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C O N I .
ALTHOUGH tlie province of Coni, or Cunei, forms at this time apart of Piedmont, and
may confequently be deemed in Italy, the traveller who has previouily A'ifited the fuperb
towns and bcaxitlful villas which ornament that grand and rich pcninfula, mull not expe6l
to meet in the capital of this fmall province, which lies on his way to Nicc acrofs the
maritime Alps, with a continuance of thofe produ<iHons of art, and fragments of antiquity,
which abound in fach profufion on the claffic ground he has juft left, but prepare himfclf
for fcenes of another kind, for contemplating objeits and phenomena of nature, wliich will
be no lefs interefting to a fcientific mind, than thofe which are found on the Campi
Phlegrffii, or the environs of Naples, and in the fertile plains of Lombardy and Parmafan.
Amateurs in painting, fculpture, and architcflure, will doubtlefs lofe conliderably by
the change; but then, on the other hand, how wonderfully will the naturaliil find that he
is gaining, when at every ftcp he takes he is imperceptibly led to make valuable obfervations,
and to coUedt fuch curious fpecimens of nature as merit a place in the cabinet of our
greateft. virtuofos.
The annexed drawing gives not fo perfcA an idea of the city of Coni as I could have
wilhed, owing to die extent of its fortifications and out-works, which neariy furround
the town; and likewife to the nature of its fituation, which is particularly fingular, being,
as it were, featcd on the fummit of a delta, or triangle, formed by the confluence of the
rivers Gezzo and Stura, which pre^'cnted tlie poffibility of my finding a favourable fpot
from whcnce a more extcnfive view could be taken. As this city commands the entrance
of fcveral valleys which defccnd from the Alps, it has always been reckoned one of the
chief keys to the principality of Piedmont.
It docs not appear from the autliority of the moil ancient Italian writers, or even geographers
of the ftriaeil authenticity, that Coni was ever known to the Romans, but is fuppofed
to have been built about the twelfth century.