, and using them as Oratoires or places of meditation. I have often of late felt their power, and been greatly indebted to them. O that error could be kept apart from good, so that good might not have to be sacrificed to error !

____

* Psalm 27:4

from The Works of Orville Dewey, D.D. ... by Rev. Orville Dewey, 1833

PARMA, October 14. — I left Milan on the twelfth, with vetturino, for Florence, and reached Placentia for the night, entering it by passing on a bridge of boats over the Po. It is a broad and noble river, and like every stream that comes from the high ground of the Alps, as this partly does, hurries in its course to the sea. The largest portion of the waters, however, comes from the region of the Apennines. In the morning, as we left Placentia, we crossed the river Trebia, on whose left bank was fought the battle between Hannibal and Sempronius.

from Andanças e viajes de un hidalgo español por Pero Tafur (1436-1439) [transl.]

I departed from Ferrara and passed through the March to a city called Parma, which is on the river Po and belongs to the Duke of Milan. There, passing the river, I found Nicolao Picherino, the Duke's captain-general, with 20,000 horsemen, the finest body of men I have ever seen. They say that he was going to take Bologna, which belongs to the Pope. I remained three days at Parma to see them pass, and it was a most remarkable thing to see a body of men so finely armed and mounted, and so well found in everything necessary for war, and, what was best of all, with such a discreet and able captain at their head. In this city are the finest cherries I have ever seen. From there I went to Piacenza, a city belonging to the same Duke, which is likewise a great city of 7000 or 8000 inhabitants. From there, the next day, I went to Milan, an immense city, and one of the greatest in Christendom.

from Dyott's Diary by William Dyott, 1802

June 23. Left Parma at four o'clock and arrived at Milan by half-past six, eighty miles ; breakfasted at Piacenza. Four posts from Parma. It is a large town, long narrow streets, in the centre of which there are flagstones for the wheels of the carriages. The square or Piazza has two fine equestrian statues in bronze. Leaving Piacenza, across the Po in a ferry, from thence to Milan, the finest road I ever travelled. Passed through Lodi, a neat town, remarkable for the famous action fought at the bridge. Country from Piacenza to Lodi rich with corn and vineyards, from Lodi with meadows and full of cattle for making the famous Parmazan cheese (very good at the hotel of Parma).

from Voyage de France, d'Espagne, de Portugal et d'Italie, par M. S***, du 22 avril 1729 au 6 février 1730, par Étienne de Silhouette

Plaifance eft fituée à cinq ou fix cens pas du Po dans une plaine très-fertile & très-agréable: ceux qui fe plaifent à marquer les étimologies difent que le nom de Plaifance a été donné à cette Ville à caufe des charmes de fa fituation. Les fortifications de Plaifance font modernes, revétues de briques: d'ailleurs d'une force médiocre.
J'étois recommandé au Pere Bellati, homme d'efprit & de littérature: comme je ne reftai à Plaifance que le tems néceffaire pour voir cette Ville, le Pere Bellati voulut m'accompagner, & il envoya dans l'inftant chercher chez un Gentil-homme une carroffe avec lequel nous nous parcurumes toute la Ville. La Statue équeftre en bronze d'Alexandre Farneze, Gouverneur des Pays, & celle de Rainuce, fon fils, ornent la plus grande Place. Le Palais où loge la Ducheffe douairiere de Parme, mere de la Reine d'Efpagne, eft de briques: s'il étoit achevé & orné des embelliffemens d'architecture, dont il devoit etre accompagné, ce feroit un de plus magnifiques Palais de toute l'Italie. Vignole en fut l'Architecte. J'entrai dans la Cour précifément lorfque la Ducheffe montoit en carroffe. Elle ètoit accompagnée de plufieurs Dames qui forment une Cour affez brillante.
La Cour d'Efpagne donne à cette Ducheffe une penfion de cinq cens piftoles par mois. Les appartamens du Palais font fort beaux & fort richement meublés. Je ne parle point des èglifes. Quand in a les idées remplies des temples magnifiques de Rome & de Naples, on ne s'arrete pas beaucoup à confidérer ceux de Plaifance.

from Voiage d'Italie, par Lyon, Turin, Milan, Bologne, Florence, Rome, Naples. [Manuscrit] par M. de Saint-Quentin (XVIIIe siècle)

La douanne à Plaisance est très rigide, ils font tout detruire les paquets et regardent à tout, je crois plus par curiosité, qu'autrement il faut tacher de n'y pas coucher, et de ne faire que le traverser, alors ils sont moins rigider; jamais ils ne veulent visiter a la poste ils ménent toujours a la Douane.

from Lettres sur l'Italie par Noel Le Mire, 1855

Enfin, tantbien que malreconfortés , nous montons dans notre équipage avec bagages dans le dos, bagages fur les jambes & faifons notre féconde entrée dans les murs de Plaifance, à la grande joie des paffants , à la non moins grande fatisfaction des douaniers & gens de police qui ne voient dans nos infortunes qu'une occafion de plus de faire délier les cordons d'une bourfe étrangère.
Telle eft la partie de mon voyage que , par une étrange dérifion du fort, je me vois contraint d'intituler voyage de Plaifance.

from Le voyageur françois, ou Le connoissance de l'Ancien et du Nouveau monde par Joseph de La Porte, 1765

Plaifance eft une grande ville, paffablement fortifiée, & munie d'une affez bonne citadelle; mais la difette d'habitans lui ôte la premiere beauté à laquelle une ville mufle prétendre , la population. A peine y compte-t on vingt mille ames ; fon étendue morure tout ce qu'elle a perdu; & les arts fur-tout, fe reffentent de cette perte, Les amateurs de tableaux n'y trouvent point cette multitude de chefs-d'œuvre qu'ils admirent dans la plupart des églifes d'Italie. On vante cependant ceux de la cathédrale , dont la coupole, peinte par le Guerchin, eft digne de l'attention des artiftes.

from Mélanges tirés d'une grande bibliothèque ... par Marc-Antoine-René de Voyer Argenson, 1779

Plaifance eft digne de fon nom par les agrémens de fa fituation ; elle n'eft qu'à cent pas du fleuve du Pô. Ce que l'on voit d'antiquités dans la ville, eft une fontaine d'architecture antique , avec quelques reftes de bas-reliefs & d'infcriptions ; on dit qu'elle eft du temps de Céfar-Augufte. On prétend que la ville a cinq milles de circuit ; elle contenoit, au commencement de ce fiecle, vingt-huit mille habitans, dont deux mille Eccléfiaftiques ; à préfent elle ne paroît pas être fi peuplée , car fes places , qui font vaftes & belles , paroiffent dénuées d'habitans.

from Voyage d'Italie des révérends pères de l’Ordre des Frères prêcheurs ... l'an 1756. [Manuscrit]

Ce soir nous arrivames asséz tard à Plaisance. La ville nous parut asséz belle, mais elle est inabordable, pour ainsi dire, pour les etrangers; pour avoir la licence d'y entrer, et ne pas voir tristement toutes ses hardes eparpillées sur le pavé, il fallut abonner avec les gardes avides de la douane. Nos representations furent inutiles, ainsi que nos plaintes et menaces. Ces gens sont faits a ce bruit la et se font une douce loi d'etre. Sans misericorde nous fumes obligés de nous y soumettre et de la subir encore le landemain, en sortant de la ville.

from Une visite. Rome et l'Italie par l'abbé Emile Beau de Verdeney, 1868

Une de nos haltes les plus intéressantes a été dans la ville de Parme. Mais sur notre chemin nous avons rencontré Plaisance, où nous n'avons pu nous arréter que quelques instants. Grace à la complaisance d'un jeune médecin de la localité, arrivé lout récentement de la faculté de Paris, nous avons pu visiter la cathédrale, et parcourir la ville dans ses points les plus importants.

from Relation d'un voyage en Italie par Alphonse Dupré, 1822

Plaisance est une grande ville peu agréable: tous les batimens sont en briques; les rues, très mal pavées et fort malpropres, sont dans quelques endroits assez vastes. Tout les maisons, baties en briques noircies par le temps, n'ont d'autres ornemens dans l'intérieur que de très mauvaises peintures à fresque, qui ne sont qu'une faible image de nos papiers peints. Il n'y a rien du tout curieux dans cette ville, et l'on doit se garder de se laisser tromper par les guides qui, sous prétexte de vous montrer des curiosités, vous promènent dans différens endroits pour vous faire voir des choses pitoyables et de nul intéret; car, outre la fatigue et la perte de temps, on paye la vue de tous ces objets comme si l'on vous montrait qualque chose de rare.

from Voyages d'artiste en Italie par Charles Du Bois-Melly, 1851

A Plaisance, où je m'arretai, la physionomie d'une cité dès longtemps en décadence, l'aspect des rues désertes et des palais fermés frappent tout d'abord l'esprit du voyageur, qui ne retrouve une certaine animation qu'aux alentours de la Place dei Cavalli. ... Les églises de Plaisance n'ont laissé, je l'avoue, une impression trop fugitive pour prétendre les décrire, quoique rien ne soit, dit-on, plus facile, grace aux nombreux écrivains qui ont disserté excellemment sur tout ce qu'on va voir en Italie. ...
5 octobre. - Un petit cheval de cabriolet, rétif, malin, songeant à mal et courant à bride abattue, m'emmenait, à quatre heures et demie du matin, à la station du chemin de fer, à travers la ville endormie. Des fantomes, sortant d'une taverne où l'on vendait l'acquavita aux gens de bien devançant l'aurore, furent tout ce que j'entrevis au passage, et ces etranges et grandes figures dépenaillées, dans le gout de Jacques Callot, sont mes derniers souvenirs de societé à Plaisance.

from Voyages du P. Labat de l'Ordre des ff. prescheurs en Espagne et en Italie par le Père Jean-Baptiste Labat, 1730

Nous partimes, je montai à cheval, afin de caufer avec celui avec qui j'avois diné. Nos Voiturins firent merveille, en moins d'une heure nous fumes à Plaifance, grande & belle Ville, fituée dans un Pais charmant, & bien cultivé, ayant le Po au Nord, la petite riviere de .... (Nure) à l'Eft, & celle de Trebia à l'Oueft. Nos deux Peres Espagnols s'étoient chargés d'un paquet pour le P. Prieur de notre Couvent, & ils cajolerent fi bien leur Voiturin qu'il les y conduifit. Nous les fuivimes, j'étois defcendu de cheval avant d'entrer dans la Ville, & j'avois congé de l'Ingenieur, qui paffoit outre, & ne fuivoit pas notre chemin. Le Prieur fit apporter du vin mufcat très-bon, nous bumes un coup fans nous affeoir, & remontames en caleche. Tout ce que je remarquai dans ce Couvent, c'eft qu'il fe fentoit d'avoir fervi de Magazin. Les peintures du cloitre etoient fort gatées. On avoit brulé une partie des portes & des fenetres, & les Religieux qui portoient impatiemment ces defordres, n'étoient point du tout dans les fentimens de Maestro Fabricio de Bologne. Nous vimes en paffant dans une des places les ftatues équeftres d'Alexandre, & de Ranuce Farnefe Ducs de Parme. Elles font de bronze; elles me parurent belles autant qu'en peut juger un homme en caléche qui va au grand trot.

Nous quittames prefqu?à la porte de la Ville le grand chemin Romain, qu'on appelle la Via Emilia, & nous primes fur la gauche, pour gagner les Apennins que nous devions paffer, pour arriver à Genes, qui étoit le terme d'un voyage qui m'ennuyoit fort.

from Notes de voyage. Deux mois en Italie - par Frank Puaux - 1872

En quittant Genes, on se dirige vers Alexandrie en traversant de riches plaines, où la culture semble ètre sagement entendue, et c'est à travers un pays où le paysage reste presque toujours le meme, que la voie ferrée arrive à Plaisance, ville morte, trois fois plus grande qu'il n'est nécessaire. La cathédrale mérite cependant d'etre visitée; elle contient quelques beaux tableaux de Carle Dolci et de l'école de Bologne. C'est sans regret que l'on quitte Plaisance pou arriver à Parme ...

from The personal adventures of our own correspondent [of the Times] in Italy by Michael Burke Honan, 1852

We found Plaisance in a state of indescribable confusion ; the inns being crowded to an overflow, and the streets being so thronged with flying parties that it was almost impossible to make one's way. The owner of the carriage refused to let it go further, and I was again at a " non-plus ;" but fortunately in one of the stable-yards I discovered a return carriage for Codogno, and by paying four times the ordinary amount, induced the coachman to start forthwith.
I saw that unless I got before the Austrians on the road to Milan, I must abandon all idea of seeing how the rest of the retreat of the Piedmontese army was conducted, and I was anxious to make my way to Lodi, where, behind the Adda, Charles Albert promised to make a stand. But my troubles were not yet over, and I had at Plaisance to undergo the greatest danger that had occurred to me since the opening of the campaign.
It seems that my bad manner of pronouncing Italian, added to my fair complexion, and desire to push forward, had induced several of the violent, but not fighting patriots, to believe that I was an Austrian, and of course a spy. Many a man was sacrificed for less during the latter days of the war of independence — notwhere the Piedmontese soldiers were found, for they were ready to protect one, but in out-of-the-way places, where native susceptibility or Italian pusillanimity had full play.
I was followed from the inn door by a crowd, till at our arrival at the bridge of boats which crosses the Po, I had to meet a mob of at least a thousand men, all vociferating " Tedescho ! " and " Spia ! " — followed by the consoling word " Morte ! " Happily for me, I retained a moderate share of composure, so standing up in the carriage, I entreated a moment's silence, stated I was an Englishman, and asked if there was any one present who could read. This appeal was answered by a schoolmaster, or a parish clerk, and to him I unfolded, first my British passport, and next the special privilege I had obtained from Charles Albert. This last document was a clencher, as it was written in Italian, and bore all the official seals, and, confirmed by it, the validity of the passport was admitted.
Had I not produced the Italian pass, the other paper would have been disregarded, or rather it exposed me to fresh suspicion, as no one in reality knew what it meant, and the eagle attached to the Austrian minister's visa, rather produced an impression against me.
I saw at a glance, however, that a new doubt was engendered, certainly not creditable to me, and if I were first stopped as an Austrian spy, it was clear I was now sent on as one employed by Charles Albert. The mob cheered me as I drove off, though one moment before they would have spilled my blood, — but such are the risks we correspondents run, though no one thinks of giving us credit for our adventures.
The Piedmontese guard at the foot of the bridge refused to let me pass, but when the officer in command saw my papers, he ordered the road to be left open, no doubt in the full belief that I was employed in my quality of spy on a secret mission for the King. I had not the mortification of hearing any person say that such was his opinion of my occupation, and perhaps I wrong the respectable mob of Plaisance; but I am very quick in seeing what people mean, and I had then, and have still, a moral certainty, that way for me was made in the belief that I was a spy in the service of the good cause.
I crossed the river a second time for the purpose of turning the road on which it was probable the Austrian van-guard was coming, and with the hope of joining at Codogno the main body of our force.
In both these objects I succeeded, and late in the afternoon I arrived at that cheese-making town.

from The journal of Dr. John Morgan of Philadelphia, from the city of Rome to the city of London, 1764

Wednesday, Aug'st ye 14th. At 11 O'clock this Morning we reach' d Plazentia about 15 Miles from where we slept last Night.
The Inn crouded with People from Parma and the neighboring Country for many Miles There being a great Concourse hither to day on acc't of this days anniversary function of ye Madonna. It is said to be very magnificent & begins in the Evening between 9 & 10 O'clock.
We did not stay to see it, being almost satiated with seeing of functions & urgent to return to England. We observed however that every Body was dressed in their best Manner from the highest to ye lowest.
We proceeded on our Journey after dinner at 3 O'clock recrossed the Po a few Miles from Town in the same Manner as mentioned between Mantua and Parma above 100 People crossed at once just before we got to the ferry Boat or Stage, & we met crowds afterwards of Men & Women repairing to see ye function at Placentia.

from Minutes of remarks on subjects picturesque, moral, and miscellaneious : ... by William Webb, 1822-1823

6th December. Left Lodi soon after four in the dark of the morning : arriving about ten at the lordly Po, we found that its bridge of boats, leading to Placentia, had been swept away by the recent floods ; and were detained in a muddy field for three hours, before we could obtain passage by a boat ; which, though not large in dimensions, carried over in the one trip, our great vettura, several drays, a number of cattle, and the company composing the suite of all these.
The Po in most majestic breadth, and a dense and very bold sheet of water ; its bank, as deep as the river allows it to be viewed, is an earth as fine as powder, and fat almost as that of a church-yard. Nearly at the point at which we landed, half a mile above Placentia the Trebia, vast in its supplies of torrent, unites with the Po. We passed through Placentia without making any stop : its look is forlorn ; and it exhibits no traces of having been at any time magnificent.

from An Irish peer on the continent (1801-1803) being a narrative of the tour of Stephen Moore, 2nd earl Mount Cashell

On entering Plaisance, we cross'd the Po and on entering the town the Equestrian Statues of Ranuccio Farnese and Alexander Farnese, particularly struck our attention. Plaisance was the theatre on which General Macdonald distinguished himself during the War. ... The fourth night we got to Parma, where we stay'd two days.

from Lettres contenant le journal d'un voyage fait a Rome en 1773, vol. II par Jean-Baptiste Guidi

Plaifance eft ainfi que Parme, dans une plaine riante & fertile; les rues en font alignées, il en eft meme une qu'on nomme, ainfi quà Rome, il Corfo (le Cours), parce qu'elle fert de promenade. Les fortifications de la ville font peu de chofe, & quoiqu'elle foit habitée par beaucoup de la Nobleffe, il s'en faut bien qu'il y règne autant de gaieté que dans Parme. ... La feule chofe qui foit à indiquer aux étrangers dans Plaifance, eft les deux ftatues équeftres en bronze qui font dans la place, ou pour mieux dire dans le marché qui fe tient vis-à-vis la cathédrale. ... Nous n'eumes pas de tems à perdre à Plaifance, & l'on vint nous avertir de partir fur-le-champ, parce que la Trebbia, torrent à deux milles de la ville, fe gonfloit tallement que fous une demi-heure, il ne feroit plus poffible de le paffer.

from Journal of a tour in Italy in 1850, with an account of an interview with the pope, at the Vatican (1850) by George Townsend

... we left Florence at the end of our three weeks' sojourn, and arrived at Bologna on the evening of the 25th. That city, too, if we live, we hope to revisit at some future day. We were now only anxious to return to England.
Wednesday, the 26th. Piacenza. This place also we hope to see on another occasion.

from A tour through Italy. Containing full directions for travelling in that interesting country by Thomas Martyn, 1791

From Lodi there is a road by Cremona and Mantua to Bologna; but the other by Piacenza and Parma is the pleasanteft, and the moft frequented. ... Piacenza is about 200 yards from the Po: a town of great note and antiquity, but of late much decayed and depopulated. It has no architecture, long ugly ftreets, and paltry fquares. Moft of the churches are embellifhed with paintings of the Bologna fchool, the Carracci and their difciples.

from Nouveaux memoires, ou observations sur l'Italie et sur les italiens, vol. I par Pierre-Jean Grosley [1718-1785]

La fituation de Plaifance, la largeur & l'alignement de fes places & de fes rues, l'architecture de fes palais & de fes édifices publics, les grands morceaux de peinture & de fculpture, les fontaines qui ornent ces édifices & ces places, feroient de cette ville une des plus belles villes de la Lombardie, fi la difette d'habitans ne lui enlevoit pas la première beauté à laquelle une ville puiffe prétendre.
... L'état où elle eft tombée..., tient fans doute à bien des caufes, de l'examen defquelles je me difpenferai. J'obferverai feulement que le Souverain actuel vient d'élever dans cette ville une manufacture d'étoffes de foie. Les dépenfes confidérables qu'il a faites pour cet établiffement, ont pour but de ranimer l'induftrie, que ranimeroient plus furement une protection & des fecours répartis fur un nombre de manufactures particulieres. ... Les loix qui régiffent Plaifance, ont établi l'égalité de partage entre enfans, meme dans les fucceffions nobles. Cette égalité, qui eft le Palladium des Etats démocratiques, & le principal nerf de l'induftrie dans les villes de commerce, pouvoit convenir à Plaifance, avant que la maifon Farnèfe y fut établie: mais depuis cet établiffement, depuis la ruine de fes manufactures, depuis que fa Nobleffe a renoncé au commerce, cette meme égalité, en foudivifant à l'infini les biens nobles, en enlevant à ce pays la dernière reffource qu'il eut trouvée dans l'aifance de la Nobleffe, l'a rempli d'un peiple de Comtes, & d'efclaves titrés d'une grandeur peu importante, lorfqu'elle eft féparée de la richeffe.

from Voyage en Italie et en Sicilie, fait en 1801 et 1802 par Augustin-François Creuzé de Lesser

A quelques lieues de Lodi on trouve le Po, ce beau fleuve, aux bords duquel nous vimes encore les traces des batteries autrichiennes. On le passe sur un pont de bateauz, et on arrive à Plaisance, ville qui a été forte autrefois, et qui mériteroit de l'etre encore, parcequ'elle commende à presque toutes les routes de l'Italie. Cette cité, dont la situation est riante, est un désert assez triste qui se dépeuple ou du moins se dépeuploit de jour en jour par la résidence des ducs à Parme, qu'on peut, ainsi que Versailles, comparer à un favori sans mérite.

from Voyage d'Italie par l'Abbé Gabriel-François Coyer, Octobre 1763

J'ai retrouvé le Po à Plaifance, fluviorum rex Eridanus. Ce n'est qu'un roitelet à Turin, où je l'ai falué familièrement. Mais ici il impofe par fa Majesté. Plaifance; fi ce nom lui vient de l'agrément de fa fituation, on a eu raifon. ... On compte à peine vingt-mille ames à Plaifance. Son étendue montre affez qu'elle a beaucoup perdu. Je trouve prefque par-tout des traces de dépopulation. Je prophétife, fans etre Saint bernard, que le mond va finir. Donnez-moi vos biens, & partez pour Jérusalem. ... J'aime à me promener fur le rempart de cette Ville. C'eft un Cours délicieux planté de beaux arbres, qui en forme l'enceinte. L'interieur plait auffi par l'alignement & la largeur des rues, par l'architecture des édifices publics & par la beauté des places. La principale eft decorée de deux ftatues équeftres. ... Ce n'eft pas à Plaifance que les amateurs de la Peinture trouvent l'abondance qui étonne ailleurs.

from Travels from Paris through Switzerland and Italy, in the years 1801 and 1802. By a native of Pennsylvania (1808) by Joseph Sansom

At Placentia began the Via AEmilia, which extended to Rimini on the Adriatic.
Here we met a train of six or seven coaches drawn, like our own, by mules, ornamented with towering collar-pieces, flaring with tinsel, and jingling with bells. They contained the travelling domestics of the new-made king of Etruria, returning to Spain by this circuitous route.

from The Journal Of Elizabeth Lady Holland, by Lady Elizabeth Vassall Fox Holland, 1793

...
We crossed a dozen ferries in the night, and reached Placentia soon after daybreak.
5th July. — Saw the Ducal Palace, the equestrian statue, Cathedral, and St. Augustin. Alberoni was a native of this city. Crossed the Po at the gates of the town. Very near meeting with an ugly accident in getting out of the boat ; the banks were steep, the mud very deep, the carriage rolled considerably back into the water. Our cook we were obliged to pass as a Swiss, Frenchmen being refused admittance into the Milanese.

from A New Journey Over Europe by A. Doriac Chancel, 1714

Plaifance is 32 Miles from Parma, an ancient City,5 Miles in Compafs, it has many ftately Houfes and Squares, the chief is that where the Brafs Statues of Alexander Prince of Parma, and his Son Ranuccio ftand. There are noble Fountains, large, and well pav'd Streets, an ancient Caftle of Brick, and a ftrong Citadel.
It is, but ill inhabited, the People are very civil. The Cathedral is an old Structure, but well adorn'd within. The City is very pleafantly feated in a fertile Plain. The Money differs from that of Parma, though under the fame Prince, which occafions trouble and Lofs to Travellers.

from Nouveau voyage d'Italie par François-Jacques Deseine, 1697

La ville de Plaifance,en Italien Piacenza,& en latin Placentia, eft ainfi nommée pour être fituée dans une plaifante & fertile campagne à la droite du Po , elle eft fort ancienne , & a été fondée par les Gaulois. Les Romains y conduifirent une Colonie l'an de la Fondation de Rome.
...
elle a plus de cinq milles de circuit , & on y conte 25. mille habitans. Elle eft bien fortifiée avec un bon château à cinq baftions que Pierre Louis Farnefe fit bâtir , ce qui n'empêcha pas qu'il ne fut affaffiné dans la même ville. il y a de belles places, & on voit dans la principale deux ftatues équeftres de bronze des Ducs Alexandre , & Ranuccio Farnefe , les rues font belles & droites, & il y a plufieurs fontaines dans la ville dont une a été bâtie par ordre de Jules Cefar.

from Voyage en Italie par Joseph-Jérôme-Lefrançais de Lalande, 1765

PLAISANCE, en italien , Piacenza , paffe pour une ville d'environ 10 mille ames, elle eft entre Milan & Parme , à 13 lieues de l'une & de l'autre , tout près du Pô & de l'embouchure de la Trebi , & dans l'Etat du duc de Parme. Son nom de Plaifance paroît venir de l'agrément de fa fituation , & de la falubrité de l'air qu'on y refpire : Pline dit que dans le dénombrement de l'Italie , ou y trouva fîx vieillards de 110 ans , un de 120 , & un de 140.
...
La ville de Plaifance eft grande & bien bâtie , la citadelle & les fortifications font en bon état, & capables de foutenir un fiége , les rues font larges , mais défertes.
...
Le théâtre de Plaifance tient au palais ; il eft d'une moyenne grandeur , mais bien conftruit & fort commode. Les autres édifices publics , comme la douane, le palais, le collége des marchands, & les maifons de plufieurs nobles , font dignes d'attention.
On trouve bonne compagnie à Plaifance , la nobleffe y a une converfation publique, c'eft-à-dire , un Cafino , dans lequel on fe raffemble, comme à Parme , à Bologne , &. En été , l'on va fe promener au cours; c'eft une grande rue, qui eft longue & alignée ; les caroffes s'y rangent ou s'y promènent lentement ; l'ufage eft d'y prendre l'air jufqu'au fouper , quoique souvent par une chaleur très-incommode.
Il y a plus de caroffes à Plaifance que la grandeur & la richeffe de la ville ne femblent le comporter; il en eft de même de toutes les petites villes d'Italie ; c'eft un befoin auquel on eft plus fenfible dans les pays chauds , & qui d'ailleurs coûte bien moins qu'en France. Les étrangers ne trouveroient pas certainement, dans ces petites villes, des caroffes de remife ; mais on affure qu'ils peuvent louer ceux de certains particuliers ; & pour peu qu'ils foient recommandés ou connus , on leur en offre gratuitement avec beaucoup d'honnêteté.

from Nouveau voyage d'Italie par François-Maximilien Misson, 1688

Plaifance eft dans la plaine à cinq ou fix cens pas du Pô. C'eft une ville affèz agréablé, plus grande que Parme' & bien joliment baftie , quoy que les maifons en foient baffes. La rue du Cours qu'ils appellent le Stradone, eft droite à la ligne, & d'une largeur parallelle. On a mis de chaque cofté un rang de trois cens pofteaux , qui confervent le chemin pour les gens de pied , auprès des maifons, à la manière de Londres: & ces pofteaux font juftement à dix pieds l'un de l'autre , d'où il refulte que la ride eft longue de trois mille pieds. La ftatue d'Alexandre Farnéfe , Gouverneur des Païs-bas Efpagnols, & celle de Ranuce premier, fou Fils, fe voyent dans la plus grande Place.
Nous avons monté au plus haut clocher , félon noftre coutume ordinaire, & nous avons découvert un païfage admirable ; le cours du Pô l'embellit beaucoup. On voit Crémone affez diftinctement , quoy que cette Ville foit éloignée de vingt milles. Je ne vous dis rien des Eglifes , & deformais je ne vous en parleray que très peu.
Quand on a l'idée remplie , comme je vous le mandois l'autre jour , de ces Temples magnifiques que nous avons vus, on ne peut pas s'arrefter beaucoup à confiderer les autres.
J'ajoûteray encore touchant Plaifance, qu'elle eft mal peuplée;que fes maifons font de brique avec peu d'exception; & que les poids, lesmefures, & les monnoyes , n'y font pas les mefmes qu'à Parme. Les fortifications de cette Ville ne valent pas grand chofe, encore qu'on fe foit fait une coutume de les vanter beaucoup. Le pomaerium eft borné avec des polteaux , & l'on' n'y baftit rien du tout: Je ne fçay fi je vous ay mandé que la mefme chofe s'obferve à Livorne.

from Travels During the Years 1787, 1788, & 1789: Undertaken More Particularly ... by Arthur Young, 1794

11th. Having agreed with a vetturino to take me to Turin, and he not  being able to procure another passenger, I went alone to Firenzola. It is  fine sunshine weather, decisively warmer than ever felt in England at  this season: a sharp frost, without affecting the extremities as with us,  where cold fingers and toes may be classed among the nuisances of our  climate. I walked most of the way. The face of the country is the same as  before, but vines decrease after Borgo St. Donnino. An inequality in the  surface of the country begins also to appear, and everywhere a scatter-  ing of oak-timber, which is a new feature.—20 miles. 
12th. Early in the morning to Piacenza, that I might have time to  view that city, which, however, contains little worthy of attention to any  but those who study painting as connoisseurs. The country changed a  good deal to-day. It is like the flat rich parts of Essex and Suffolk.  Houses are thinner, and the general face inferior. The inequalities which  began yesterday increase. —The two equestrian statues of Alexandre  and Rannutio Farnes e are finely expressive of life, the motion of the  horses, particularly that of Alexander’s, is admirable; and the whole  performance spirited and alive. They are by John of Bologna, or Moca  his eleve. Sleep at Castel St. Giovanne.—26 miles.
...
at Piacenza, I saw men, whose only business was to bring a small bag of apples, about a peck; one man brought a turkey, and not a fine one. What a waste of time and labour for a stout fellow to be thus employed.

from Letters During the Course of a Tour Through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy ... by Rev. Robert Gray, Oct. 31, 1791

From Lodi we went by Zorliscona, three posts, to Placentia, having crossed the Po, before our arrival, on a moving bridge of boats. The country in the neighbourhood of the Po, which is part of what was anciently the most flourishing side of Italy, and which still retains its reputation for fertility, appears now squalid and miserable in consequence of the late overflowing of that river, which spread devastation wherever it went,

and,

"With a sudden and impetuous wave,
"Like profuse kings, resumed the wealth it gave." *

Placentia boasts of an higher antiquity than of Rome itself. ... It is avery handsome town, though its present appearance reminds us of its decay: it swarms with beggars, the cause and appendage of idleness and poverty. ... At Placentia we wished to have proceeded by a voiturier, as we could have travelled at much less expence; but were told, that we must go off by the post as we arrived by it, unless we chose to stay three days at Placentia; such, it seems, is the regulation.

* from Cooper's Hill poem by John Denham

from Travels Through Germany, Bohemia, Hungary, Switzerland, Italy, and Lorrain by Johann Georg Keyssler, Pre-1801

Accordingly I have been assured, that, of the twenty-eight inhabitants of the territories of Placentia, two thousands are ecclesiastics, monks, nuns, &c. On the fifth day of April the great yearly fair commences, and lasts a fortnight. Placentia fair is accounted the largest in all Italy; but it is not to be compared with the fairs held in Germany. ... The best entertainment in Placentia during the fair, was the opera, where three of the best singers in Italy performed the vocal part, namely, Carlo Broschi, detto Farinelli, Giovanni Carestini, and Francesca Cuzzoni Sandoni. A person is admitted into the pit for a paolo. One inconveniency that attended this diversion was, that the opera did not begin till ten o'clock at night, and was not over till near four in the morning. The duke and dutchess of Parma, with a very numerous retinue, were present. ... The river Po runs at the distance of five or six hundred paces from Placentia; and the whole district, on account of which the city is very justly called Piacenza, i.e. pleasantness, exhibits a delightful prospect from the top of one of the towers in the city.

from Travels in France and Italy, in 1817 and 1818 by Rev. William Berrian

This city is neat, regular, and well built. The exchange, which takes up one side of the principal square, is a curious structure, in the Gothic style. ... Here I saw a snuff-box with the likeness of Thomas Jefferson on the lid, exposed at the windows of one of the shops. ... The church of St. Augustin, by Vignola, is a beautiful piece of architecture. ... While the elegance of the exterior had provoked my curiosity to examine it within (...) two gentlemen were passing, of whom I inquired in what way it might be seen. They knew the person who kept the key, and politely offered to go with me to his house. He lived in a remote part of the town, and unluckily happend to be out when we called. The gentlemen who acted as my guides, when they learned that I was American, indulged in the usual strain of compliment and congratulation on the freedom and happiness of our country, and made the same inquiries after Bonaparte. Their civility became more warm and friendly, and they took so much interest in these topics that they did not leave me till they had accompanied me to my hotel.

from Remains by Rev. Edmund Dorr Griffin, 1831

[June 8] From Parma to Placentia, the road crosses a number of the branches of the Po, presenting at this season broad stony beds, most of them entirely without water. ... Placentia is seated at a short distance from the Po, and contains about twenty-seven thousand inhabitants. Its streets are narrow and sombre; its houses, built entirely of brick, are many of them left entirely uncovered, either by paint or plaster; scarcely a creature is to be seen moving, even at mid-day - it seems, indeed, a city of the dead.

from Italy from the Alps to Mount Etna by Karl Stieler, 1877

The first of them is Piacenza, which, behind a bulwark of twelve mighty forts, contains half a hundred churches and half a thousand palaces; but in the sound of its name lingers some trace of the pleasantness of the town in the eyes of bygone generations: Piacenza, how delightfully the word sounds! The central point of such traffic as the town still possesses, is the Piazza dei Cavalli, where stands the Palazzo del Comune which served the citizens for a town-hall. The facade of the ground-floor offers a series of five open arches, beneath which, in old times, the tribunals were held, and public business transacted, whilst the upper story served for the meetings of the town council, and even, during one period, was used as a theatre. Despite the elegant architecture of the central part of the building, with its windows surrounded by richly decorated arches, the effect of the whole is stern and warlike, owing, partly, to the bold battlements which crown the Palazzo. Two bronze equestrian statues of members of the Farnese family, which stand in front of the palace, harmonize admirably with its general tone.

from Promenade dans le Nord de l'Italie pendant l'été de 1846 / par M. Henry, 1847

Dans l'après-midi, nous parvinmes sur les bords du Po, et peu de temps après nous fumes rendus à Plaisance. Cette Ville me parut laide, triste et assez maussade; sans contredit, ce ne peuvent etre ses rues et ses édifices qui lui ont volu son nom, mais bien la campagne qui l'environne, et qui s'étend riante et fertile entre la fleuve qui la ferme au nord et les Appenins qui la bornent au midi. ... Elle (Plaisance) offre, comme toutes les villes anciennes, une bigarrure de rues tortueuses, de places irrégulières et de maisons sales et difformes; mais avec cette différence que d'ordinaire les villes anciennes compensent cet ensemble disgracieux par le pittoresque de quelques parties et quelques monuments de haut valeur, tandis qu'à Plaisance on trouve le laid sans compensation. On explique cette absence de monuments, dans une ville de si vieille date, par les assauts répétés qu'elle a soutenus, et les désastres qui ont du en résulter.

from a poem by William Makepeace Thackeray

'But when we crossed the Lombard plain,
Remember what a plague of rain--
Of rain at Reggio, at Parma,
At Lodi rain, Piacenza rain,'

Congrès de Vérone by François-René de Chateaubriand, 1838

En traversant le Pô, à Plaisance, une seule barque, nouvellement peinte, portant une espèce de pavillon impérial, frappa nos regards; deux ou trois dragons, en veste et en bonnet de police, faisaient boire leur chevaux; nous entrions dans les états de Marie-Louise: c'est tout qui restait de la puissance de l'homme qui fendit les rocher du Simplon, planta ses drapeaux sur les capitales de l'Europe, releva l'Italie prosternée depuis tant de siècles.

from Mémoires du commandant Persat, 1806 à 1844, par Maurice Persat

J'étais logé, à Plaisance, à l'hôtel de la Croix-Blanche, tenu par M. Bassani fils, que je recommande particulièrement à tous les voyageurs français, car c'est un digne Italien, qui vénère notre patrie; son hotel est d'ailleurs très bien tenu; son père avait servi dans les grenadiers à cheval de la garde de l'illustre Eugène de Beauharnais, vice-roi d'Italie. MM. Bassani eurent pour moi mille prévenances pendant les deux jours que je fus forcé de rester à Plaisance, en attendant une occasion pour me rendre à Turin.

from a Letter of Frederick Howard 5th Earl of Carlisle to George Selwyn, Manheim, Aug. 16, 1768

I confess I was rejoiced with the more circumscribed prospects that I met with upon my leaving the Alps; fields very well cultivated; valleys with rich verdure; and little woods, which almost persuaded me I was in England. I was delighted with the buildings I saw at Piacenza and Verona. The theatre at Piacenza is one of the most elegant structures in the world: there is no comparison betwen it and the one at Winterslow.

from The Narrative of Captain Coignet (soldier of the Empire) 1776-1850 by Jean-Roch Coignet

Our division was sent on to Piacenza, a superb city. General Lannes was defeating the Austrians, and driving them back upon the Po.

from A Journey to Florence in 1817 by Harriet Charlotte Beaujolois Campbell countess of Charleville Bury

The entry to Piacenza gives one the idea of a fine town. The people though the generality look roguish are handsome, and many of them have a stately and and queen-like appearance.

from Sir Thomas Browne's Works, Letter to his father by Thomas Browne, Apr. 18, 1665

Wee could not passe by Piacenza, by reason of a noock of the Milanese state shoots out just by it...

from a Letter to Mrs Austen by Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake, 1860

Bologna – Octr 8
Dearest Mrs. Austen
I have thought of you & dear Mr Austen continually, & have longed for more spare time to tell you how much I hope that your anxieties have been graciously mitigated. I do indeed long to hear of you, but have at present had no letters from those friends who cd give us tidings of you. Meanwhile I am thankful to say that we have done well. Sir Chas a little troubled with a cold caught from going from hot Piazzas into cold churches, but enjoying himself thoroughly & in excellent spirits. I know that Layard wrote to you – I think from Dresden – saying that we had fallen in with each other. We met again in Munich where we left him – or them – & I have since heard of them through the Ball’s, whom we met 2 days ago, as having appeared at Mrs Ball’s fathers house, near Bassano (he a

Marchese Parolini) where good little Mrs Ball confessed that Mr B: was rather unwelcome.1 But of this more when we meet, as I trust, dear Mrs Austen we may ere long. I will only add that Layard seemed rather dissipated & like a man truly in a false position. Mrs Drummond & her daughters had come to Munich before we left – so he had plenty on his hands!
We preceeded Layard in our movements in some measure – taking the route into Italy through the Pusterthal, & the Ampezzo Pass – the first one of the loveliest valleys, the last one of the most tremendous of gorges. This brought us down into Titian’s country which Sir Chas had not visited for many years – & so to Conegliano – another birthplace of a great painter, a beautiful place where the rail brought us into Venice. There we were caught at by the starving hotel keepers, as drowning men catch at a straw, & make much of.
Venice was desolate & beautiful – gondoliers talking loud on forbidden subjects when in the middle of the Grand Canal! & the police revell.g in the new modes of arrogance & extortion. We were glad to leave Austria behind us & to breathe the air of liberty, & in this air we have continued to breathe to our great comfort for we have no intentions of going beyond the present extensive domains of the “King of Italy” in which one moves about as freely as in our own England. The change is something surprising – like a natural & good thing after a state of coercion & restraint. From Milan we have taken a trip which we are just about to conclude, taking us through Lodi, Cremona, over the greatly swollen Po to Piacenza, to Modena, Bologna, Ferrara, Faenza, Ravenna & now here we are in Bologna again & hope to be at Milan at the best of all hotels by tomorrow eveng – the railway now embracing all the intervening space – taking us round by Alessandria. Thus we have been in the centre of the present festivities occasioned by the fall of Ancona, & the King’s progress hither through the principal cities. Everywhere signs of enthusiasm, “Eviva Vittorio Emanuele – nostro legittimo Re” on every house in some form or another. Piacenza is becoming a very strong fortress, & swarms with 25,000 soldiers – the Bersagleri with their flattering cock’s feather, real fighting cocks they look, their sailor-like dress, & astonishing rapidity of pace, the most conspicuous objects. The telegram of the fall of Ancona reached Piacenza the day we arrived, & in the eveng the old city burst into illuminations, which harmonized well with the tramp of thousands of feet, the hum of excited voices & the clang of trumpets. I went into the Piazza – with our faithful Tucker – the statues of the old Great Gonzagas gleaming strangely beneath the brilliant light – a scene I shall not forget. We have had an Italian gentleman with us on this trip – a Piedmontese. & our conversation has turned for once quite as much on politics as on art. The more we hear & see, the more we are astonished at the prudence & discretion & patience with which these changes have been brought about, again I must say like a natural event, like a mighty animal saved from torpor, & casting off its slough at the appointed time, making one wonder how it could have laid inactive so long.
There is no doubt that the most important changes are contemplated in the church – but “adagio adagio” – amounting to a Reformation in our sense of the word, a protest against the folly & wickedness that has long ruled. It is a sublime time, spoken of by Italians with more than party feeling or enthusiasm, but with the acknowledgement that nothing but the Divine Hand could have brought it about. ...

from A tour through Italy by John Chetwode Eustace, 1813

Towards sunset, we arrived at the Po, and passing it on a flying bridge, entered Placentia, March 25d. It is a large and well-built city. The neighbourhood of Placentia is, perhaps, more interesting than the town itself...

from Les délices de l'Italie, contenant une description exacte du païs, des ... par Alexandre de Rogissart, 1707

De toutes les Villes d'Italie il n'y a pas une à qui son nom convienne mieux qu'à celle-ci; en effet de quelque coté qu'on l'envisage, soit que l'on en considere la situation, soit qu'on en regarde les édifices, tant sacrés que prophanes, on n'y voit rien que de plaisant. Elle est située à cent pas du Po, dans une plaine très-fertile & très-agréable, arrosée de quantité de ruisseaux, & entourée de coteaux abondans en toutes fortes de fruits, & qui semblent avoir été fait pour divertir la vue. ... Tant de charmes font que cette Ville est toujours fort peuplée, & qu'il y a toujours grand nombre de Marchauds.

from Italy as it is; or, Narrative of an English family's residence for three years by Henry Digby-Beste - 1828

... Piacenza is a fine ancient town, but has the air of being deserted. One of my daughters feeling herself unwell, we stopped here one day, to be redeemed ...

from Letters by Louise Creighton, 1872-1880

Piacenza is a nice town with a town hall which is one of the jolliest buildings I have ever seen. Otherwise there is not much to see except a few churches, and we did all early this morning in time to come on here where we shall also stay a day...

from Travels Into Different Parts of Europe, Letter LXX, Nov. 1791 by John Owen

I know not how a town can be viewed to less advantage than during a fall of undecided rain. By undecided rain, I mean that distillation which scatters a dusky mist over all the works of art. Such was the state of the atmosphere upon my arrival and during my stay at Piacenza; and perhaps it is to this that I owe the impression of dullness which I have brought away with me from that town. It is not, however, without its ornaments.

from Vates by Thomas Gordon Hake, 1840

And then appeared the rapid flood of Eridanus in view, and at the distant termination of the plain stood Piacenza. As we rolled rapidly along, that town appeared nearer and more near, and soon its distant beauty resolved itself into the foul reality which everywhere marks the haunts of men. We passed through its rugged streets, and continued our journey amid rice-fields, irrigated by numerous canals, and enclosed with hedges of willow.

from A Visit to Italy by Frances Milton Trollope, 1842

The only thing en route which roused me to sufficient energy to look about me, with something like admiration, were two equestrian statues at Piacenza, bronze and colossal, upon which the wreaths of snow hung in dismal garlands, giving such an air of stern misery to the sable giants as rendered them extremely picturesque. The piazza too, in which they stood, looked handsome, notwithstanding the miserable aspect under which we saw it.

from Louis Spohr's autobiography, tr. from the German. Copyright ed by Ludwig Spohr, 1865

We now proceeded by way of Modena, Reggio, Parma and Piacenza, to Milan. As we did not stop long any where, I can say nothing more of those cities than that we everywhere found similar crowds of ragged beggars, the same system of cheating among the hotel keepers, and the same dirt. On the market place of Piacenza, we saw the two gigantic bronze statues. Whether they have any artistic merit, I cannot take upon me to say, as we saw them only in the evening twilight.

from Observations and Reflections Made in the Course of a Journey Through France ... by Hester Lynch Piozzi, 1785

Piacenza we found to offer us few objects of attention: an improvisatore, and not a very bad one, amused that time which would otherwise have been passed in lamenting our paucity of entertainment; while his artful praises of England put me in good humour, spite of the weather, which is too hot to bear. With all our lamentations about the heat however, here is no cicala on the trees, or lucciola in the hedges, as at Florence; the days are a little longer too, and the crepuscule lets abrupt in its departure.

from The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz by Freiherr Karl Ludwig von Pöllnitz, 1738

I stay'd Three Days at Parma, and then proceeded on my Journey, I pass'd thro' Piacenza or Placentia, so call'd from its pleasant Situation; Nature having not form'd a finer Country any where than that betwixt this City and Parma: Here is a very fine Castle, and a noble Square, in which is the Court of Justice. The Houses are very well built, but not lofty, tho' indeed it would not signify any thing if they were higher, it being so thinly inhabited, that it looks like a Desert; for sometimes one shall walk a long while in this City, and not meet a Soul.

from Pencillings by the Way by Nathaniel Parker Willis, 1836

At Piacenza, one of those admirable German bands was playing in the public square, while a small corps of picked men were manoeuvred. Even an Italian, I should think, though he knew and felt it was the music of his oppressors, might have been pleased to listen. And pleased they seemed to be - for there were hundreds of dark-haired and well-made men, with faces and forms for heroes, standing and keeping time to the well played instruments, as peacefully as if there were no such thing as liberty, and no menaing in the foreign uniforms crowding them from their own pavement. And there were the women of Piacenza, nodding from the balconies to the white mustachios and padded coats strutting below, and you would never dream Italy thought herself wronged, watching the exchange of courtesies between her dark-eyed daughters and these fair-haired coxcombs.

from The Correspondence of Sir William Weller Pepys (1758-1825)

Piacenza is a pretty large, well built town — has several good streets and good houses, but on the whole it looks a desert, as it is very thin of ...

from The European Journals of William Maclure by William Maclure, 5th May 1812

This [Piacenza] is a large town with a great many churches. All the priests were in uniform, singing and parading in the streets with colors [flags] and crosses, but they did not seem to have many attendants - only boys which [sic] may perhaps be their scholars.

from De Montmartre à Séville par Charles Monselet, 1865

A Alexandrie, un nouveau train m'a conduit au pont de la Trebbia; de là, un infernal omnibus, bas, disjoint, aux vitres brisées, sautillant sur les pierres, s'enfonçant dans la boue, frémissant à chaque cahot, m'a jeté, - c'est le mot, - dans Plaisance la mal nommée. Aux portes de la ville, je reconnais un factionnaire français, un vrai pioupiou, piétinant dans la neige & soufflant dans ses doigts. Je m'informe: notre armée est représentée ici par un garnison de huit ou dix mille hommes. Ne serait-ce que pour revoir encore ces Tetes amies & riantes, je veux m'arréter à Plaisance... Mais, au bout de deux heures, le sentiment national étant pleinement satisfait, - ainsi que le sentiment artistique, - je m'enquiers du prochain départ du chemin de fer. J'emploie le temps qui me reste à retourner devant devant la Municipalité, une merveille architecturale; je n'ai d'yeux que pour ce palais, qui est toute la ville. Les Autrichiens ont détruit une partie des fortifications de Plaisance.

from Les trois Rome par Jean-Joseph Gaume, 1841/1842

 17 NOVEMBRE

Il était convenu que nous coucherions le 16 à Plaisance. Mais le conducteur vint nous annoncer que la douane, dont nous devions subir la visite, avant de passer la Trébie, fermait à cinq heures du soir ; qu'ainsi le passage devenait impossible ce jour-là, et que si nous nous obstinions, le moindre inconvénient était de bivouaquer toute la nuit sur la grande route. Force nous fut de trouver ses raisons bonnes. Seulement, nous nous promîmes de prier humblement Sa Majesté Impériale Marie-Louise, aujourd'hui duchesse de Parme et de Plaisance, de vouloir bien ordonner à ses douaniers de se coucher un peu plus tard.
Descendus au Real Albergo, de Stradella, nous priâmes le maître d'hôtel de nous éveiller à quatre heures du matin, afin de partir à cinq. Exact comme le soldat du guet, le camérier entrait dans la chambre de mes jeunes amis à l'heure indiquée. On lui dit de m'apporler de la lumière dans la pièce voisine; mais l'ordre ne fut pas compris, le vieux serviteur n'entendait pas un mol de français. De là grand embarras de part et d'autre. Henri se met à crier : Porta, mot qui veut dire également porte et apporte. L'Italien s'empresse de satisfaire le désir présumé de mon jeune ami et lui présente la première chose qui lui tombe sous la main : c'était la cuvette. Francis, de son côté, riant aux éclats, crie plus fort : Porta, porta. L'Italien redouble de zèle, et apporte les pantalons et les bottes. Nouveaux rires et nouveaux cris : Porta, porta. Le pauvre homme s'évertue, et croyant avoir deviné, il apporte le meuble indispensable d'une chambre à coucher : ce fut à n'y plus tenir. — Quoique déconcerté, le camérier participe à l'hilarité de mes amis, et s'en va, tournant par la chambre, cherchant partout ce qu'on peut lui demander, et répétant à chaque pas : Ma che diavolo! Tout le mobilier allait passer par ses mains, lorsqu'il entendit rire dans la pièce voisine. Capito! capito! s'écrie-t-il, compris, compris; puis il ouvre ma porte, et allume ma chandelle en répétant d'un air moitié fâché, moitié souriant : Ma che diavolo!
Cette petite répétition de la Tour de Babel nous égayait encore, lorsque nous touchâmes aux frontières du duché de Parme. Pendant cinq quarts d'heure, nous atteudimes sur la roule, grelottant de froid, qu'il plût à messieurs les douaniers d'accomplir leur devoir. A peine si la visite dura le temps que je mets à l'écrire; car ce fut la cliose du monde la plus simple. Un vieux douanier s'approcha de nous, et tirant de dessous sa capote grise, lisérée de vert, une main amaigrie, armée de cinq doigts normands, il nous dit à mi-voix : Signori : nous comprîmes. La bvona mancia tomba dans le récipient, merveilleusement prompt à se refermer, et tout fut dit. Un instant après, nous étions en voiture, blancs comme neige et faisant maintes réflexions au sujet de ce qui venait d'avoir lieu.
Vers neuf heures, on découvrit les rives fameuses de la Trébie. Torrent plutôt que rivière, la Trébie, comme la Bormida, coule dans un lit de cailloux, dont l'extrême largeur nous fit comprendre quel redoutable obstacle elle peut présenter à une armée, au moment des crues. Annibal, que nous avions trouvé sur les bords du Rhône, nous apparut ici avec ses éléphants et ses troupes africaines, espagnoles et gauloises. Le consul Sempronius, avec ses Romains, se montrait sur la rive opposée. Encore un peu, et nous aurions entendu le cliquetis des armes, tant notre classique imagination était montée. Mais l'écho répète un autre bruit à peine expirant, c'est celui de l'artillerie allemande et française, qui naguère ébranla ces lieux et ces ondes tant de fois rougies de sang humain. Sur ce même terrain où, deux mille ans auparavant, les Romains avaient été vaincus parles Charthaginois, Macdonald livra, le 19 juin 1799, au redoutable Sowarow, le sanglant combat qui dura trois jours. De part et d'autre, on brûla cinq millions de cartouches et l'on tira soixante-dix mille coups de canon : quinze mille hommes y périrent, et les armées couchèrent sur le champ de bataille.
Bientôt nous arrivâmes au pont magnifique bâti par Marie-Louise. En face même de la colonne qui est au milieu, nous transcrivîmes l'inscription passablement antichrétienne qui consacre tous les souvenirs militaires dont je viens de parler :

MARIA LUDOVICA

IMP. FRANCISCI I CAES. FILIA

ARCHIDUX AUSTRIAE

DIX PARM. PLAC. VAST.

TREBIAE

QUAM ANNIBAL AN. U. C. DXXXV

LICTENSTEINUS AN. CHR. M. DCCXXXXVI

SOWAROFIUS ET MELAS AN CHR. M. DCCXIX

BELLO VICTORES

ILLUSTRAVERUNT ;

PRINCEPS BENEFICENTISSIMA

FACTA PONTIS COMMODITATE

GLORIAM FELICIOREM

ADJUNXIT.

ANNO M. DCCCXX.

Un peu plus loin, aux limites sanglantes de tous ces champs de bataille, nous lûmes une inscription d'un genre bien diflérent. Sur le portail d'un gracieuse maisonnette, fraîchement badigeonné, on voyait une madone, au pied de laquelle étaient agenouillés deux pèlerins. Au bas de cette jolie fresque étaient écrites les paroles suivantes, qui semblaient s'adresser à nous :

Figli d'Eva che per le vie andate
Di salutar Maria non vi scordate.

L'Italie est, par excellence, le pays de la dévotion envers la sainte Vierge. Sa douce image apparaît partout aux yeux du voyageur; et le pauvre pèlerin de la vie est sans cesse averti qu'en traversant la vallée des larmes, il a dans le ciel une mère qui veille sur ses pas.
Nous entrâmes à Plaisance vers les dix heures du matin. Murailles, maisons, palais, églises, tout est en briques; les rues sont larges, longues, et peu fréquentées ; c'est assez dire combien l'aspect général de cette grande ville est triste et sévère. Veuve de sa gloire et de sa nombreuse population. Plaisance ne s'est jamais relevée de l'affreux pillage que lui fit subir, en 1448, le terrible François Sforce. Les églises, sur-chargées d'ornements, n'offrent rien de remarquable, à l'exception de la cathédrale, belle construction gothique du treizième siècle. La coupole est ornée de fresques très-estimées, du Guerchin et de Louis Carrache. A l'extérieur du clocher, on voit la fameuse cage de fer dans laquelle, dit-on, furent enfermées, pour les y laisser mourir, quelques-unes des plus illustres victimes des nombreuses révolutions italiennes. Plaisance rappelle au voyageur chrétien le souvenir de deux conciles mémorables. Le premier, tenu par le pape Urbain II, en 1095, cassa le mariage que Philippe 1er roi de France, avait contracté avec Bertrade, après avoir répudié Berthe, fille du comte de Hollande; le second, tenu par Innocent II, en 1132, condamna l'antipape Anaclet.

...

18 NOVEMBRE.

A sept heures du matin, par un temps froid et brumeux, nous prenions la route de Parme en compagnie de quatre Italiens. Après avoir traversé de vastes plaines dont aucun accident de terrain ne coupe la monotonie, on arrive promptement à Borgo San-Donino.