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WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 


WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 


By  AUGUSTUS  J.  C.  HARE 

AUTHOR    OF    "MEMORIALS   OF    A   QUIET    LIFE,"  "WALKS   IN    ROME,"    ETC. 


WITH  SEVENTEEN   ILLUSTRATIONS 


STRAHAN  AND  CO. 

56,    LUDGATE    HILL    LONDON 

1873 

1 The  Riglit  0/  Translation  is  Raeived,] 


LONDON : 

PRINTED   BY  VIRTUE    AND    CO. 

CITY    ROAD. 


INTRODUCTION. 


r  I  ""HERE  are  many  ways  of  making  a  tour  in 
■*■  Spain.  Of  these,  the  one  which  is  usually 
chosen  is  the  comfortable  tour,  which  takes  the 
traveller  by  the  main  line  of  railway  to  Madrid, 
showing  him  the  cathedral  of  Burgos  and  the 
palace  of  the  Escorial  on  the  way,  and  which 
carries  him  on  to  Toledo,  Cordova,  Seville,  and 
Granada,  almost  all  places  which  may  be  visited 
and  sojourned  at  with  little  more  of  difficulty  or  of 
discomfort  than  is  to  be  met  with  between  London 
and  Paris.  The  traveller  who  follows  this  route 
generally  declines  spending  his  time  in  stopping  at 
the  smaller  stations,  even  though  they  may  be 
directly  on  his  way;  he  is  content  with  seing  what 
he  has  been  told  is  the  cream  of  Spain.  But  he  mnst 
not  imagine  that  in  doing  this  he  has  really  seen 
Spain,  or  that  such  a  tour  can  give  him  more  than 

b 


vi  INTRODUCTION. 

the  most  cursory  glimpse,  if  as  much,  into  the 
character  and  the  habits  of  its  people.  And  even 
the  small  benefit  and  interest  which  such  a  traveller 
might  receive  on  such  a  journey  is  barred  out  from 
him,  if  he  is  hedged  in,  as  is  too  often  the  case, 
by  ignorant  couriers,  or  the  ciceroni  who  lurk  like 
bloodthirsty  leeches  around  the  doors  of  the 
principal  hotels. 

He  who  would  really  see  Spain,  must  go  prepared 
to  rough  it,  must  be  unembarrassed  by  a  courier 
(a  creature  the  Spanish  mind  hates  as  much  as  it 
despises  the  unfortunate  master  in  leading-strings), 
must  be  content  with  humble  inns,  coarse  fare, 
windows  often  glassless,  vehicles  always  jolting, 
and  above  all  must  put  all  false  Anglican  pride 
in  his  pocket,  and  treat  every  Spaniard,  from  the 
lowest  beggar  upwards,  as  his  equal.  If  he  will 
bear  these  things,  especially  if  he  will  unstiffen 
his  English  backbone,  and  genially  and  cordially 
respond  to  the  many  humble  courtesies  which  he 
will  undoubtedly  meet  with,  he  will  enjoy  Spain, 
and  her  abounding  treasures  of  art,  of  history,  of 
legendary  lore,  and  above  all  of  kindly  generous 
hospitality,  will  be  freely  poured  out  for  him.  He 
must  take  Spain  as  he  finds  her ;  she  is  not  likely 
to  improve  ;  she  does  not  wish  to  improve  ;  the  only 


INTRODUCTION.  vii 

way  of  finding  pleasure  in  her  is  to  take  her  as 
she  is,  without  longing  for  her  to  be  what  she  is 
not.  The  Spanish  standard  of  morals,  of  manners, 
of  religion,  of  duty,  of  all  the  courtesies  which  are 
due  from  one  person  to  another,  however  wide 
apart  their  rank,  is  a  very  different  and  in  most  of 
these  points  a  much  higher  standard  than  the 
English  one,  and,  if  an  English  traveller  will  not 
at  least  endeavour  to  come  up  to  it,  he  had  much 
better  stay  at  home. 

It  is  also  necessary  at  once  to  lay  aside  all  false 
expectations  as  to  what  one  will  find.  Spain  is 
not  a  beautiful  country.  If  a  traveller  expects  to 
find  the  soft  charm  and  luxuriant  loveliness  of 
Italy,  life  in  Spain  will  be  a  constant  disappoint- 
ment :  no  hope  can  possibly  be  more  misplaced. 
Spain  is  not  the  least  like  Italy :  it  has  not  even 
the  beauty  of  the  greater  part  of  France.  Beyond 
the  Asturias  and  the  valleys  near  the  Pyrenees, 
there  is  not  a  tree  worth  speaking  of  in  the 
Peninsula.  There  is  scarcely  any  grass ;  the 
shrubs  may  even  be  counted;  except  when  the 
corn  is  out,  which  here  lasts  such  a  short  time, 
there  is  hardly  any  vegetation  at  all.  Those  who 
wish  to  find  beauty  must  only  look  for  beauty  of 
an  especial  kind — without  verdure,  or  refinement, 


viii  INTRODUCTION. 

or  colour.     But  the  artist  will  be  satisfied  without 
these,    and  will   exult   in   the   long  lines,  in   the 
unbroken  expanses  of  the  stony,  treeless,  desolate 
sierras,  while  every  crevice  of  the  distant  hills  is 
distinctly  visible   in  the   transparent   atmosphere, 
and  the  shadows  of  the  clouds  fall  blue  upon  the 
pale  yellow  of  the  tawny  desert.     In  the  central 
provinces,  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  miles  may  be 
traversed,  and  no  single  feature  of  striking  natural 
beauty  be  met  with ;  nothing  more  than  the  pic- 
turesque effects   which    may  always   be  obtained 
by  the  groups  of  cattle,  gathered  round  fountains 
by  the  dusty  wayside  or  standing  out  as  if  em- 
bossed against  the  pale  distances,  or  by  the  long 
trains  of  mules  with  their  drivers  in  brigand-like 
costume  and  flowing  manias  bearing  merchandise 
from  one  town  to  another.     On  these  plains,  too, 
there  is  a  silence  which  is  almost  ghastly,  for  there 
are  no  singing   birds,  scarcely  even  any  insects. 
Such   is  the  character   of  almost  all   the  country 
now  traversed   by  the   principal   railways,  which 
was  formerly  toiled   through   in   diligence   or   on 
mule-back.     But  even  here,  just  when  the  spirits 
begin  to  flag,  and  the  wearied  eye  longs  to  refresh 
itself,  the  traveller  reaches  one  of  the  grand  old  cities 
which  seem  to  have  gone  to  sleep  for  five  hundred 


1XTR0DUCTI0N.  ix 

years  and  to  have  scarcely  waked  up  again,  where 
you  step  at  once  out  of  the  reign  of  Amadeo  or  Isa- 
bella II.  into  that  of  Philip  II.,  and  find  the  buildings, 
the  costumes,  the  proverbs,  the  habits,  the  daily  life, 
those  of  his  time.  You  wonder  what  Spain  has 
been  doing  since,  and  the  answer  is  quite  easy — 
nothing.  It  has  not  the  slightest  wish  to  do 
anything  more  ;  it  is  quite  satisfied.  The  Catholic 
sovereigns  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  made  a  great 
nation  of  it,  and  filled  it  with  glorious  works. 
Since  then  it  has  had,  well — reverses,  but  it  has 
changed  as  little  as  ever  it  could.  It  has  delighted 
in  its  conservatism  in  everything,  down  to  the 
sleepy  wickedness  of  its  Bourbon  sovereigns.  We 
said  to  many  a  Spaniard  who  lamented  over  the 
absence  of  Isabella,  "  Oh,  but  she  was  so  dread- 
fully wicked."  "Ah,  yes,"  was  the  answer,  with 
a  look  of  much  sympathy  for  the  exile,  "  she  had 
indeed  all  the  dear  old  Spanish  vices."  And  for 
the  sake  of  those  ancestral  vices  even,  many  will 
not  rest  till  they  have  her  back  again. 

How  the  Spaniards  hate  and  abuse  the  railways, 
though  they  use  them  !  Certainly  they  make  them 
go  as  slow  as  possible,  and  bring  the  trains  as 
nearly  as  possible  to  the  speed  of  the  old  mule- 
traffic.      And   as  for  carriages  in  country  places, 


x  INTRODUCTION. 

they  are  little  more  than  a  square  of  bars  with 
ropes  between,  through  which  you  tumble,  and 
stick,  and  flounder  as  best  you  may,  while  you 
are  being  furiously  jolted  over  the  rugged,  rutty, 
rocky  roads. 

Except  in  the  Asturias  and  some  parts  of  Galicia, 
I  am  only  aware  of  two  places  where  there  is 
anything  that  may  be  called  beautiful  country  in 
Spain,  and  these  are  Monserrat,  the  noblest,  the 
most  gloriously  beautiful  of  rocks,  and  the  palm- 
groves  of  Elche.  The  latter  is  indeed  quite  sur- 
passingly beautiful,  and  a  painter  might  linger  for 
ever  upon  the  glowing  loveliness  of  its  contrasts, 
where  the  stony  yellow  plain  sweeps  up  close 
with  the  luxuriant  palm-woods.  It  has  more  of 
the  ideal  Africa  than  Africa  itself,  and  is  the 
most  splendid  oasis  in  a  singularly  dismal  desert. 
Generally,  African  travellers  complain  of  the 
Spanish  deserts  as  being  deserts  without  any  oases 
at  all. 

Travel  in  Spain  then  becomes  a  constant  move- 
ment from  one  town  to  another — towns  which  are 
not  as  beautiful  as  those  in  Italy,  not  as  picturesque 
as  many  of  those  in  France  and  Germany,  but 
which  have  a  peculiar  charm  of  their  own  in  their 
tortuous   whitewashed    streets,   their    vast    brown 


INTRODUCTION.  xi 

mouldering  palaces,  and  their  colossal  churches, 
which  nothing  but  sight  can  give  the  impression 
of.  Such  a  town  Kenelm  Digby  describes  when 
he  wishes  that  his  "  Broadstone  of  Honour"  may 
resemble  "one  of  those  beautiful  old  cities  in  Spain, 
in  which  one  finds  everything ;  cool  walks  shaded 
by  orange-trees  along  the  banks  of  a  river ;  great 
open  squares  exposed  to  the  burning  sun,  for 
festivities  ;  narrow,  winding,  dark  streets,  composed 
of  houses  of  every  form,  height,  age,  colour ; 
labyrinths  of  buildings,  all  confused  together, 
palaces,  hospitals,  convents,  halls,  all  raised  in 
an  appropriate  style  of  architecture ;  market-places, 
resounding  to  the  busy  hum  of  men ;  cemeteries, 
where  the  living  are  as  silent  as  the  dead ;  in  the 
centre,  the  vast  gothic  cathedral,  with  its  airy 
spires  and  massive  tower,  its  fine  sculptured  portals, 
and  its  arches  and  capitals  of  varied  tracery,  its 
deep  vaults,  its  forests  of  pillars,  its  burning 
chapels,  its  multitude  of  saints,  its  high  altar 
lighted  with  a  thousand  tapers — wonderful  struc- 
ture !  imposing  by  its  enormous  magnitude,  curious 
in  its  details,  sublime  when  seen  from  a  distance 
of  two  leagues,  and  beautiful  when  only  two  paces 
from  the  eye.  Then,  in  another  quarter  of  the 
city,  the  vast  arch  or  aqueduct,  constructed  by  the 


xii  INTRODUCTION. 

Romans,  or,  concealed  by  a  grove  of  palms  and 
sycamore,  the  ruins  of  the  Oriental  mosque,  with 
its  domes  of  brass  and  enamelled  pavements." 

Such  a  town  as  this  is  Salamanca  on  the  beauti- 
ful Tormes ;  such  is  Segovia,  with  its  richly 
decorated  streets,  its  wide  views  over  the  wild 
surrounding  sierras,  and  its  deep  green  gorges 
filled  with  old  churches  and  convents.  Such, 
above  all,  is  Granada,  the  climax  of  the  beauty 
and  interest  of  Spain,  a  place  which  alone  is  worth 
all  and  tenfold  the  fatigue  and  trouble  which  may 
be  undertaken  to  reach  it.  Long  before  railway 
days,  I  knew  some  ladies,  who  being  delayed  for 
a  few  days  between  two  steamers  at  Malaga, 
determined  to  reach  Granada,  though  it  was  only 
possible  to  spend  one  day  there.  Day  and  night, 
though  in  feeble  health,  they  rode  on  in  ever- 
increasing  exhaustion.  At  last,  on  the  summit 
of  a  desolate  mountain,  their  strength  altogether 
gave  way,  and  they  felt  it  impossible  to  proceed 
further.  But  just  then,  a  solitary  traveller  ap- 
proached from  the  other  side  of  the  pass — the  path 
was  so  narrow,  so  hemmed  in  by  precipices,  that 
it  was  impossible  to  linger — there  was  no  time  for 
many  words,  but  as  the  stranger  passed,  he  ex- 
claimed, "  Go  on,  go  on,  it  is  alike  the  Paradise 


INTRODUCTION.  xm 

of  Nature  and  of  Art,"— and  they  took  courage 
and  went  on,  and  found  it,  as  so  many  thousands 
of  travellers  have  done  since,  the  most  perfectly 
beautiful  place  in  the  world. 

There  is  no  mine  of  interest  which  has  been 
less  explored  than  that  of  Spain.  Singularly  little 
has  been  written  about  it,  even  in  its  own  language. 
The  traveller's  library  need  not  be  very  large. 
There  is  no  book  like  Ford,  which  cannot  be  done 
without,  but  then  it  must  be  the  old  original 
undistorted  edition,  which  is  now  very  difficult 
to  procure.  O'Shea  is  a  capital  guide-book  for 
the  commonly  visited  places,  has  more  correct 
recent  information  than  Murray,  from  which  it 
differs  entirely  both  in  plan  and  material,  and  is 
the  best  for  practical  purposes.  The  volume  of 
Kugler's  Handbook,  on  the  Spanish  Schools  of 
Painting,  may  be  found  useful  in  the  galleries 
of  Valencia,  Seville,  and  Madrid,  though  most 
of  its  information  is  given  in  a  more  agreeable 
and  attention-arresting  form  in  a  charming  volume 
called  "  Spanish  Towns  and  Spanish  Pictures," 
by  Mrs.  W.  A.  Tollemache.  Street's  ponderous 
volume  on  the  "Gothic  Architecture  of  Spain" 
may  be  instructively  studied  for  the  churches  of 
the  north  before  leaving  home.      Hans   Christian 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

Andersen's  vivid  sketches  "  In  Spain  "  are  pleasant 
reading  upon  the  spot,  and  in  French  the  admirable 
"Voyage  en  Espagne"  of  Theophile  Gautier.  But 
if  one  goes  beyond  mere  architecture  and  picture- 
seeing,  into  that  which  makes  Spain  what  it  is, 
the  living,  active — or  rather  the  dead,  inactive — 
pulse  of  its  people,  filled  with  poetical  thoughts, 
existing  in  an  atmosphere  of  semi-Eastern  imagery, 
which  flows  in  songs  and  proverbs  from  their 
lips,  there  are  a  series  of  modern  Spanish  romances, 
giving  an  unexaggerated  picture  of  the  life  and 
character  of  the  people,  which  should  indeed  be 
more  carefully  studied  than  any  hand-book,  and 
which  are  the  pleasantest  of  companions  in  the 
long  weary  railway  journeys,  which  offer  nothing 
to  see  and  very  little  to  think  about.  Perfectly 
charming  are  the  little  novels  and  poems  of 
Gustave  Becquer,  the  historical  tales  of  Trueba,  the 
poems  of  Don  Melchor  de  Palau — but  above  all 
the  inexhaustible  wealth  of  beautiful  word-pictures 
which  may  be  enjoyed  in  the  stories  of  Fernan 
Caballero,  which  collect  so  much,  and  reveal  so 
much,  and  teach  so  much,  that  it  is  scarcely 
possible  sufficiently  to  express  one's  obligation 
to  them. 

Tired   of  modern    novels,   a  traveller,  who   has 


INTRODUCTION.  xv 

taken  the  trouble  to  make  some  acquaintance  with 
the  language,  may  be  curious  to  know  at  least  the 
names  and  characteristics  of  those  who  have  used 
it  with  the  greatest  success,  for,  with  the  single 
exception  of  Don  Quixote,  Spanish  authors  are 
but  little  known  beyond  the  Peninsula.  Graver 
students  may  be  referred  at  once  to  the  "  Literary 
Histories "  of  Bouterwek  (tr.  by  Th.  Ross)  and 
Ticknor. 

The  earliest  monument  of  Spanish  literature  (it  is 
also  the  earliest  epic  in  any  modern  language)  is 
the  rhymed  chronicle  known  as  the  "  Poem  of  the 
Cid."     The  hero's  exile  and  return,  his  conquest  of 
Valencia,  the  marriage  of  his  daughters  with  the 
Infants  of  Carrion,  the  cruel  treatment  they  suffer 
from  their  husbands,  and  their  re-marriage  with 
the  Infants  of  Navarre  and  Arragon,  are  the  events 
told  naively  in  these  rude  verses.     The  Cid  died  in 
1099,  and  the  poem  may  date  some  fifty  years  later. 
The  ordinary  reader  will  get  an  ample  idea  of  its 
gist  and  spirit  in  the  admirable  translations  of  John 
Hookham   Frere  (in  his  collected  works,  vol.   ii., 
pp.  411—437). 

After  "The  Cid"  follow  the  rhymed  tales  of  the 
Romancero  and  Cancionero-General,  and  the  many 
volumes  of  romances  and  stories  of  knight-errantry 


XVI 


INTRODUCTION. 


so  lovingly  collected  and  studied  by  Don  Quixote, 
and  of  which  the  cure  and  the  barber  made  so  ruth- 
less a  holocaust. 

All  but  antiquaries,  however,  will  skip   at  once 
from  the  age  of  Ruy  Diaz  to  that  of  Charles  V., 
when  a  new  race  of  poets  began  to  seek  their  inspi- 
ration from  classical    and   Italian  sources;    when 
Virgil,   Horace,    and    Petrarch  were    studied   and 
imitated,  and  the  Italian  sonnet  and  canzone  were 
acclimatised  in  Spain.     Copious  stores  of  lyric  and 
pastoral  poetry  still  survive  to  keep  fresh  in  Spain 
the  names  of  Boscan,  Garcilaso,  Mendoza,  Herrera, 
and  Luis  de  Leon.     At  last  (1547—1616)  appeared 
Cervantes.     Don  Quixote  needs  no  word  of  com- 
ment, but  the  reader  may  perhaps  be  reminded  that 
to  the  same  pen   Spain  owes  some  capital  stories, 
somewhat  in  the  style  of   Boccaccio  (the  Novelas 
Ejemplares),  and  an  admirable  tragedy,  "  Numan- 
tia."   The  great  outburst  of  Spanish  genius  extends 
(just  as  in  Greece  and  England)  through  a  period 
of  little  more  than  a  century,  contained  within  the 
reigns  of  Philip  II.,  III.,  IV.     What  the  Persian 
War  was  to  the  Greek,  the  discovery  and  conquest 
of  the  New  World  was  to  the  Spaniard  ;  and  in  the 
lull  which  followed   either   event   the   passionate 
attachment  to  the  altars  and  homes  of  their  father- 


INTRODUCTION.  xvii 

land,  and  the  lofty  pride  in  their  history,  which 
filled,  every  breast  in  both  nations,  found  its  highest 
expression  in  the  drama.  Lope  de  Vega  (1562 — 
1635),  who  is  said  to  have  written  nearly  two 
thousand  plays,  stands  first  in  fertility  and  inven- 
tive genius;  Calderon  (1600 — 1681)  in  wealth  of 
imagery,  and  deep  religious  feeling.  In  his  power 
of  portraying  the  most  tender  "  sensibility  of  prin- 
ciple," the  most  perfect  "chastity  of  honour," 
Calderon  stands  alone  among  poets.  Englishmen 
will  do  well  to  approach  this  singular  genius 
through  the  graceful  essay  of  Archbishop  Trench, 
and  the  fragmentary  translation  of  the  Magico 
Prodigioso  by  Shelley. 

So  far  the  great  charm  of  Spanish  literature  lay  in 
the  fact  that  its  chcfs-d'ceuvre  were  less  mannered 
and  learned,  and  more  original  and  national  than 
those  of  other  countries.  But  before  the  death  of 
Lope  de  Vega  a  new  school  had  arisen  which  affected 
a  superlative  purity  of  expression  and  style.  Ample 
specimens  of  its  versatile  founder  Gongora  (1561 — 
1627),  and  an  interesting  account  of  the  contro- 
versies his  works  provoked  may  be  found  in  an 
essay  by  Archdeacon  Churton  entitled  "  Gongora." 

A  beginner  will  find  his  best  help  to  the  language 
in  Del  Mar's  Grammar,  and  Neuman  and  Baretti's 


xviii  INTRODUCTION. 

Dictionary;  with  these  at  his  side  let  him  begin  by 
attacking  Padre  Isla's  translation  of  Gil  Bias  or 
one  of  Fernan  Caballero's  novelettes. 

Spain  is  now  so  encircled  by  railways  that  almost 
everything  of  importance  may  be  visited  by  rail. 
The  following  is  the  tour  we  intended  to  make, 
though  we  were  prevented  ultimately  from  accom- 
plishing a  part  of  it,  and  it  embraces  all  the  prin- 
cipal objects  of  interest  in  Spain  and  Portugal. 

Irun  (excursion  in  carnage  to  Fontarabia). 

S.  Sebastian. 

Pamplona  (ride  to  Roncesvalles) . 

Tudela (visit — by  carriage — Tarragona,  and — on  mules — Veruela). 

Tafalla  and  Olite. 

Zaragoza. 

Huesca  (walk  or  ride  to  visit  the  neighbouring  convents). 

Lerida. 

Manresa  (drive  to  the  curious  mines  of  Cardoiia). 

Monistrol  (walk  or  drive  to  Monserrat,  and  remain  some  days 
at  the  convent,  seeing  the  neighbourhood  on  foot). 

Barcelona  (visit  Pedralles,  and  San  Culgat  del  Vallis — going  by 
rail  to  Serdanola  and  walking  from  thence). 

Ripoll,  rail  and  drive. 

Gerona. 

Martorell. 

Tarragona  (visit  Poblet  and  other  monasteries,  taking  the  rail- 
way to  Montblanch,  and  driving  or  walking  from  thence). 

Saguntum. 

Valencia. 

Jativa. 

Alicante,  hence  drive  to — 

Elche,  drive  to — 


INTRODUCTION.  xix 

Orihuela,  and  on  to — 

Murcia. 

Cordova  (ride  or  walk  to  the  hermitages  of  Val  Paraiso). 

Seville  (drive  to  Italica). 

Xeres. 

Cadiz,  whence  by  sea,  or  ride  by  Tarifa,  to — 

Algeciras,  steamer  to — 

Gibraltar,  and  on  mules  to — 

Ronda,  whence  ride  and  rail  to — 

Malaga,  or  direct  to — 

Granada  (excursion  to  the  Alpuxarras  and  Alhama),  diligence 
to— 

Jaex,  and  on  to  Menzibar,  whence  by  rail  to — 

Merida. 

Santarem. 

Lisbon  (excursion  to  Cintra  and  Mafra),  by  rail  to  Carregado 
and  carriage,  by  Caldas  da  Rainha,  to — 

Alcobaca,  and  on  to — 

Batalha,  and  on  to — 

Coimbra. 

Oporto,  carriage  or  sea  to — 

Vigo,  carriage  to — 

Santiago,  diligence  to — 

Lugo,  and  to — 

Villa  Franca  del  Vierzo  (whence  ride  or  walk  to  the  monas- 
teries), and  carriage  to — 

Astorga. 

Leon,  diligence  to — 

O  vi  edo,  ride  to — 

Covadonga,  and  ride  on  tc — 

Santander. 

Palencia. 

Za.mora,  diligence  to — 

Salamanca,  diligence  to — 

Avila. 

Madrid. 


xx  INTRODUCTION. 

Toledo. 

Aranjuez,  and  return  to — 

Madrid  (excursion  by  rail  to  Alcala,  Guadalajara  and  Siguenza). 

Vilalba,  diligence  to  La  Granja  and  diligence  or  carriage  to — 

Segovia,  diligence  back  to  Vilalba  and  rail  to — 

Escorial. 

Valladolid  (drive  to  the  Tower  of  Simancas). 

Burgos  (drive  to  Miraflores  and  S.  Pedro  de  Cerdeiia). 

Irun. 

As  a  certain  degree  of  physical  well-being  is 
quite  essential  to  mental  enjoyment,  a  Spanish 
traveller  who  intends  to  visit  obscure  places  should 
certainly  not  set  out  unprovided  with  some  of  the 
comforts  of  life — some  tea,  Liebig's  soup,  soap,  and 
a  few  common  medicines  should  on  no  account  be 
left  behind.  It  should  also  be  remembered,  that 
except  in  the  extreme  south,  and  on  part  of  the  east 
coast,  the  cold  in  Spain  is  quite  as  severe,  or  more 
so,  than  in  the  north  of  Europe — though  it  is  a  dry 
healthy  cold — and  a  good  supply  of  warm  wraps 
must  be  provided. 

Spanish  "  Travellers'  Rests  "  are  of  three  kinds  : 
— a  Fonda,  which  answers  to  an  hotel ;  a  Posada, 
which  represents  an  inn,  though  generally  of 
very  inferior  quality ;  and  a  Venta,  which  is  the 
merest  public-house.  In  almost  all  the  towns,  how- 
evet,  are  Casas  de  Hacspcdcs,  boarding  houses, 
where  food   and   lodging   are  supplied   at  a  fixed 


INTRODUCTION.  xxi 

price,  and  which,  as  regards  the  latter,  are  often 
very  comfortable  ;  of  the  former  it  is  seldom  that 
much  can  be  said.  Houses  of  this  kind  which  have 
rooms  to  be  let  furnished,  hang  out  a  piece  of  white 
paper  from  the  middle  of  their  balcony,  but  when 
the  rooms  are  unfurnished,  the  paper  is  placed  at 
the  corner  of  the  balcony.  Almost  all  Spanish 
houses  are  distinguished  by  a  heavy  shield  or  coat- 
of-arms,  often  of  very  curious  historical  origin. 
Such  is  the  badge  of  "  El  Nodo  "  represented  on 
the  outside  of  this  volume,  which  is  borne  proudly 
over  the  gates  of  Seville  and  its  Alcazar,  given  by 
Alonzo  el  Sabio,  when  that  town  alone  was  faithful 
to  him  in  his  misfortunes,  and  meaning  "  No  m'ha 
dejado  "  ,"She  has  not  deserted  me"),  Made j a 
being  expressed  by  the  central  figure  representing 
a  skein. 


CONTENTS. 


PAG* 

I.    NAVARRE  AND  ARRAGON I 

II.    IN  CATALONIA 21 

III.   BARCELONA  AND  GERONA 38 

IV.   TARRAGONA  AND  POBLET 50 

V.   VALENCIA,  ALICANTE,  AND   ELCHE 66 

VI.    CORDOVA 85 

VII.   SEVILLE 93 

VIII.   CADIZ  AND  GIBRALTAR 1 29 

IX.   GRANADA 1 37 

X.   ARANJUEZ  AND  TOLEDO 1 73 

XI.    MADRID  AND  THE  ESCORIAL 200 

XII.    SEGOVIA  AND  AVILA .  229 

XIII.   SALAMANCA,  VALLADOLID,  AND   BURGOS   ....  254 


d 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Toledo Frontispiece. 

LERIDA to  face  page  zz 

Barcelona 38 

Cathedral,  Tarragona 52 

Castle  of  Alicante 77 

At  Elche 80 

Cordova 86 

Seville 96 

Gibraltar  from  Algeciras  .        .        .        .  .        .132 

Gate  of  Justice,  Alhambra 142 

Court  of  Blessing,  Alhambra 150 

Puerta  del  Sol,  Toledo 180 

Statue  of  Philip  IV.,  Madrid 208 

Segovia 230 

Palace  of  La  Granja 238 

Salamanca 256 

Arco  de  Sancta  Maria,  Burgos 268 


NAVARRE  AND  ARRAGON. 

Zaragoza,  December  29,  1871. 

^1  7E  have  entered  Spain  at  the  end  of  Decem- 
ber,  which  is  by  no  means  the  best  time  of 
the  year  for   beginning  our  tour.      The  traveller 
who   intends   to   make    a   long    progress   through 
the  Peninsula,  and  who  wishes  to  do  it  comfort- 
ably and  pleasantly,  should  not  set  out  later  than 
October,  when  he  may  hope  to  pass  through  one 
side   of  the   bleak  northern  provinces,  and  reach 
beauty  and  sunshine  before  the  cold  weather  sets 
in.     In     this    we    were    prevented,    but  we  have 
begun  our  journey,  determined  to  find  all  possible 
compensation  for  our  fatigues,  to  look  at  the  bright 
side  in  everything,  and,  above  all,  not  to  be  de- 
terred  by    a   little    difficulty  from   seeing   all   we 
have  come  to  visit. 

Our    passage    of    the    boundary-line    between 

B 


2  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

France  and  Spain  was  by  no  means  triumphant. 
Just  at  the  critical  moment,  when  we  were  about 
to  cross  the  Bidassoa,  and  all  heads  were  out  of 
the  windows  watching  for  the  famous  Isle  of 
Pheasants,  crash  went  the  train  off  the  line, 
knocking  everybody  back  into  their  seats,  and 
swamping  sentiment  in  fright.  We  seemed  likely 
to  be  detained  for  hours,  but  there  is  wonderful 
strength  in  numbers,  and  such  a  multitude  of 
peasants  obeyed  the  summons  to  assist  in  lifting 
the  refractory  carriages  on  to  the  line  again,  that 
less  than  an  hour  saw  them  all  replaced,  and  five 
minutes  after,  we  steamed  across  the  narrow 
channel  and  entered  Spain. 

The  change  on  crossing  the  boundary  is  strangely 
instantaneous,  and  the  traveller  is  forced  at  once  to 
realise  how  impossible  it  will  be  to  travel  in 
Spain  without  at  least  some  knowledge  of  its 
language ;  for  even  on  the  frontier  no  other  is 
understood,  and  the  most  embarrassing  confusion 
is  also  in  store  for  one  who  has  not  already 
mastered  the  intricate  varieties  of  the  Spanish 
coinage  in  which  his  fresh  tickets  have  to  be  paid 
for.  Immediately,  also,  Spanish  customs  come 
into  play.  You  ask  his  worship  the  Porter  to  have 
the  graciousness    to   assist  you    in    lifting    your 


NAVARRE  AND  ARRAGON  3 

portmanteau  ("  Mozo,  hagame  Usted  el  favor  de 
Uevar  mi  maleta"),  and  you  implore  his  worship 
the  Beggar,  your  brother,  for  the  love  of  God  to 
excuse  you  from  giving  him  anything  ("Perdoneme 
Usted,  por  Dios,  hermano").  Pleasantly,  how- 
ever, does  this  excess  of  Spanish  courtesy  strike 
you  when  you  are  about  to  enter  the  railway 
carriage.  However  crowded  it  may  be  already, 
however  filled  up  with  the  hand-bags  and  other 
impedimenta  of  its  occupants,  the  new-comers, 
who  would  be  scowled  upon  in  England,  are 
welcomed  with  smiles  and  willing  help  ;  places  are 
at  once  made  for  them,  their  bags  and  baskets  are 
comfortably  stowed  away,  and  everything  that  can 
be  supplied  is  offered  for  their  convenience ;  every 
Spanish  gentleman  is  willing  to  assist,  translate, 
or  advise ;  and  if  you  travel  in  the  second-class 
carriages,  which,  as  in  many  parts  of  Germany, 
are,  in  the  north  of  Spain,  often  much  more  roomy 
and  comfortable,  and  generally  far  less  crowded 
than  the  first,  not  even  the  humblest  peasant  leaves 
it  without  lifting  his  hat  and  wishing  you  a  hearty 
"A  Dios,  Senores." 

The  train  crawls  along  in  the  most  provoking 
way,  stopping  at  all  the  small  stations  for  two, 
four,  ten,  twenty  minutes,  and  giving  you  ample 


4  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

time  to  survey  the  scenery.  You  feel  impatient, 
but  your  Spanish  companions  are  perfectly  satis- 
fied, "  it  is  so  much  safer,  so  satisfactory  never  to 
have  any  accidents."  Time  is  of  no  importance  to 
them  whatever.  "  One  can  smoke  one's  cigarritos 
as  well  in  one  place  as  another."  This  insouciance 
was  fully  displayed  when  we  reached  the  junction 
station  of  Alsasua,  where  we  were  to  change  for 
Pamplona,  and  found  our  train  had  just  been 
taken  off  by  the  company,  without  any  previous 
notice  having  been  given  to  that  effect.  It  was 
pitch  dark,  and  from  the  pouring  rain  which  had 
continued  for  several  days,  the  wild  country  round 
was  little  better  than  a  swamp,  so  the  prospect 
of  a  whole  day's  detention  was  by  no  means 
exhilarating ;  but  finding  our  Spanish  friends 
received  the  announcement  with  no  greater  expres- 
sion of  displeasure  than  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders, 
we  thought  it  better  to  take  it  in  the  same  way, 
and,  as  they  said,  to  "  avoid  the  fatigue  of  discom- 
posing ourselves."  Lanterns  were  brought  to 
guide  us  down  a  slippery  causeway  and  through  a 
slough  of  red  mud  to  a  humble  cottage-like  Posada, 
where  a  woman  with  her  head  tied  up  in  a  bright 
red-and-yellow  handkerchief  gave  us  a  warm 
reception,  surrounded  by  her  five  cats  and  as  many 


NAVARRE  AND  ARRAGON.  5 

children.  We  found  everything  much  better  than 
we  had  expected ;  the  small  bedrooms  had  clean 
boarded  floors,  though  no  more  furniture  than  was 
absolutely  necessary,  and  the  straw  mattresses 
were  covered  with  clean  linen.  There  were  no 
fire-places,  but  during  the  evening  each  was 
warmed  for  a  time  with  a  brasero  filled  with 
smouldering  wood  ashes.  The  night  was  bitterly 
cold,  for  the  hills  close  around  were  thickly  covered 
with  snow ;  and  after  a  humble  supper  of  broth, 
boiled  eggs,  and  potatoes,  we  clustered  round  a 
log-fire  in  the  lower  room,  our  party  being 
increased  by  the  station-master  and  two  travelling 
bagmen,  who  diverted  us  with  their  various 
experiences,  while  the  cats  fought  and  screeched 
in  the  background.  In  the  morning  a  small  cup 
of  chocolate  was  served  to  each,  with  some  dry 
bread,  for  we  had  taken  leave  of  butter  on  taking 
leave  of  the  French  soil.  The  hours  of  waiting 
passed  more  quickly  than  we  expected,  and  the 
following  afternoon  we  were  speeding  through 
the  bleak  mountainous  country,  interspersed  with 
oak  and  cork  woods. 

Long  before  we  reached  it,  we  could  see  the 
rock-built  Pamplona,  its  brown  towers  and  walls 
standing  out  as  if  embossed  against  the  delicate 


6  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

pale  pink  of  the  snow-tipped  mountains,  and  rising 
from  the  long  reaches  of  the  dead  green  Cuenca,  as 
the  surrounding  plain  is  called,  the  cup  which 
contains  the  precious  "key  of  Navarre,"  and 
which  here  closely  resembles  the  Roman  Cam- 
pagna  in  its  desolation  and  colouring. 

The  station  is  deep  in  the  valley,  and  an 
omnibus  took  us  into  the  town  by  a  steep  winding 
road,  skirting  the  high  walls,  and  passing  a 
drawbridge  and  gateway.  The  only  trees  to  be 
seen  were  a  few  white  poplars,  allowed  to  linger  in 
life,  when  all  other  trees  are  cut  down,  in  regard  to 
the  old  Spanish  belief  that  they  were  the  first  trees 
the  Almighty  created — the  Adam  of  vegetation. 

On  entering  the  town  the  aspect  of  things  is 
thoroughly  Spanish :  the  brightly-painted  houses 
thickly  hung  with  balconies  of  wrought  ironwork  ; 
the  small,  "plazas"  with  their  grey  churches,  in 
front  of  which  groups  of  priests  are  seen  mingling 
with  the  gay  costumes  of  the  peasantry  ;  the  great 
square  surrounded  by  its  heavy  arcades ;  the 
avenues  and  gardens,  especially  that  known  as 
"  La  Taconera,"  the  favourite  resort  of  handsome 
black-robed  sefioras  in  their  flowing  mantillas,  for 
here,  indeed,  a  bonnet  is  unknown,  and  its  wearer 
is  followed  about  and  pointed  at  as  a  curiosity. 


NAVARRE  AND  ARRAGON.  7 

From  the  great  Plaza,  considered  to  be  one  of 
the  largest  in  Spain,  in  which  10,000  Jews  were 
burnt  alive  to  do  honour  to  the  marriage  of  a 
Count  de  Champagne — a  human  bonfire,  which 
was  visible  from  all  the  country  round — a  steep, 
stony  street  leads  to  the  cathedral.  Its  Ionic  front,, 
built  by  Ventura  Rodriquez  in  1780,  causes  one  to 
be  agreeably  surprised  with  the  rest  of  the 
building,  which  dates  from  1397,  when  Charles  the 
Noble  (or  III.)  pulled  down  an  older  church  of 
1 100,  leaving  only  the  chapter-house  and  a  part  of 
the  cloisters. 

In  the  interior  the  tourist  will  first  see  the  pecu- 
liar arrangement  which  is  usual  in  the  Spanish 
churches.  Far  down  the  nave,  almost  to  its  last 
pier,  extends  the  raised  coro,  used  only  by  the 
canons  and  choristers,  and  entirely  shut  in  by  its 
high  partition  walls,  except  where,  towards  the 
east,  a  passage  marked  by  low  brass  rails  (re/as), 
to  prevent  the  priests  from  being  pressed  upon  by 
the  people,  leads  to  the  high  altar,  where  the  huge 
and  splendid  carved  altar-piece,  known  as  a  rctablo, 
takes  the  place  of  the  reredos  of  an  English 
cathedral.  At  the  east  end  of  the  coro  is  the 
magnificent  tomb  of  the  founder,  with  his  figure 
and    that   of  his    queen   Leonor.      The    cloisters. 


8  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

enclosing  a  tangled  garden  and  a  lonely  cypress, 
are  a  perfect  dream  of  beauty,  each  canopied  arch 
rising  against  the  light  open  gallery  of  the  second 
story,  so  as  to  display  its  delicate  stonework  to 
perfection.  Here  among  other  curiosities,  is  the 
tomb  of  Miguel  Ancheta,  sculptor  of  the  choir 
stall-work,  with  a  curious  epitaph,  and  a  little 
chapel  enclosed  by  an  iron  palisade  made  from  the 
chains  taken  in  the  battle  of  Las  Navas  de  Tolosa. 
The  knocker  of  the  north  transept  door,  formed 
by  two  serpents,  is  another  noteworthy  piece  of 
ancient  ironwork. 

From  the  cathedral  we  follow  the  line  of  the 
walls — whose  strength  in  the  middle  ages  gave 
Pamplona  the  title  of  "  muy  noble,  muy  leal,  y 
muy  heroica,"  and  which  are  said  to  have  been 
originally  founded  by  the  sons  of  Pompey,  who 
called  the  place  Pompeiopolis, — till  we  emerged 
upon  the  Taconera,  close  to  the  church  of  S. 
Lorenzo,  which  contains  a  statue  of  the  tutelar 
saint  of  the  city,  St.  Fermin,  who  was  born  at 
Pamplona,  but  afterwards  went  to  preach  at 
Amiens,  where  his  miracles  are  carved  around 
the  choir,  and  where  the  delicious  scent  of  his 
dead  body  revealed  its  resting-place  to  the  bishop, 
— his  disinterment  in  mid  winter  being  celebrated 


NAVARRE  AND  ARRAGON.  9 

by    an    entire    resurrection    of    nature,    and    the 
recovery  of  all  the  sick. 

Near  this  is  the  citadel,  which  was  besieged 
in  152 1  by  the  army  of  Francis  I.,  while  Charles 
V.  was  absent  in  Germany.  A  handsome  young 
knight,  Ignatius  Loyola,  had  been  left  to  guard  it, 
and  defended  it  bravely,  but  was  wounded  and 
disabled,  and  the  garrison  surrendered  upon  seeing 
him  fall.  A  cannon-ball  had  struck  Loyola  on 
both  legs,  and  such  was  his  personal  vanity,  that 
he  insisted,  after  the  wounds  were  healed,  upon 
having  his  legs  twice  opened,  and  a  projecting 
bone  sawn  off,  lest  their  appearance  should  be 
injured ;  all,  however,  was  of  no  avail,  and  he  was 
lame  for  life.  During  his  detention  in  the  castle 
of  Loyola,  he  asked  for  romances  to  amuse  his 
convalescence,  and  none  being  forthcoming,  lives 
of  our  Saviour  and  the  saints  were  brought  to 
him,  which  made  him  say  to  himself — "  These 
men  were  of  the  same  frame  as  I  am,  why  should 
I  not  do  as  they  have  done  ? " — and  he  rose  from 
his  sick-bed  with  a  firm  desire  to  imitate  them  and 
to  abandon  the  world  and  its  vanities.  The  fair 
lady,  to  whom  he  declared  that  he  would  hence- 
forth devote  himself  as  champion,  was  the  Virgin 
Mother  of  God,  and  the  wars  he  would  wage  were 


io  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

those  against  the  spiritual  enemies  of  God's 
people.  This  change  in  the  life  of  the  founder  of 
the  Jesuits  is  commemorated  at  Pamplona  by  a 
small  chapel  near  one  of  the  gates,  which  contains 
an  interesting  portrait  of  Loyola,  in  his  soldier's 
dress. 

The  Christmas  mass  in  the  cathedral  of  Pam- 
plona was  magnificent.  No  service  in  Italy  can 
compare  with  the  solemn  bursts  of  music  which 
follow  the  thrilling  solos  sung  in  these  old  Spanish 
churches,  where  every  possible  instrument  is 
pressed  into  the  service  of  the  orchestra  ;  and  not 
less  striking  is  the  effect  of  the  multitude  of  veiled 
figures  who  kneel  in  the  dim  light  between  the 
coro  and  the  altar.  At  the  table  d'hote,  in  honour 
of  the  day,  we  are  regaled  with  turrones,  a  kind 
of  almond  hard-bake,  only  produced  at  Christ- 
mas. 

A  dreary  journey,  through  a  dismal  barren 
wilderness,  brought  us  to  Tudela.  On  the  way 
we  passed  Tafalla  and  Olite,  once  called  the 
"Flowers  of  Navarre,"  and  both  of  them  royal 
residences,  but  now  squalid  villages  of  miserable 
hovels.  In  Olite,  however,  are  two  fine  parish 
churches,  and  considerable  remains  of  the  ancient 
palace,  which  would  be  quite  worth  stopping  at, 


NAVARRE  AND  ARRAGON  n 

and  sketching  between  two  trains,  in  fine  weather, 
though  the  miserable  town  has  no  accomodation 
for  travellers. 

It  was  late  and  quite  dark  on  Christmas  Day 
when  we  reached  Tudela  and  took  a  boy  to  guide 
us  through  the  frozen  streets  to  the  Fonda  della 
Caravaca.  The  cold  was  pitiless,  and  in  our 
barely  furnished  rooms  above  a  stable,  without 
fire-places  or  even  a  brasero,  it  was  impossible  to 
obtain  any  warmth  at  all.  Tudela  does  not,  we 
_  think,  deserve  the  praise  Street  bestows  upon  it, 
as  containing  "  a  church  which  is  to  be  classed 
among  the  very  best  in  any  part  of  Europe," 
though  the  round-arched  doors  of  the  transepts 
are  very  grand,  and  that  at  the  west  end,  of  enor- 
mous span,  encrusted  all  over  with  sculpture,  is 
absolutely  magnificent.  I  say  round-arched  ad- 
visedly, this  style  in  Spain  being  more  properly 
known  as  Gothic,  while  Pointed  is  spoken  of  as 
the  German  style.  One  descends  a  flight  of  steps 
from  the  west  door  into  the  church,  which  is 
greatly  bedaubed  all  over  and  spoilt  by  grey  and 
white  paint.  Similarly  injured  and  much  built  up 
are  the  cloisters,  which  were  exhibited  to  us, 
with  some  pride,  by  the  priests  of  the  church, 
from   whom    here,    as   everywhere   in    Spain,   we 


i2  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

experienced  the  greatest  kindness  and  civility.  A 
tower  near  the  church, — which  is  a  parroquia,  not 
a  cathedral, — has  the  picturesque  Moorish  decora- 
tion of  coloured  tiles  inlaid  in  patterns. 

In  the  evening-  we  crossed  the  long  narrow 
bridge  of  seventeen  arches,  and  found  a  pleasant 
sunny  walk  by  the  banks  of  the  Ebro,  which  is  as 
yellow  as  the  Tiber.  But  the  fierce  cold  prevented 
our  making  the  interesting  excursion  by  diligence 
to  Tarragona,  and  riding  from  thence  on  mules  up 
the  mountains  to  the  abbey  of  Veruela,  the  oldest 
Cistercian  house  in  Spain.  Those  who  read  as  we 
have  done  the  beautiful  letters  of  Gustavo  Becquer, 
written  '  Desde  mi  Celda,'  in  this  convent,  and 
filled  with  the  most  lovely  pictures  of  nature  amid 
its  surrounding  scenery,  will  long  to  visit  the  spot 
whence  they  were  drawn. 

To  do  justice  to  the  ugliness  of  the  scenery 
between  Tudela  and  Zaragoza  would  be  impossible 
— to  the  utter  desolation  of  the  treeless,  stony, 
uninhabited  wastes,  across  which  the  ice-laden 
north-west  winds  whistle  uninterruptedly.  But  at 
length  the  railway  skirts  the  Ebro,  and  almost 
immediately  passes  the  grand  old  bridge  built  in 
I437>  beyond  which,  on  either  side  of  the  principal 
thoroughfare,  rise  the  two  cathedrals  of  Zaragoza, 


NAVARRE  AND  ARRAGON.  13 

in  which  the  chapter  does  duty  for  six  months 
alternately.  Through  narrow,  squalid  streets  an 
omnibus  takes  you  to  the  broad  open  Plaza  de  la 
Constitucion,  where  the  comfortable  Fonda  de 
Europa  is  situated.  In  this,  as  in  all  other  Spanish 
hotels,  a  fixed  price  exists,  which  includes  apart- 
ments, food — at  the  regular  meals  provided  by  the 
hotel — service,  and  lights.  No  extra  charges  are 
made.  The  cost  of  living  in  these  hotels  varies 
from  the  equivalent  of  five  to  eight  shillings, 
generally  in  proportion  to  the  importance  of  the 
place  where  you  may  be. 

In  the  older  Spanish  towns  it  is  useless  to 
take  a  guide,  and  it  is  almost  equally  so  to  ask 
your  way,  as  the  natives  are  wholly  unacquainted 
with  their  own  antiquities,  and  uninstructed  in 
their  own  history.  It  is  only  to  those  who  wander 
indefatigably  through  the  winding  streets,  that  all 
the  interesting  objects  gradually  reveal^  them- 
selves, though  the  process  is  often  assisted  by  the 
ascent,  in  the  first  instance,  of  some  lofty  tower, 
whence  the  town  is  seen  as  in  a  map. 

At  Zaragoza  the  sights  naturally  begin  with  the 
bridge,  to  the  left  of  which  rises  the  older  cathedral 
of  El  Seo.  Its  front,  modernised  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  occupies  one  side  of  a  square,  which  also 


i4  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

contains  the  archiepiscopal  palace  and  the  Lonja, 
or  exchange,  a  fine  but  decaying  building  of  155 1, 
with  a  richly  carved  projecting  soffit,  beneath 
which  many  heads  of  kings  and  knights  are  in- 
serted in  medallion  frames.  The  north-east  wall 
and  apse  of  the  church  are  splendid  specimens 
of  mauresque  diaper-work,  inlaid  with  coloured 
tiles. 

On  entering  the  cathedral  from  the  sunlit  square, 
one  finds  oneself  in  absolute  darkness  until  one's 
eyes  become  accustomed  to  the  change,  so  intense 
is  the  gloom  which  reigns  amid  its  solemn  Gothic 
arches,  where  even  the  faint  light  from  the  small 
round  windows  high  up  in  the  walls  is  tempered 
by  crimson  curtains.  Besides  these  there  are  no 
other  windows  in  the  body  of  the  church,  the  whole 
face  of  the  lower  walls  being  filled  up  with  a  mass 
of  Churriguerresque  sculpture  (so  called  from  the 
much-abused  architect,  Jose  Churriguerra,  who 
died  1725),  which,  though  paltry  and  tasteless  in 
detail,  is  inexpressibly  rich  and  gorgeous  in  its 
general  effect.  The  centre  of  the  five  aisles  is 
occupied  by  the  coro,  surrounded  by  a  magnifi- 
cent screen,  incrusted  with  statues  and  bas-reliefs, 
which  tell  the  stories  of  San  Lorenzo  and  San 
Vicente.     At  its  western  extremity,  or  trascoro,  a 


NAVARRE  AND  ARRAGON  15 

statue  of  Canon  Funes  kneels  in  a  niche,  on  the 
selfsame  spot  where  he  is  supposed  to  have  knelt 
in  his  lifetime,  when  conversing  with  the  Virgin. 
No  low  rejas,  as  at  Pamplona,  lead  from  the  coro 
to  the  high  altar,  which  only  slightly  recedes  from 
beneath  the  beautiful  Ian  thorn-tower,  or  Cimborio, 
of  1520.     Over  the  altar  is  avast  retablo,  around 
which  are  grouped  the  tombs  of  several  sixteenth- 
century  archbishops,  and  that  of  the  heart  of  Don 
Balthazar,  son  of  Philip  IV.,  the  well-known  Infante 
of  Velasquez,  who  died  here  of  the  small-pox,  at 
the  age  of  seventeen.    On  the  right  of  the  altar  is  a 
grand  plateresque  door  leading  to  the  sacristy,  and 
near  it  a  chapel  commemorating  the  so-called  mar- 
tyrdom of  the  fierce  inquisitor  San  Pedro  Arbues, 
who  shared  the  fate  of  Thomas  a  Becket,  being 
murdered    in   this   cathedral   by  Vidal    Duranso, 
September  15,   1495.     He  well  deserved  this  end 
for  his  cruelties,  and  it   has  been  of  the  utmost 
service  to  art,  in  giving  rise  to  one  of  the  finest 
pictures  of    Murillo,  a  pendant  to  the   St.  Peter 
Martyr   of  Titian.      Tradition    says   that,  on    his 
assassination,  the  great  bell  of  Velilla  was  heard  to 
strike,  being  the  fourth  time  since  the  Moorish  occu- 
pation ;  its  miraculous  tolling  always  announcing 
some  disaster  to  the  monarchy.   At  the  west  end  of 


ib  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

the  church  is  a  chapel  containing  the  tombs  ot 
Archbishop  Fernando,  grandson  of  Ferdinand  the 
Catholic,  and  his  mother,  Ana  Gurrea,  by  the 
admirable  sculptor  Diego  Morlanes. 

Leaving  the  Seo,  the  traveller  should  cross  to 
the  other  cathedral  of  El  Pilar,  than  which  it  is 
impossible  to  imagine  a  more  complete  contrast. 
Outside,  it  resembles  a  mosque,  or  Sant'  Antonio  of 
Padua,  in  its  endless  towers  and  domes,  covered 
with  bright  orange,  green,  and  blue  tiles,  which 
glitter  in  the  sunshine.  Though  much  modernised 
in  the  last  century,  the  exterior  of  the  building, 
five  hundred  feet  in  length,  is  imposing  from  its 
vast  size.  Within,  it  is  a  monument  of  folly  and 
bad  taste,  painted  and  gilt  like  a  Parisian  cafe. 
Towards  its  western  extremity,  in  the  centre  of  the 
nave,  is  the  sanctum  sanctorum,  a  semi-circular 
temple,  surrounded  by  granite  columns,  where  the 
Virgin,  descending  upon  a  pillar,  part  of  which 
may  be  seen  through  a  hole — it  is  too  sacred  to  be 
gazed  upon  in  its  entirety — appeared  to  Santiago. 

This  famous  shrine,  which  had  its  origin  in  Arra- 
gonese  jealousy  of  the  pilgrimages  to  the  Castilian 
Compostella,  is  one  of  the  greatest  loadstars  of 
Spanish  devotion.  Hundreds  of  pilgrims  are 
always  kneeling  in  front  of  the  black  image,  or 


NAVARRE  AND  ARRAGON  17 

pressing  to  kiss  its  feet.  The  wardrobe  of  La 
Virgen  del  Pilar  is  inexhaustible,  and  she  is  con- 
stantly changing  her  gorgeous  apparel,  the  priests 
who  perform  her  toilette  averting  their  eyes  at  the 
time,  lest  they  should  be  struck  with  blindness  by 
the  contemplation  of  her  charms.  Fifty  thousand 
pilgrims  sometimes  flock  hither  on  the  12th  of 
October  alone,  which  is  the  festival  of  the  Pilar ; 
and  no  wonder,  for  "  God  alone,"  said  Pope  Inno- 
cent III.,  "  can  count  the  miracles  which  are  then 
performed  here;"  while  Cardinal  Retz,  who  was 
here  in  1649,  affirms  in  his  memoirs,  that  he  saw 
with  his  own  eyes  a  leg  which  had  been  cut  off 
grow  again  upon  being  rubbed  with  oil  from  one  of 
the  Virgin's  lamps. 

In  the  Calle  Santiago,  near  El  Pilar,  is  one  of  the 
best  specimens  of  an  old  Zaragozan  house,  enclosing 
a  patio,  or  courtyard,  surrounded  with  sculptured 
pillars,  but  now  decaying,  like  everything  here 
(except  idol-worship),  and  turned  into  a  coach- 
maker's  yard.  Hence,  as  well  as  the  inexhaustible 
and  interminable  beggars  would  allow,  we  followed 
the  narrow  streets  to  the  Plaza  San  Felipe,  which 
contains  the  leaning  tower  of  Spain — the  grand 
octangular  Torre  Nueva,  diapered  all  over  with 
lace-like  patterns  from  Moorish  designs. 

C 


1 8  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

A  neighbouring  church,  San  Pablo,  is  a  most 
picturesque  relic  of  the  thirteenth  century,  with  a 
fine  retablo  by  Damian  Forment  of  Valencia,  a 
coro  of  1500,  and  another  splendid  octagonal  brick 
tower.  Hard  by  is  the  site  of  the  Portillo,  where 
Agostina,  the  maid  of  Zaragoza,  snatched  the 
match  from  the  hand  of  her  slaughtered  lover  and 
worked  the  gun  in  his  place.  Enclosed  in  a  barrack 
near  this  are  some  decaying  remains  of  the  Moorish 
palace,  Aljaferia. 

We  re-entered  the  town  by  the  handsome 
promenade  called  Paseo  de  Santa  Engracia,  from 
a  fine  church  which  was  completed  by  Charles  V. 
All  except  the  west  front  was  destroyed  by  the 
French  in  1808,  but  this,  with  its  portal  in  the 
form  of  a  retablo,  is  well  worth  examination,  being 
filled  with  delicate  sculpture  of  1505  by  Juan 
Morlanes.  Geronimo  Zurita,  the  famous  historian 
of  Arragon,  died  and  was  buried  in  this  convent, 
1580.  A  little  farther  than  this,  on  the  line  of 
the  city  wall,  is  San  Miguel,  perhaps  the  richest, 
as  it  is  the  most  picturesque,  of  all  the  fifteenth 
century  buildings  of  Zaragoza,  covered  with  delicate 
Moorish  tracery.  All  these  would  be  most  delight- 
ful and  interesting,  but  in  these  fierce  ice-laden 
winds   it  is   almost  impossible   to   look    at  them 


NAVARRE  AND  ARRAGON  19 

without  feeling  cut  to  pieces.     Blocks  of  ice  line 

the  streets,  and  the  miserable  plants  on  the  public 

walks    are  shrivelled  up  and   blackened    in   their 

vases.    People  are  walking  about  wrapped  in  huge 

■manias  like  blankets,  which  cover  their  heads  and 

bodies  at  the  same  time  :  and  now,  in  front  of  the 

hotel,  a  poor  woman  shivering  with  cold,  though 

enveloped  in  a  manta  of  gorgeous  colours,  is  trying 

to  earn  a  few  cuartos  by  singing  snatches  from  the 

song  of  the  season,  the  strange  but  wonderfully 

picturesque  "Noche  Buena."     Here   are   some  of 

them  : — 

"  La  Virgen  se  fue  a  lavar 

Sus  manos  blancas  al  rio  ; 

LI  sol  se  quedo  parado, 

La  mar  perdio  su  ruido. 

"  Los  pastores  de  Belen 

Todos  juntos  van  por  lena, 

Para  calentar  al  nino 

Que  nacio  la  noche  buena. 
*  *  * 

"  San  Jose  era  carpintero, 

Y  la  Virgen  costurera 

Y  el  nino  labra  la  Cruz 

Por  que  ha  de  morir  en  ella  " — 

which  may  be  rendered  thus  : — 

"To  the  stream  the  Virgin  Mother 
Hied,  her  fair  white  hands  to  lave  : 
The  wond'ring  sun  stood  still  in  heaven; 
And  ocean  hushed  his  rolling  wave. 


20  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

"  One  and  all  came  Bethlehem's  shepherds, 
Fuel-laden  from  the  height, 
"Warmth  to  bring  the  Blessed  Nursling, 
Who  was  born  that  happy  night. 
***** 

"  A  carpenter  was  good  St.  Joseph, 
A  seamstress  poor  the  mother  maid ; 
The  Child  it  toiled  the  cross  to  fashion. 
On  which  our  ransom  should  be  paid." 


II. 

IN  CATALONIA. 

Convext  of  Monserrat,  January  4,  1872. 

T  T  IDEOUS  as  was  the  country  we  had  passed 
through  before  reaching  Zaragoza,  it  paled 
before  the  frightfulness  of  that  which  we  had  to 
traverse  on  the  way  to  Lerida — six  hours  without  a 
tree  or  shrub  or  symptom  of  vegetation,  but  barren, 
malaria-stricken  swamps,  riven  here  and  there 
into  deep  crevasses  by  the  action  of  some  extinct 
volcano,  seeming  alike  forsaken  by  God  and  man. 
From  Tardienta,  a  branch  railway  leads  to  Huesca, 
which  is  exceedingly  worth  visiting,  as  well  for 
the  sake  of  the  relics  it  contains  of  the  old  palace 
of  the  Arragonese  kings,  as  for  the  number  of 
curious  churches  and  convents  scattered  over  the 
surrounding  hills,  which  have  never  been  sufficiently 
explored  by  English  travellers.  But  the  cold  was 
still  so  severe,  and  the  rain  falling  in  such  torrents, 


22  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

that  we  thought  it  safer  to  proceed  at  once  to 
Lerida,  where  we  knew  we  should  find  better 
accommodation,  and  where  we  had  been  told  that 
the  climate  would  begin  to  be  milder. 

It  was  not  until  we  reached  our  destination  that 
the  scenery  began  to  improve  ;  but  Lerida  looks 
down  upon  an  olive-clad  plain,  and  in  itself  is 
gloriously  picturesque,  a  huge  mass  of  purple  rock, 
three  hundred  feet  high,  being  crowned  by  fortifi- 
cations containing  the  old  cathedral,  with  its  tall 
tower  and  long  line  of  cloister  arches  rising  from 
the  very  edge  of  the  precipice.  The  narrow  space 
between  the  cliff  and  the  river  is  occupied  by  the 
town — tall  houses  with  arches  and  balconies  facing 
a  quay  of  heavy  masonry,  beneath  which  runs  the 
Segre,  and  whence  there  is  one  of  those  views 
which  artists  love,  of  a  still  reach  of  river,  with  an 
old  mill,  and  delicate  gradations  of  pink  and  blue- 
green  distance.  A  long  bridge  of  yellow  stone  is 
broken  midway,  and  across  the  ruined  piers  a 
wooden  causeway  on  huge  beams  leads  to  the  old 
brown  gateway  of  the  town.  Just  at  one  of  the 
most  charming  bends  of  this  view  is  the  Fonda 
San  Luiz,  a  thoroughly  Spanish  hotel,  but  clean 
and  comfortable,  and  possessing  a  delightful 
terrace  overhanging  the  river. 


IN  CATALONIA.  23 

Through  the  driving  fog,  and  up  streets  which 
were  almost  like  cascades  from  the  heavy  rain 
which  had  fallen,  we  made  our  way  to  the  old 
cathedral,  which  is  now  abandoned  by  the  canons 
on  account  of  the  steepness  of  the  ascent,  but  a 
visit  to  which  Street  declares  to  be  alone  worth 
all  the  journey  from  England.  This  visit  is, 
however,  difficult  to  accomplish,  as,  from  its 
position  inside  the  fortifications,  a  special  order 
has  to  be  obtained  and  countersigned  by  the 
governor  and  military  authorities.  The  main 
edifice  dates  from  1230,  and  the  cloisters  are 
among  the  most  beautiful  in  Europe,  but  cut  up 
for  barrack  purposes.  The  fog  prevented  our 
seeing  the  grand  view  of  the  Pyrenees,  but  Lerida, 
the  Roman  Ilerda,  lay  stretched  beneath,  and  the 
winding  Segre,  which  is  said  to  have  proved  fatal 
to  the  daughter  of  Herodias,  who  gallivanted  upon 
its  frozen  waters  till  she  fell  through  the  ice,  and 
it  cut  off  her  head,  which  continued  to  dance  by 
itself. 

Another  hideous  journey  brought  us  to  Manresa, 
where  we  arrived  in  the  dark,  and  took  a  guide,  to 
lead  the  way  through  the  ankle-deep  mud  and  up 
the  steep,  tortuous  streets,  quite  impervious  to 
carriages,  to  the  Posada  del  Sol.     The  first  aspect 


24  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

of  our  inn  was  not  encouraging-,  when  the  boy  who 
carried  our  bags  opened  a  door  into  a  stable, 
where  a  number  of  rough -looking  men  were  drink- 
ing, and  whence  a  filthy  stair  led  to  some  bare 
brick-floored  rooms,  with  pallet-beds  and  scanty 
furniture.  As  in  all  smaller  posadas,  looking- 
glasses  are  unknown  here,  so  a  small  hand-glass 
may  be  conveniently  carried.  There  was  no 
washing-stand  in  our  rooms,  and  when  we  re- 
monstrated, a  pie-dish  was  found  for  the  ladies, 
but  the  landlady  protested  that  for  "  los  senores  " 
such  things  were  both  unknown  and  unnecessary, 
as  they  could  wash  themselves  at  a  public  stone 
trough,  of  which  there  was  one  at  the  end  of  the 
passage,  and  another  in  the  comedor  [salle  a 
manger) ;  and  at  the  latter,  in  fact,  a  Spanish 
traveller,  in  his  shirt,  coolly  came  to  perform  his 
ablutions  while  we  were  breakfasting.  However, 
the  willing  kindness  of  our  young  hostess  made 
up  for  much  that  was  wanting ;  and  a  supper  of 
broth,  vegetables,  and  some  rough  scraps  of  boiled 
meat  was  supplied  to  us.  In  the  evening  we  were 
amused  by  her  sang-froid  in  receiving  a  visit  from 
her  lover  in  the  room  where  we  were,  the  one 
common  room.  When  the  time  came  for  him  to 
go,  he  looked  round  at  us,  and  asked  if  he  should 


IN  CATALONIA.  2 


^ 


kiss  her  as  usual.  "Certainly,"  she  said;  "why 
not  ?  "  Upon  which  he  did  kiss  her  —  not  once 
only. 

But  oh !  how  entirely  Manresa  itself  makes 
up  for  any  amount  of  suffering,  when,  having 
followed  the  filthy  streets  —  not  paved,  but  cut 
out  of  the  living  rock — for  some  distance,  and 
having  descended  a  rugged  way  between  two 
walls,  which  looks  as  if  it  led  to  a  stone  quarry, 
the  view  from  the  esplanade  before  the  church  of 
St.  Ignatius  suddenly  bursts  upon  your  sight ! 
In  front  rises  the  grand  colegiata  of  El  Seo,  built 
of  yellow-grey  stone,  perched  on  the  summit  of  the 
dark  rocks,  broken  into  a  thousand  picturesque 
hollows,  which  are  filled  with  little  gardens,  where 
Indian  corn,  and  vines,  and  cypresses  flourish. 
On  the  right  rises  range  above  range  of  gaily- 
painted  houses  of  the  most  varied  and  irregular 
forms, — arches,  balconies,  overhanging  galleries, 
little  ledges  of  roof  supporting  tiny  hanging 
gardens  with  ivy  and  jessamine  tangling  over  their 
edge.  Deep  down  in  the  abyss  flows  the  Llo- 
bregat,  crossed  by  its  tall  bridge  of  pointed  arches, 
and  ending  at  a  richly  carved  stone  cross  on  a 
high  pedestal.  Beyond  the  river  are  ranges  of 
olive-clad  hills,  above  which,  as  we  were  drawing 


26  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

in  the  afternoon,  uprose  in  mid-air  a  glorious 
vision,  lifted  high  into  the  sky :  pinnacles,  spires, 
turrets,  sugar-loaves,  pyramids  of  faint-grey  rocks, 
so  wonderful  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to 
believe  them  a  reality  and  not  a  phantasmagoria 
— the  mountains  of  Monserrat. 

We  seem  to  be  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
Ignatius  Loyola,  who  remained  here,  after  his  con- 
version, for  a  whole  year  in  a  cave,  unknown  by 
any,  except  his  confessors.  He  fasted  the  whole 
week  on  water  and  bread  (which  he  begged),  and 
on  Sunday  indulged  in  a  few  boiled  herbs  strewn 
with  ashes.  He  wore  an  iron  girdle  and  a  hair- 
shirt,  scourged  himself  twice  a  day,  slept  little, 
and  lay  on  the  ground.  Every  day  he  spent  seven 
hours  on  his  knees  in  prayer,  and  he  received  the 
sacraments  every  Sunday.  To  mortify  his  former 
personal  vanity,  he  went  about  begging  with  his 
face  covered  with  dirt,  his  hair  long  and  unkempt, 
and  his  beard  and  nails  of  appalling  length.  The 
children  pelted  him  with  stones.  For  a  long  time 
"  he  found  no  comfort  in  prayer,  no  relief  in  fast- 
ing, no  remedy  in  disciplines,  no  consolation  from 
the  sacraments,  and  his  soul  was  overwhelmed 
with  bitter  sadness.  But  eventually  his  tran- 
quillity of  mind  was  perfectly  restored,   and   his 


IN  CATALONIA.  27 

soul  overflowed  with  spiritual  joy,  and  he  after- 
wards assured  F.  Lainez  that  he  had  learned  more 
of  divine  mysteries  by  prayer  in  one  hour  at 
Manresa,  than  all  the  doctors  of  the  schools  could 
ever  have  taught  him."  *  He  was  consoled  by 
the  belief  that  the  Virgin  smiled  constantly  upon 
him  from  her  sanctuary  at  Monserrat  during  the 
year  of  his  penance. 

The  vast  convent  which  contains  the  famous 
cave  is  jammed  into  the  narrow  space  between 
the  terrace  and  the  precipice.  Externally  it  is 
covered  with  sculpture,  not  in  the  best  style,  but 
very  effective.  Within,  from  the  large  church,  a 
passage  lined  with  pictures  relating  to  the  history 
of  the  Jesuits,  leads  to  the  "  Santa  Cueva,"  left  in 
its  rugged  rock  nature,  only  the  lower  part  being 
incrusted  with  bas-reliefs,  which  can  be  examined 
by  the  light  of  the  swinging  lamps.  On  the  altar 
is  the  crucifix  of  Loyola,  from  whose  wounds  blood 
is  supposed  to  have  streamed  forth. 

From  the  Cueva  we  mounted  the  opposite  hill 
to  El  Seo,  an  interesting  church,  with  a  rich 
canopied  entrance ;  within,  dark  and  gloomy,  with 
a  small  but  effective  coro,  and  some  brilliant 
remains  of  the  stained  glass,  of  which  the  greater 
*  See  Butler's  "Lives  of  the  Saints,"  vol.  vii. 


28  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

part  was  destroyed  by  the  French.  Here,  at  mass, 
the  women  all  appear  in  white  flannel  hoods,  and 
in  the  half  light  look  like  the  dead  in  their 
shrouds,  but  the  men  wear  mantas  of  the  most 
gorgeous  colours. 

La  Cueva  and  El  Seo  are  the  only  two  regular 
sights  of  Manresa,  but  inexhaustible  is  the  ever- 
varying  beauty  of  the  views  from  the  lovely  walks 
on  the  heights  above  the  Llobregat,  in  one  of 
which,  a  stone  cross,  near  the  convent  of  Sta. 
Clara,  marks  a  spot  where  Loyola  used  to  preach. 

The  vision  of  Monserrat  made  us  long  for  the 
nearer  reality,  but  it  was  two  days  ere  we  could 
tear  ourselves  away  from  the  beauties  of  Manresa. 
Then  we  took  the  train  to  Monistrol,  which  faces 
the  great  purple  amphitheatre  of  mountains,  and 
where,  at  the  station,  we  found  a  tar  tana  waiting — 
a  round  covered  cart  lined  with  carpet — in  which 
we  jolted  up  the  hills  for  two  hours  and  a  half,  the 
views  becoming  finer  at  every  turn,  till  on  a  ledge 
of  rock  we  suddenly  came  upon  a  tall  cross,  in- 
scribed— "  Aqui  se  hizo  la  Santa  Imagen  en  880," 
and  immediately  found  ourselves  under  the  con- 
vent Avails.  A  gateway,  beside  a  wide-arched 
Gothic  fountain,  leads  to  the  upper  courts,  on  one 
side  of  which  rise  the  conventual  buildings  them- 


IN  CATALONIA.  29 

selves,  with  their  half-ruined  cloisters,  and,  on 
the  other  three,  the  immense  suites  of  rooms 
destined  for  the  reception  of  the  pilgrims  (of  whom 
no  less  than  200,000  often  come  here  in  the  month 
of  September  alone),  and  inscribed  with  the  names 
of  the  different  saints  to  whom  they  are  dedi- 
cated—Santa Gertrudis,  Santa  Scholastica,  Santa 
Teresa,  San  Alphonso,  San  Ignacio,  &c. 

We  were  assigned  rooms  in  one  of  these :  not 
uncomfortable,  if  their  cold  brick  floors  had  had 
any  fire-places  to  warm  them.  A  man  was  sent  to 
bring  us  some  water,  sheets,  and  towels,  a  little 
wood  and  charcoal  was  placed  in  the  tiny  kitchen 
which  belonged  to  our  apartment,  and  we  were 
then  left  to  shift  for  ourselves.  Soon  the  bell 
warned  us  that  the  New  Year's  evening  service 
was  about  to  begin,  and  we  hurried  to  the  church, 
where,  groping  our  way  through  the  dark  pillars, 
we  took  our  seats  close  to  the  reja.  There,  so  many 
candles  were  lighted  around  the  altar,  that  the 
famous  image — a  black  doll  in  a  robe  of  silver 
tissue — shone  forth  resplendently.  The  priest 
who  lighted  the  lamps,  when  he  went  up  to  her, 
kissed  her  on  the  cheeks.  When  all  was  ready  a 
long  procession  of  boys  in  surplices  filed  in  and 
grouped  themselves  around  the  image.     Then  the 


3o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

strangest  service  began  :  singing,  sweet  and  soft 
at  first,  but  suddenly  breaking  off  into  the  most 
discordant  yells  and  shrieks,  accompanied  by  a 
blowing  of  whistles  and  horns,  beating  of  tin 
clappers,  with  fiddles,  trumpets,  and  cymbals. 
There  were  about  sixty  performers,  and  a  congre- 
gation of  eight.  Altogether  it  was  most  extra- 
ordinary, but  we  heard  afterwards  that  this  most 
unmelodious  music  was  intended  as  typical  of  the 
rude  worship  of  the  shepherds  at  Bethlehem. 

The  image,  like  most  of  its  kind,  "  black  but 
comely,"  is  attributed  to  St.  Luke  as  a  sculptor, 
and  is  said  to  have  been  brought  to  Barcelona  by 
St.  Peter  in  A.D.  30.  During  the  Moorish  invasion 
it  lay  hidden  for  sixty  years  in  a  cave,  where  its 
delicious  scent  discovered  it  to  Bishop  Gondemar, 
who  attempted  to  remove  it  to  Manresa,  but  when 
it  reached  an  especial  ledge  of  the  mountain  side  it 
refused  to  move  further.  Hence  an  oratory  arose 
on  the  spot,  which  was  enlarged  into  a  nunnery, 
converted  in  976  into  a  Benedictine  convent.  The 
present  church  is  due  to  Philip  II.,  and  was  opened 
in  1599.  It  is  of  small  interest.  Some  remnants 
of  an  earlier  church,  with  the  tomb  of  a  young 
warrior,  are  preserved  in  the  museum  of  the  con- 
vent. 


IN  CATALONIA.  31 

By  lighting  one  match  after  another  in  the  dark 
passages,  we  found  our  way  back  to  our  apartment, 
where  we  passed  the  night  as  the  sole  inhabitants 
of  our  vast  wing  of  the  convent.  Only  the  hooting 
of  an  owl  broke  the  silence,  the  bird  which  Spanish 
legend  relates  to  have  been  present  at  the  cruci- 
fixion, and  ever  since  to  have  repeated  in  a  terror 
and  woe-stricken  voice,  "  Cruz  !    cruz  !  " 

Next  morning  we  set  off  early  up  the  moun- 
tains. It  had  frozen  all  night,  and  nothing  could 
be  lovelier  than  the  effect  of  the  thick  hoar  frost 
— every  delicate  leaf  and  blade  of  grass  being 
encrusted  with  ice,  and  standing  out  like  glisten- 
ing diamonds  against  the  grey  fog.  Without 
having  seen  a  fog,  no  one  should  leave  Monserrat, 
for,  glorious  as  it  is  at  all  times,  this  natural  veil 
lends  an  indescribable  softness  and  mystery  to 
the  views,  and  the  moment  when  the  curtain  draws 
up,  and  the  sun  bursts  forth  victoriously,  is  so  in- 
tensely splendid.  We  were  then  in  one  of  the 
high  rock  terraces,  several  miles  above  the  con- 
vent, where  no  sound  except  the  occasional  cry 
of  an  eagle  broke  the  entire  stillness,  for  not  a 
breath  of  air  stirred  the  frost-laden  boughs.  Sud- 
denly the  mist  rolled  away,  and  in  the  distance 
was  revealed  on  one  side  the  long  expanse  of  the 


32  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

Mediterranean,  from  Barcelona  to  Tarragona,  with 
the  shining  threads  of  rivers  leading  up  to  it 
through  numberless  towns  and  villages,  and  on 
the  other  the  vast  range  of  the  Pyrenees,  quite 
covered  with  snow,  against  the  softest  of  blue 
skies.  Deep  below  were  the  most  tremendous 
abysses  of  rock,  often  perpendicular  precipices 
of  two  and  three  thousand  feet,  but,  wherever  any 
soil  could  lodge,  filled  with  the  wealth  of  innu- 
merable lovely  shrubs — box,  aliternus,  laurestinus, 
filarcea,  lentisck,  euphorbia,  and  flowering  heath, — 
all  evergreens,  which,  according  to  the  old  Spanish 
tradition,  are  permitted  to  bear  their  leaves  all  the 
year  round,  because  they  sheltered  the  weariness 
of  the  Virgin  Mother  and  the  Holy  Child  during 
their  flight  into  Egypt.  Where  these  could  not 
find  foothold,  the  sides  of  the  rock  are  clothed  with 
cascades  of  honeysuckle,  smilex,  and  jessamine. 
High  in  the  rugged  crags,  remains  of  ruined  hermit- 
ages seemed  as  if  suspended  over  the  face  of  the 
abyss,  so  utterly  inaccessible  that  one  would  have 
thought  the  inmates  could  only  have  reached  them 
by  a  miracle,  and  that  it  was  quite  impossible  that 
the  troops  under  Suchet  should  have  climbed  up 
thither  to  rob  and  murder  when  "  they  hunted  the 
hermits  like  chamois  along  the  cliffs." 


IN  CATALONIA.  33 

The  afternoon  was  occupied  in  visiting  the  dif- 
ferent buildings  of  the  convent  and  the  relics  they 
contain.  Here  again  the  chief  historical  interest 
conies  from  Ignatius  Loyola,  who  came  hither 
from  Pamplona,  as  soon  as  he  was  cured  of  his 
wounds,  and  made  a  confession  which  lasted  three 
days,  to  a  saintly  French  monk  who  was  then  re- 
siding here.  On  his  way  up  to  the  convent, 
he  bought  in  the  village  a  long  coat  of  coarse 
cloth,  a  girdle,  sandals,  a  wallet,  and  a  pilgrim's 
staff.  In  the  church  he  took  a  vow  of  perpetual 
chastity,  and  dedicated  himself  with  the  greatest 
fervour  to  the  divine  service.  Then  giving  his 
horse  to  the  monks,  and  hanging  up  his  sword 
before  the  altar  of  the  Virgin,  in  sign  of  re- 
nunciation of  his  temporal  warfare,  he  walked 
away,  barefoot  and  bareheaded,  to  his  penance 
at  Manresa. 

On  the  second  day  of  our  stay  we  took  provi- 
sions, and  followed  the  winding  paths,  sometimes 
overhanging  the  perpendicular  edge  of  the  pre- 
cipice, sometimes  descending  and  burying  them- 
selves in  deep  ravines  of  box  and  ilex,  till  we 
reached  the  highest  peak  of  the  mountain  group. 
Hence,  the  view  is  surpassingly  magnificent.  The 
whole  of  Catalonia,  tossed  and  riven  into  myriad 

D 


34  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

fantastic  forms  of  hill  and  cleft,  lies  beneath, 
bounded  only  by  the  snowy  ranges  and  the  sea. 
So  tremendous  are  the  gorges  into  which  you 
look  down,  that  the  eye  can  scarcely  fathom  their 
awful  depths,  and  the  birds  descending  into  them, 
vanish  away  in  the  distance. 

Just  beneath  the  summit  is  the  ruined  hermitage 
of  S.  Geronimo,  the  furthest,  but  one  of  the 
easiest  of  access,  of  the  many  now  desolated  re- 
treats which  were  so  eagerly  sought  after  by  the 
devotional  feeling  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  where 
many  of  the  proudest  and  noblest  Spaniards 
passed  their  latter  years  in  absolute  solitude,  at- 
tending to  their  own  humble  wants,  and  in  a  life 
of  constant  penance  and  prayer.  Two  little 
rooms  remain  here,  with  the  paved  terrace  and 
the  stone  seat  of  the  hermit,  and  certainly  it  would 
be  hard  for  him  to  find  a  more  heaven-inspiring 
place  than  this  silent  mountain  peak,  looking 
down  through  all  the  glories  of  nature  upon  the 
world  he  had  renounced. 

The  ascent  to  S.  Geronimo  occupies  about 
three  hours,  but  we  were  away  nine  hours  alto- 
gether. As  we  were  returning,  just  as  the  bell 
of  the  convent,  from  its  green  invisible  depths, 
gave  notice,   amid  mountain   echoes,  of  the   Ave 


IN  CATALONIA.  35 

Maria,  an  enchanter's  wand  seemed  to  smite  the 
heavens,  which  above  the  sea  burst  into  a  crimson 
flush,  melting  into  the  most  delicate  emerald,  while 
every  crag  of  the  valley  glowed  as  if  tipped  with 
burnished  gold,  rising  from  its  purple  chasms ;  and 
then,  silently,  the  blue  veil  arose  and  shrouded 
peak  after  peak,  gorgeous  in  colour  at  first,  but 
solemnly  fading  till  all  Nature  was  asleep  beneath 
a  grey  mantle. 

On  the  third  day  we  set  of  in  quite  another 
direction,  taking  a  precipitous  path  which  winds 
around  the  gorge  beneath  the  convent  to  the  Cave 
of  the  Virgin,  where  the  famous  image  was  con- 
cealed during  the  Moorish  occupation,  angels 
guiding  the  priests  who  bore  it,  over  rift  and 
chasm,  to  a  place  of  safety.  We  had  taken  the 
key  from  the  convent,  which  admitted  us  to  the 
cave,  now  a  chapel,  perched  eyrie -like  on  the 
edge  of  the  ravine,  where  a  series  of  bas-reliefs 
tell  the  story  of  the  shrine,  and  behind  which  a 
convent  contains  a  pretty  Gothic  cloister  with  a 
well.  Another  path  afterwards  led  us  to  the 
Cueva  de  Garin,  where  a  painted  stone  figure 
commemorates  a  hermit,  who  long  lived  there  on 
his  hands  and  knees,  and  where  his  basket,  pitcher, 
&c,  are  preserved.     Behind  the  convent,  a  narrow 


36  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

strip  of  flat  ground  is  occupied  by  a  garden  full  of 
roses, — roses,  which  were  white  once,  say  the 
monks,  and  which  owe  their  present  purple  colour 
to  a  drop  of  the  Saviour's  blood,  which  fell  upon 
their  leaves  from  the  cross,  as  they  bloomed  on 
Mount  Calvary.  These  are  only  a  few  out  of  a 
thousand  subjects  for  the  pencil,  each  more  en- 
chanting than  the  last;  the  enormous  pinnacles 
of  rock,  the  rugged  pathways  with  their  stone 
crosses  and  hermitages,  and  the  ancient  evergreen 
shrubs,  combining  at  every  step  into  fresh  and 
better  composition  with  the  delicate  pinks  and 
blues  of  the  mountain  distance.  Monserrat  be- 
sides has  the  advantage  of  being  a  most  comfort- 
able place  to  stay  at,  as,  though  only  lodging  is 
given  by  the  monks  (for  a  voluntary  payment, 
none  is  asked),  there  is  an  excellent  Fonda  in  the 
courtyard  of  the  convent,  which  provides  as  good 
food  as  can  be  found  it  Barcelona  itself.  The 
air  is  the  purest  and  most  reviving  imaginable, 
and  even  in  the  first  days  of  January  the  cold  was 
not  greater  than  in  the  valleys,  as  the  monastery 
is  so  sheltered,  while  the  rich  growth  of  aloes 
attests  the  dryness  of  the  soil ;  and  on  the  higher 
terraces,  in  the  brilliant  sunshine,  it  was  almost 
too  hot.     Altogether  it  is  wonderful  that  Monser- 


IN  CATALONIA.  37 

rat,  surely  far  more  beautiful  than  any  single  spot 
in  France,  Switzerland,  Germany,  or  Italy,  and  so 
easily  accessible  in  two  days  from  the  south  of 
France  {via  Gerona  and  Barcelona),  should  be 
almost  unknown  to  English  tourists. 


III. 

BARCELONA  AND  GERONA. 

Fonda  del  Oriente,  Barcelona,  January  14,  1872. 

npHE  life  and  animation  of  Barcelona  are 
-*-  charming.  As  we  drove  into  the  town,  after 
leaving  the  solitudes  of  Monserrat,  it  seemed  as  if 
the  whole  of  the  gay,  pleasure-loving  population 
must  be  in  the  streets.  So  crowded  were  they  with 
people  on  foot,  that  a  carriage  could  scarcely  pass. 
The  shops,  brilliantly  lighted,  were  full  of  dolls 
innumerable ;  for  it  was  the  eve  of  the  Befana — 
every  possible  phase  of  dollhood  finding  its  repre- 
sentative, from  old  men  and  women  down  to  babies 
in  cradles.  The  children  themselves  were  rushing 
about,  blowing  tin  trumpets  and  whistles,  and  beat- 
ing little  drums ;  organs  were  grinding,  guitars 
were  twanging,  fans  were  flashing  through  the  soft 
air  in  the  fingers  of  dark-veiled  sefioras,  and  over 
all  extended  a  cloudless,  deep-blue  heaven,  fretted 
with  brilliant  stars. 


BARCELONA  AND  GERONA.  59 

Through  the  centre  of  the  town  runs  for  nearly  a 
mile  the  beautiful  Rambla,  formed  by  an  avenue  of 
arching   plane-trees,  enclosing   a   broad  walk  for 
foot-passengers,  while   the   carriage-ways    are   on 
either  side.     The  Rambla  is  the  centre  and  axis  of 
life  in  Barcelona.    Here  are  all  the  principal  hotels, 
and  hence  all  the  best  streets  diverge.     The  lower 
division  is  the  fashionable  walk  of  the  aristocracy,, 
and  is  full  of  smart  people,  but  at  the  upper  extre- 
mity, where  the  peasants  chiefly  congregate,  is  the 
bird  and  flower  market,  where  multitudes  of  canaries- 
are  sold  daily  amid  the  great  bunches  of  heliotrope,, 
and  where  the  most  wonderful  mantas  are  to  be 
seen,  of  scarlet,  blue,  and  gold,  flowing  from  the 
shoulders   of  rough-looking   men,  who  would   be 
content  with  the  common  dress  of  ploughmen  in 
England.     At  the  lower  end  of  the  Rambla  begins- 
the  Muralla  del  Mar,  a  delightful  terrace,  sheltered 
and   sunny,  overhanging   the   port  and   shipping,, 
though  raised   high  above  them,  and  with  views, 
across  the  still  reaches  of  water  to  the  fortified  hill 
of  Montjuich,  which  rises  abruptly  from  the  sea,, 
like  Shakespeare's  cliff  at  Dover.     To  ascend  this 
hill  towards  sunset  is  quite  a  duty  with  visitors  to 
Barcelona,  for  from  thence,  across  a  foreground  of 
wild  aloes,  which  are  here  frequently  formed  into 


4o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

hedges,  the  whole  white  town  is  seen  like  a  map, 
lying  in  its  brown,  burnt-up  plain,  surrounded  by 
mountains,  the  flat  tops  of  the  houses  giving  it  a 
peculiarly  eastern  appearance,  for  there  are  no 
sloping  roofs  in  Barcelona. 

The  streets  in  the  heart  of  the  town  are 
thoroughly  dull  and  unpicturesque  ;  and  it  is  after 
following  one  of  the  dingiest  of  all,  bounded  by 
high,  drab-coloured  walls,  that  suddenly  a  wide 
gothic  arch  admits  one  into  a  vast,  arcaded 
quadrangle,  perfectly  bathed  in  light  and  sunshine. 
Here  huge  orange-trees,  whose  boughs  are  weighed 
almost  to  the  ground  by  their  massive  bunches  of 
golden  fruit,  rise  amid  plantations  of  tree-like 
geraniums,  and  fountains  splash  gaily  in  the 
sunbeams..  It  is  not  like  one's  ideal  of  a  cathedral 
cloister,  yet  such  it  is,  and  wonderfully  interesting 
is  it  to  watch  the  ever-varying  representations  of 
life  here — the  solemn  canons,  with  their  breviaries, 
pacing  up  and  down,  and  toiling  through  their 
appointed  task  of  psalm-saying ;  the  polite  old 
beggars,  the  men  in  their  bright  mantas  and 
scarlet  barrettas,  the  women  in  their  blue  petticoats 
and  white  handkerchiefs  over  their  heads ;  the 
children,  who  shout,  and  feed  the  canons'  geese 
with  bread — for  on  the  largest  of  the  fountains  live 


BARCELONA  AND   GERONA.  41 

the  famous  geese  which  have  been  kept  here  from 
time  immemorial  to  guard  the  treasures  of  the 
cathedral,  according  to  the  old  Catalonian  custom, 
which  makes  geese  serve,  and  more  efficaciously 
too,  the  place  of  watch-dogs  at  the  country  houses. 
In  the  centre  of  the  Fontana  de  las  Ocas  is  a  little 
bronze  figure  of  a  knight  on  a  horse,  which  spouts 
water  from  its  nostrils,  while  its  tail  is  indicated 
by  a  long  jet  of  silvery  spray.  This  is  not  St. 
George,  but  the  brave  knight  Vilardell,  full  of  good 
works,  who  was  permitted  to  kill  the  famous 
dragon,  but  who  forgot  his  humility  in  the  moment 
of  triumph,  and  exclaimed,  "Well  done,  good 
sword !  Well  done,  brave  arm  of  Vilardell !  "  upon 
which  a  drop  of  the  dragon's  poisonous  blood  fell 
upon  his  arm  from  the  sword  which  he  brandished, 
and  he  died.  This  is  the  first  moral  inculcated 
upon  the  childish  mind  of  Barcelona,  which  is 
intimately  familiar  with  Vilardell,  who  is  again 
represented,  in  his  combat  with  the  dragon,  over  an 
archway  in  the  street  leading  to  the  cathedral. 

A  grand  round-headed  arch  leads  from  the 
cloister  into  the  church,  begun  in  1298,  but  chiefly 
built,  from  designs  by  Jaques  Fabra,  in  the 
beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century.  It  is  beau- 
tiful and  solemn  beyond  description,  only  faintly 


42  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

lighted  by  the  rich  stained  windows  at  either  end, 
whose  coloured  lights  are  almost  lost  amid  the 
many  chapels  and  tall  reed-like  pillars.  Beneath 
the  altar  lies  Santa  Eulalia,  the  "well-speaking" 
virgin,  martyred  by  Dacian  in  309,  and  transferred 
hither  in  878  from  Santa  Maria  del  Mar,  where  she 
was  previously  buried,  two  kings,  three  queens, 
and  four  princesses  attending,  since  which  time  all 
Spanish  sovereigns,  down  to  Christina  and  Isabella, 
have  been  wont  to  pass  the  night  in  prayer  before 
her  shrine.  There  is  another  saint  here  also, 
Oldagar,  invoked  in  childbirth,  who  died  1137,  and 
was  discovered  five  hundred  years  after  "  quite 
uncorrupted,  except  the  tip  of  his  nose."  His 
sleeping  effigy  is  raised  aloft  over  the  altar  of  the 
first  chapel  on  the  right  of  the  nave.  From 
beneath  the  organ  hangs  a  hideous  Saracen's  head, 
with  gaping  mouth,  starting  eyes,  and  a  vast 
flowing  beard.  Such,  it  is  said,  were  found  useful 
in  animating  the  crusaders.  A  great  deal  is 
written  in  the  various  English  guidebooks  about 
the  peculiar  lighting  of  this  cathedral  by  windows 
pierced  through  from  the  chapels  of  the  nave  to 
the  chapels  back  to  back  with  them,  which  open 
upon  the  cloisters  ;  but  if  such  arrangement  ever 
existed,  there  is  certainly  no  trace  of  it  now. 


BARCELONA  AND   GERONA.  43 

Many  of  the  other  churches  are  worth  visiting, 
and  are  interesting  specimens  of  the  peculiar  types 
of  architecture  to  which  they  belong :  San  Pablo 
del  Campo  and  San  Pedro  de  las  Puellas,  of  the 
very  earliest  Catalonian,  with  heavy,  low,  round- 
headed  arches  ;  Santa  Maria  del  Mar,  built  1328 — 
1483,  a  grand  single  nave  of  remarkable  simplicity, 
with  enormous  octagonal  columns ;  and,  most 
especially,  the  Colegiata  of  Santa  Ana,  of  1146, 
with  a  lovely  silent  Gothic  cloister,  filled  with 
grand  old  orange-trees,  more  beautiful  even  than 
those  of  the  cathedral.  Here  authorised  and 
highly  respectable  old  beggars  sit  all  day  long 
upon  chairs,  on  the  chance  of  a  stray  cuarto. 

"  Pardon  me,  my  sister ;  does  not  your  worship 
see  that  I  am  drawing  r "  I  said  to  one  of  them, 
who  had  hobbled  away  from  her  throne  to  beg. 

"Ah  Dios  !  "  she  answered.  "  Blind  that  I  was  ! 
worm  that  I  am  !  so  your  worship  draws.  And  I 
— I  too  am  a  lover  of  the  arts." 

And  ever  after  we  were  the  best  of  friends,  and 
as  I  came  to  the  cloister  in  the  morning  I  received 
the  friendliest  of  nods  from  my  art-loving  sister, 
who  never  dreamt  of  begging  again. 

The  remains  of  domestic  architecture  are  scarcely 
less  interesting  than  the  churches,  and  many  of  the 


44  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

older  houses  retain  their  graceful  patios,  with  clois- 
tered external  staircases,  covered  with  arabesques. 
In  the  Casa  Consistorial  is  a  fine  Gothic  hall,  in 
which  ancient  councils  were  held ;  but  the  gem 
is  the  Casa  de  la  Disputacion,  where  a  beautiful 
external  stair  leads  to  the  rich  chapel  of  St.  George, 
and  a  lovely  Gothic  court,  full  of  orange-trees  and 
flowers.  The  old  palace  which  contains  the  ar- 
chives of  the  kings  of  Arragon  is  also  well  worth 
visiting.  The  Archivio  is  reached  by  a  staircase, 
adorned  with  a  statue  of  Vilardell,  and  with  a  fine 
Moorish  ceiling,  and  contains  many  thousand 
splendid  manuscript  volumes  and  illuminated  mis- 
sals from  suppressed  convents,  all  arranged  on  low 
stands,  that  they  may  be  kept  constantly  dusted 
and  free  from  worms, — an  arrangement  rather  to 
the  detriment  of  their  effect  as  a  library. 

The  climate  of  Barcelona  is  delightful.  During 
the  ten  days  of  early  January  which  we  passed 
there,  we  never  once  experienced  the  slightest  sen- 
sation of  cold;  fires  were  unthought  of,  and  we  sate 
with  windows  wide  open  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  Quite  into  the  middle  of  the  night  the 
Rambla  was  filled  with  gay  crowds  ;  ladies  enjoy- 
ing the  starlight  in  their  transparent  mantillas, 
without  veils  or  shawls.     The  sturdy  growth  of  the 


BARCELONA  AND   GERONA.  45 

lemons,  which  perish  in  three  degrees  of  frost,  is 
an  evidence  of  the  warmth ;  as  well  as  the  pro- 
fusion of  delicate  Australian  gum-trees,  and  the 
masses  of  heliotrope  still  in  bloom.  This  eastern 
vegetation  is  greatly  assisted  by  the  dryness  of  the 
temperature,  only  sixty-five  days  on  the  average 
being  wet  in  the  whole  year ;  so  that  Barcelona  is 
an  admirable  winter  residence  for  invalids. 

Many  pleasant  excursions  may  be  made  from 
hence,  especially  that  to  the  grand  ruined  abbey  of 
Ripoll,  and  to  San  Culgat  del  Vallis  near  Ser- 
danola.  From  the  end  of  the  Rambla,  a  minia- 
ture railway  carries  passengers  in  a  few  minutes  to 
Sarria,  a  village  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  famous 
for  its  pepper-trees,  which  here  attain  the  most 
enormous  size.  Hence  a  deep  lane,  overhung  with 
huge  aloes,  leads  in  half  an  hour  to  the  desolated 
monastery  of  Pedralles,  with  its  graceful  tower 
and  fine  stained  glass.  The  hillside  here  is  oc- 
cupied by  many  villas  of  rich  Barcelonese  mer- 
chants; but  these  by  no  means  interfere  with  the 
wild  grace  of  the  view,  especially  charming  at 
sunset,  when  behind  the  dark  monastery,  with  its 
solemn  tower  and  cypresses,  Barcelona  is  seen 
glowing  in  the  golden  haze,  backed  by  the  deep- 
blue  sea. 


46  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

Nothing  can  be  more  charming  than  the  environs 
of  Barcelona  in  winter,  which  may  be  most  plea- 
santly spent  in  a  villa  near  Sarria,  but  in  summer 
the   sun  beats  pitilessly  upon  its  sandy  hillsides, 
and  the  ground  is  cracked  into  a  thousand  widely 
opening  rifts  by  its  power.     Lizards  abound  here 
and   rejoice  in   the  sunshine,  and   the  dangerous 
tarantula  is  not  unfrequently  met  with.     Spanish 
legend  tells  us  that  the  tarantula  was  once  a  foolish 
and  impudent  woman  who  had  such  a  passion  for 
dancing,  that  she  never  ceased  to  dance  even  when 
the  Divine  Master  was  passing  by,  but  conducted 
herself  with  appalling  irreverence.     Therefore  the 
Saviour    rebuked   her   by   converting   her   into    a 
spider,  with  a  guitar  stamped  upon  its  back,  and 
ordained  that  its  bite  should  cause  all  those  bitten 
by  it   to  dance,  till   they  fell  down  fainting   and 
exhausted.     Most  picturesque  is  all  such  Spanish 
folk-lore,  and  in  no  country  is  it  more  abundant. 
Of  the  serpent  it  tells,  that,  after  its  triumph  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden,  it  always  went  erect  and  swollen 
with  pride,  till  it  met  with  the  Holy  Family  during 
their  flight  into  Egypt,  and  audaciously  attempted 
to   bite  the  Infant  Jesus :  then  St.  Joseph  indig- 
nantly rebuking  it,  bade  it  lie  down  and  never  rise  up 
again,  and  ever  since  it  has  crawled  on  the  ground. 


BARCELONA  AND   GERONA.  47 

No  one  should  leave  Barcelona  without  visiting 
the  street  of  the  Plateria,  entirely  lined  with 
jewellers'  shops,  filled  with  ornaments  which  re- 
tain the  antique  patterns  derived  from  the  Moors, 
or  from  old  Greek  designs.  The  heavy  joyas,  set 
with  amethysts  and  emeralds,  are  especially  re- 
markable. There  is  a  small  English  church  at 
Barcelona — an  upper  chamber,  in  a  central  situa- 
tion, prettily  fitted  up. 

We  had  always  regretted  having  been  prevented 
entering  Spain  from  Toulouse,  as  we  should  then 
have  seen  Perpignan,  so  remarkable  as  exhibiting 
a  transitional  town,  semi-Spanish,  semi-French ; 
and  St.  Elne,  which  is  a  most  curious  link  between 
the  early  mediaeval  Spanish  and  the  early  mediaeval 
French  buildings.  On  this  route  we  should  also 
have  naturally  visited  Gerona,  to  which  we  deter- 
mined to  retrace  our  steps  from  Barcelona. 

Four  hours  of  railroad,  by  the  inland  line  which 
passes  the  quaint  old  town  of  Hostalrich,  gave  us 
the  strange  experience  of  leaving  sunshine  and 
warmth  and  blooming  heliotrope,  and  within  two 
hours  finding  ourselves  amidst  hoar-frost  and  ice 
and  a  nipped,  frozen  vegetation.  At  Gerona, 
however,  the  sun  had  conquered  winter,  and  the 
old  town,  under  the  protection  of  its  fortified  hill, 


48  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

gleamed  forth  with  its  white  balconied  houses, 
topped  by  the  cathedral.  We  walked  from  the 
station  to  the  Fonda  Espafia  (once  Estrella),  in 
itself  an  interesting  house,  with  beautiful  ajimez 
windows — i.e.  Gothic  windows — divided  by  slender, 
round  pillars,  generally  of  marble  ;  the  Arabic 
name  meaning  "windows  by  which  the  sun  enters." 
The  cathedral,  reached  by  a  lofty  flight  of  steps,  is 
not  interesting  outside  ;  but  within,  the  immense 
width  of  its  nave  gives  it  a  certain  grandeur,  and 
is  of  a  size  which  one  scarcely  realises,  except  by 
comparing  the  dimensions  of  this  church  of  a  fifth- 
rate  Spanish  town  with  those  of  our  finest  English 
cathedrals  ;  the  width  of  Gerona  being  seventy- 
three  feet,  of  Canterbury  forty-three,  York  fifty- 
two,  Westminster  thirty-eight.  The  retablo  is  of 
silver, — the  cloisters,  on  low  but  richly- carved 
Byzantine  pillars,  are  well  worth  examination ; 
also  the  Puerta  de  los  Apostolos,  with  the  statues 
of  the  saints  all  standing  inside  a  porch  of  immense 
width.  Behind  the  cathedral  a  rugged  path  winds 
up  the  hillside  beneath  the  fortifications,  and 
gives  perhaps  the  best  view  which  can  be  obtained 
of  the  town  and  its  towers  standing  out  against 
the  bright  green  vega,  and  delicate  distance  of 
pink  mountains. 


BARCELONA   AND   GERONA.  49 

Two  other  churches  should  be  visited — S.  Pedro 
de  los  Gallegans,  a  grand  specimen  of  tenth- 
century  Romanesque, — and  S.  Feliu  (Felix),  with 
a  beautiful  truncated  spire,  dedicated  to  the 
missionary  of  Augsburg,  and  remarkable  as  con- 
taining the  image  of  S.  Narcissus,  a  patriotic  doll, 
which,  when  its  country  was  menaced  with  invasion, 
had  the  power  of  immediately  becoming  purulent, 
and  producing  innumerable  legions  of  flies,  of  so 
poisonous  a  nature,  that  in  1285  they  stung  to 
death  40,000  Frenchmen  and  24,000  horses,  and, 
as  late  as  1684,  demolished  an  entire  French  army; 
prodigies  which  not  unnaturally  led  the  local  junta 
to  declare  S.  Feliu  their  captain-general  in  1808, 
and  to  lay  the  staff  of  command  upon  his  shrine  ! 


IV. 

TARRAGONA  AND  POBLET. 

Fonda  de  Europa,  Tarragona,  January  24. 

BETWEEN  Barcelona  and  Tarragona  we  stayed 
_-  for  a  few  hours  at  Martorell  to  sketch  the 
famous  bridge,  which  strides  across  the  gulf  of  the 
Llobregat,  between  the  barest,  most  arid  rocks 
imaginable.  The  original  bridge  dates  from 
535  A.U.C.,  when  it  was  erected  by  Hannibal  in 
honour  of  Hamilcar,  and  the  triumphal  gate  at 
its  entrance  is  of  this  date  ;  but  the  high  pointed 
arch  of  the  bridge  itself  is  due  to  the  Moors.  It 
is  generally  called  "El  Puerta  del  Diablo,"  like 
so  many  other  curious  steep  old  bridges,  ascribed 
to  the  Devil,  in  almost  every  country  of  Europe. 
Hence,  once  more,  we  looked  upon  the  glorious 
peaks  of  Monserrat. 

Tarragona  is  disappointing.     So  much  has  been 
said  about  it  lately,  and  so  much  that  does  not 


TARRAGONA  AND  POBLET.  51 

contain  a  particle  of  truth ;  for  instance,  a  recent 
agreeable   writer    describes   the   wanderer   on   its 
ramparts   as   looking   down   upon    a  green  plain, 
studded  with  noble  palms, — whereas  the  practical 
mind    sees    nothing    but   a   stony  wilderness,   in 
which  not  the  vestige  of  a  tree,  much  less  of  a 
palm-tree,   can  be  found.     The  so-called  Rambla 
is   a    dingy,    drab    avenue    of    poor   whitewashed 
houses,  between  which   some   meagre  plane-trees 
seem  vainly  struggling  into  existence,  and  where 
the   wretched   population,   promenading    in   rags, 
follow  you  to  beg,  even  up  the  staircase  of  your 
hotel.     Yet  even  Tarragona  can  offer  much  com- 
pensation   for    its    evil    smells,    evil    meats,    and 
mendicant  neighbours.     The  cathedral,  built  1089 
to  1 131,  is  magnificent.    The  west  front  rises  above 
a  steep  flight  of  steps  at  the  end  of  the  principal 
street,  and,  though  unfinished,  has  a  grand  rose 
window,  and   a   portal   surrounded  by   statues   of 
saints,  and  some  empty  niches,  to  account  for  which 
it  is  said  that  one  of  these  holy  ones,  wearied  with 
his  stiff  position,  comes  down  from  his  pedestal  every 
hundred  years,  and  goes  his  way.     "Within,  all  is 
gloriously    in    keeping,    the    grand    Romanesque 
arches  being  uninjured  by  paint  or  whitewash,  and 
their  gloom  relieved  by  the  lower  walls  being  hung 


52  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

with  faded  tapestries,  exceedingly  effective,  bought 
in  London  at  the  sale  of  church  furniture  by  ■ 
Henry  VIII.,  and  said  to  have  once  decorated 
St.  Paul's.  Santa  Tecla,  the  tutelar  of  Tarragona, 
who  heads  the  peerage  of  virgin  martyrs,  has  a 
fine  marble  chapel.  But  here,  as  in  so  many 
Spanish  churches,  the  gem  of  all  is  the  cloister, 
— a  noble  arcaded  court  of  varied,  round-headed 
arches,  enclosing  a  most  lovely  garden,  full  of 
summer  beauty  and  sunshine,  even  in  January. 

We  have  walked  from  Tarragona  to  the  so- 
called  tomb  of  the  Scipios,  about  three  miles 
distant  on  the  sea-coast.  It  is  a  desolate,  massive 
Roman  tomb,  like  many  of  those  on  the  Appian 
way,  with  two  mouldering  figures  discernible  on 
its  front,  and  is  well  situated  in  a  fragment  of 
ancient  forest  pines,  with  an  undergrowth  of 
palmito,  or  dwarf  shrubby  palm— quite  an  oasis  in 
this  arid,  stormy  country.  Another  day  we  fol- 
lowed the  Lerida  road  for  two  miles,  to  a  wild, 
rocky  valley,  full  of  palmito,  which  is  crossed  by  a 
grand  Roman  aqueduct  with  a  double  tier  of 
arches.  The  town  itself  abounds  in  Roman  frag- 
ments, and  some  huge  stones  are  shown  as  part 
of  the  palace  of  Augustus,  who  passed  the  winter 
here  in  26  B.C.     But,  in  spite  of  these  attractions, 


I    \  I  HEDRAL,   1  ARRAI  ll 


I-.    U! 


TARRAGONA  AND  POBLET.  55 

travellers,  especially  invalids,  should  beware  of 
trusting  to  the  guide-book  recommendations  of 
Tarragona,  especially  that  of  Murray,  who  says — 
"As  a  winter  residence  for  invalids  few  places  in 
Europe  can  equal  this,  whilst  the  walks  are  ex- 
cellent and  varied,  and  the  carriage-drives  nume- 
rous, leading  in  various  directions  through  shady 
pine-woods  and  oak  plantations,"  &c.  The  fact 
being  that  the  situation  of  the  town,  high  above 
the  sea,  on  an  isolated  hill,  is  exceedingly  ex- 
posed ;  that  there  are  three  drives,  but  no  decent 
carriage  wherewith  to  take  them ;  and  that  the 
pine-woods  are  a  fiction,  while,  as  for  oaks,  there 
is  not  one  in  the  country. 

The  most  interesting  thing  to  be  attained  here 
is  the  excursion  to  Poblet,  which  no  Spanish 
travellers  should  on  any  account  be  induced  to 
omit. 

We  took  our  tickets  in  the  dark,  by  the  6.20 
train,  to  Montblanch,  on  the  Lerida  line,  passing 
on  the  way  Reus,  the  birthplace  of  Prim,  where 
the  sword  of  his  African  campaigns  is  preserved 
as  a  precious  relic  in  the  town-hall.  At  eight  we 
reached  Montblanch,  and  from  the  crowd  of  ragged 
people  at  the  station,  disentangled  a  man  who 
said  that   he   had   a  tartana   at  our   sendee,    and 


54  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

followed  him  to  it  through  the  deep  mire  of  the 
wretched  streets.  It  was  the  humblest  of  vehicles 
— a  rude  round  framework  of  unplaned  open  bars, 
nailed  one  to  the  other,  and  covered  with  carpet ; 
and  with  no  bottom  but  ropes  knotted  together. 
A  headstrong  mule  was  found,  which  with  diffi- 
culty could  be  induced  to  move,  but  which,  when 
once  it  set  off,  put  its  head  up  in  the  air,  and 
galloped  straight  forward,  regardless  of  obstacles, 
sending  us  violently  from  side  to  side  of  the 
tartana,  as  it  pitched  and  jerked  over  a  road  which 
alternated  between  bare  rock  and  deep  sloughs  of 
mud.  In  vain  did  the  driver  beseech  us  to  sit 
forward ;  we  had  no  sooner  climbed  to  the  front, 
and  seized  tight  hold  of  its  bars,  than  a  tre- 
mendous lurch  sent  us  all  rolling  backward,  with 
our  feet  twisted  through  the  open  ropes  beneath. 
The  driver,  however,  never  ceased  to  shriek,  yelp, 
and  scold  at  the  mule  ;  and  though  the  road  grew 
worse  at  every  bound  we  made,  we  got  along 
somehow — till,  when  the  towers  of  Poblet  were 
rising  in  view,  we  could  bear  it  no  longer,  and, 
begging  to  be  let  out,  found  we  advanced  much 
more  quickly  on  foot. 

The  sun  was  just  breaking  through  the  clouds, 
which  had  obscured  the  earlier  morning,   and  lit 


TARRAGONA  AND  POBLET.  55 

up  the  lonely  hollow  of  the  hills  in  which  the 
convent  is  situated.  Venerable  olive  trees,  their 
trunks  gnarled  and  twisted  into  myriad  strange 
forms,  lined  the  rugged,  rock-hewn  way ;  and 
behind  them  stretched  ranges  of  hills  ;  here,  rich 
and  glowing  with  woody  vegetation  where  the 
sun  caught  their  projecting  buttresses, — there,  lost 
in  the  purple  mists  of  their  deep  rifts.  The  ap- 
proach to  a  great  religious  house  was  indicated, 
first  by  a  tall  stone  cross  rising  on  a  lofty  pedestal, 
stained  with  golden  lichen  and  with  myrtle  and 
lentisck  growing  in  the  hollows  of  its  grey  stones  ; 
then  by  a  strange  group  of  saintly  figures  in 
stone,  standing  aloft  amid  a  solitary  grove  of 
pillars  at  a  crossway,  and  marking,  as  we  were 
afterwards  told,  the  afternoon  walk  of  the  friars. 
Hence  an  avenue,  with  broken  stone  seats  at 
intervals  on  either  side,  leads  up  to  the  convent 
walls, — a  clear,  sparkling  mountain  torrent  singing 
by  its  side,  in  a  basin  overhung  with  fern  and 
tall  water-plants.  Then,  after  skirting  the  walls 
for  some  distance,  an  ancient  gateway  admits 
one  to  the  interior  of  what,  till  within  a  few  years 
ago,  was  the  largest  religious  house,  and  one  of 
the  largest  buildings  in  Europe. 

No    remains    elsewhere   impress    the    beholder 


56  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

with  the  same  sense  of  melancholy  as  the  convent 
of  Poblet.  An  English  ruin,  softened  and  mel- 
lowed by  time,  fading  and  crumbling  by  a  gentle, 
gradual  decay,  can  give  no  idea  of  it.  Here,  it  is 
the  very  abomination  of  desolation.  It  is  all  fresh  ; 
it  might  be  all  perfect  now,  but  it  is  the  most 
utterly  ruined  ruin  that  can  exist.  Violence  and 
vengeance  are  written  on  every  stone.  The  vast 
walls,  the  mighty  courts,  the  endless  cloisters,  look 
as  if  the  shock  of  a  terrible  earthquake  had  passed 
over  them.  There  is  no  soothing  vegetation,  no 
ivy,  no  flowers,  and  the  very  intense  beauty  and 
delicacy  of  the  fragments  of  sculpture  which 
remain  in  the  riven  and  rifted  walls,  where  they 
were  too  high  up  for  the  spoiler's  hand  to  reach 
them,  only  make  stronger  contrast  with  the  coarse 
gaps  where  the  outer  coverings  of  the  walls  have 
been  violently  torn  away,  and  where  the  marble 
pillars  and  beautiful  tracery  lie  dashed  to  atoms 
upon  the  ground. 

The  convent  was  founded  in  1149  by  Ramon 
Berenguer  IV.,  on  the  spot  where  mystic  lights 
had  revealed  the  body  of  Poblet,  a  holy  hermit, 
who  had  taken  refuge  here  during  the  Moorish 
occupation.  Every  succeeding  monarch  increased 
its  wealth,  regarding  it,  not  only  in  the  light  of  a 


TARRAGONA  AND  POBLET.  57 

famous   religious    shrine,   but   as  his   own   future 
resting-place;  for  hither,  over  moor  and  mountain, 
all  the  earlier  kings  of  Arragon  were  brought  to 
be  buried.     As  the  long  lines  of  royal  tombs  rose 
thicker  on   either   side   of    the    choir,   the    living 
monarchs  came  hither  too,  for  a  retreat  of  peni- 
tence and  prayer,  and  lived  for  a  time  the  conven- 
tual  life.      And   thus,  though  no    sovereign   ever 
actually  assumed  the  cowl  at  Poblet,  several  left 
orders  that  their  effigy  should  be  twice  represented 
on  their   monuments,   once   in    royal    robes,   and 
again  in  the  monastic  habit.     Five  hundred  monks 
of  St.  Bernard  occupied,  but  did  not  fill,  the  mag- 
nificent buildings  ;    their  domains  became  almost 
boundless,   their  jewelled   chalices    and   gorgeous 
church    furniture    could    not    be    reckoned.      The 
library   of    Poblet    became   the    most    famous    in 
Spain,  so  that  it  was  said  that  a  set  of  waggons 
employed  for  a  whole  year  could  not  cart  away 
the  books.      As  Poblet  became  the  Westminster 
Abbey  of  Spain  as  regarded  its  kings  and  queens, 
so  it  gradually  also  answered  to  Westminster  in 
becoming   the   resting-place  of  all  other  eminent 
persons,  who  were  brought  hither  to  mingle  theirs 
with  the  royal  dust.      Dukes  and  grandees  of  the 
first   class    occupied    each   his    niche  around    the 


5  8  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

principal  cloister,  where  their  tombs,  less  injured 
than  anything  else,  form  a  most  curious  and  al- 
most perfect  epitome  of  the  history  of  Spanish 
sepulchral  decoration.  Marquises  and  counts, 
less  honoured,  had  a  cemetery  assigned  them  in 
the  strip  of  ground  surrounding  the  apse  ;  famous 
warriors  were  buried  in  the  nave  and  ante-chapel ; 
and  the  bishops  of  Lerida  and  Tarragona,  desert- 
ing their  own  cathedrals,  had  each  their  appointed 
portion  of  the  transept ;  while  the  abbots  of  Poblet, 
far  mightier  than  bishops,  occupied  the  chapter- 
house, where  numbers  of  their  venerable  effigies, 
typical  of  dignity  and  repose,  may  still  be  seen, 
having  been  hastily  covered  over  at  the  time  of 
the  invasion.  Gradually  the  monks  of  Poblet 
became  more  exclusive;  their  number  was  reduced 
to  sixty-six,  but  into  that  sacred  circle  no  novice 
was  introduced  in  whose  veins  ran  other  than  the 
purest  blood  of  a  Spanish  grandee.  He  who  be- 
came a  monk  of  Poblet  had  to  prove  his  pedigree, 
and  the  chapter  sate  in  solemn  deliberation  upon 
his  quarterings.  Every  monk  had  his  two  servants, 
and  rode  upon  a  snow-white  mule.  The  mules  of 
the  friars  were  sought  through  the  whole  penin- 
sula at  an  enormous  expense.  Within  the  walls, 
every  variety  of  trade  was  represented ;  no  monk 


TARRAGONA  AND  POBLET.  59 

need  seek  for  anything  beyond  his  cloister ;  the 
tailors,  the  shoemakers,  the  apothecaries,  had  each 
their  wing  or  court.  Hospitals  were  raised  on  one 
side  for  sick  and  ailing  pilgrims  :  on  the  other 
rose  a  palace  appropriated  to  the  sovereigns  who 
sought  the  cure  of  their  souls.  The  vast  produce 
of  the  vineyards  of  the  mountainous  region  which 
depended  upon  Poblet,  was  brought  to  the  great 
convent  wine-presses,  and  was  stowed  away  in  its 
avenue,  of  wine-vats.  "  El  Priorato  "  became  one 
of  the  most  reputed  wines  in  the  country;  the 
pipes,  the  presses,  and  the  vats  where  it  was 
originally  prepared,  still  remain  almost  entire. 

Year  by  year  the  power  of  the  convent  increased, 
till,  like  autocratic  sovereigns,  the  friars  of  Poblet 
issued  their  commands,  and  the  surrounding 
country  had  only  to  hear  and  obey.  He  who 
failed  to  attend  to  the  summons  of  their  mass- 
bell,  had  to  answer  to  the  monks  for  his  neglect. 
Strange  rumours  began  to  float  of  peasants  who, 
entering  the  convent  gates,  had  never  been  known 
to  come  forth.  Gradually  the  monks  became  the 
bugbear  of  neighbouring  children,  and  threats, 
which  tampered  with  their  names,  were  whispered 
by  the  lace-making  mothers  in  the  ears  of  their 
naughty  little  ones.      At  last  came   the   wars   of 


6o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

Don  Carlos.  Then  political  dissensions  arose 
within  the  mystic  circle;  half  the  monks  were 
royalists,  half  were  Carlists,  and  the  latter  con- 
sidering themselves  oppressed,  and  muttering  ven- 
geance, whispered  abroad  tales  of  secret  dungeons 
and  of  hidden  torture.  The  public  curiosity  be- 
came excited.  Many  yet  live  who  remember  the 
scene  when  the  convent  doors  were  broken  in  by 
night,  and  the  townsfolk,  streaming  through  court 
and  cloister,  reached  the  room  which  had  been 
designated,  where,  against  a  wall,  by  which  it  may 
still  be  traced,  the  dreaded  rack  was  found,  and 
beneath  it  a  dungeon  filled  with  human  bones,  and 
with  other  instruments  of  torture.  Twenty-four 
hours  were  insisted  upon  by  the  authorities  to  give 
the  friars  a  chance  of  safety  :  they  escaped,  but 
only  with  their  lives.  Poblet,  beautiful  Poblet,  was 
left  in  all  its  riches  and  perfection ;  nothing  was 
taken  away. 

Then  the  avenging  torrents  streamed  up  the 
mountain  side  and  through  the  open  portals.  All 
gave  way  before  them ;  nothing  was  spared. 
"  Destroy,  destroy !  "  was  the  universal  outcry. 
Every  weapon  of  destruction  was  pressed  into 
service.  No  fatigue,  no  labour  was  evaded. 
Picture,  and    shrine,    and   tomb,    and    fresco,   fell 


TARRAGONA   AND  POBLET.  61 

alike  under  the  destroying  hammer ;  till,  wearied 
with  devastation,  the  frantic  mob  could  work  no 
more,  and  fire  was  set  to  the  glorious  sacristy, 
while  the  inestimable  manuscripts  of  the  library, 
piled  heap  upon  heap,  were  consumed  to  ashes. 

At  the  present  time  the  story  of  that  day  of 
destruction  is  engraved  on  every  wall.  At  first, 
you  are  unprepared.  The  little  decorated  chapel 
of  St.  George,  on  the  right  of  the  second  entrance, 
is  so  little  injured,  that  it  might  be  taken  for  an 
ordinary  ruin ;  then,  passing  the  gate,  one  finds 
the  remains  of  a  series  of  frescoes,  which  tell  the 
story  of  the  Moorish  invasion.  Only  the  figure  of 
one  warrior  and  of  the  avenging  angel  are  left, 
the  rest  is  torn  away  ;  the  lower  pillars  are  gone, 
but  their  beautiful  capitals,  of  monks  seated  amid 
rich  foliage,  are  left. 

Hence  one  reaches  the  original  front  of  the 
convent.  On  the  left  is  another  chapel,  window- 
less  and  grass-grown,  and  behind  it  the  re- 
mains of  the  hospital,  which  is  reduced  to  a 
mere  shell.  In  front,  rise  on  one  side  the  heavy 
machicolated  towers  which  once  flanked  the  main 
entrance,  now  bricked  up, — and  on  the  other,  be- 
tween statues  of  San  Bernardo  and  San  Benito, 
the  entrance  of  the  church.     Here,  in  the  ante- 


62  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

chapel,  donkeys  have  their  stalls  around  the  tombs 
of  kings,  and  the  fragments' of  the  royal  monu- 
ments lie  piled  one  upon  another.  On  the  right, 
in  a  dark  niche,  is  the  Easter  Sepulchre,  richly 
wrought  in  marble :  only  the  figure  of  the  Saviour 
has  been  spared  ;  the  Virgin  and  saints,  legless, 
armless,  and  noseless,  stand  weeping  around.  Be- 
low, a  sleeping  archbishop  has  escaped  with  less 
injury. 

The  Coro  retains  its  portals  of  lumachella  mar- 
ble, but  within  it  is  utterly  desolate,  though  over- 
head the  grand  vaulting  of  the  roof,  and  its  sup- 
porting columns,  are  perfectly  entire.  There  is 
no  partition  now  beyond  this,  and  through  the 
pillared  avenue  the  eye  pierces  to  the  high  altar, 
where  the  splendid  retablo  of  white  marble  still 
stands  erect,  though  all  its  delicate  reliefs  are 
shattered  to  fragments,  even  the  figure  of  the  infant 
Saviour  being  torn  from  the  arms  of  the  central 
Madonna.  Here,  perhaps,  is  the  climax  of  the 
destruction.  On  either  side  were  the  royal  tombs  ; 
Jaime  El  Conquistador ;  Alonzo  II. ;  Ferdinand  I. 
and  his  two  sons,  Juan  II.  and  Alonzo  V.  ;  Pedro 
IV.  and  his  three  queens  ;  Juan  I.  and  his  two, 
with  many  princes  and  princesses  of  royal  blood. 
The  monuments  remain,  but  so  altered,  so  battered 


TARRAGONA  AND  POBLET.  63 

with  chisel  and  hammer,  that  scarcely  a  fragment 
of  their  beautiful  ornaments  is  intact,  and  the 
effigies  have  entirely  disappeared.  Caryatides 
without  arms  or  faces,  floating  angels  wingless  and 
headless,  flowers  without  stems,  and  leaves  with- 
out branches,  all  dust-laden,  cracked,  and  crum- 
bling, scarcely  testify  to  what  they  have  been ;  and 
thus  it  is  throughout.  From  the  sacristy  blackened 
with  fire,  where  one  portion  of  the  gorgeous 
Venetian  framework  still  hangs  in  mockery,  one  is 
led  to  the  dormitory  of  the  novices,  where  the 
divisions  of  the  cells  may  be  traced,  though  none 
are  left,  and  to  the  refectory,  in  which  the  fountain 
may  still  be  seen,  where,  in  this  hot  climate,  the 
luxury  of  iced  water  always  played  during  dinner 
in  a  central  marble  bason,  while,  from  a  stone 
pulpit,  a  reader  refreshed  the  souls  of  the  ban- 
queters. The  great  cloister  remains  comparatively 
entire,  surrounded  with  tombs,  and  enclosing,  amid 
a  thicket  of  roses  which  have  survived  the  fate  of 
all  else,  a  portico,  with  a  now  dry  fountain,  once  of 
many  streams,  where  the  monks  in  summer  after- 
noons were  wont  to  be  regaled  with  chocolate. 
This  was  voluntary  chocolate ;  but  another  room 
is  shown  in  which  is  remembered  that  obligatory 
chocolate  was  served  every  morning,  for  fear  any 


64  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

brother  should  faint  during  the  celebration  of  mass. 
Beyond  the  great  cloister,  which  is  of  the  richest 
pointed  architecture, — every  capital  varied  in  fresh 
varieties  of  sculpture, — is  an  earlier  cloister,  formed 
by  low,  narrow,  round-headed,  thick-set  arches  of 
the  twelfth  century.  Above  one  side  of  the  great 
cloister,  rich  in  the  delicate  tracery  of  its  still 
remaining  widows,  rises  the  shell  of  the  palace  of 
Martino  El  Humilde.  Space  would  not  suffice  to 
describe  in  detail  each  court  with  its  distinctive 
features,  through  which  the  visitor  is  led  in  increas- 
ing wonder  and  distress,  to  the  terrible  torture- 
chamber,  which  is  wisely  shown  last,  as  offering 
the  clue  and  key  to  the  whole.  But  surely  no 
picture  that  the  world  can  offer  of  the  sudden 
destruction  of  human  power  can  be  more  appalling 
than  fallen  Poblet,  beautiful  still,  but  most  awful, 
in  the  agony  of  its  unexpected  destruction  ! 

In  the  summer,  the  solitude  is  broken  by  a  per- 
fect school  of  young  architects,  from  Italy,  Prussia, 
and  America,  who  come  hither  to  study ;  but  in 
England  Poblet  is  little  known.  The  time  is  so 
short  since  its  destruction,  that  of  the  sixty-six 
monks  who  occupied  the  convent  at  the  time,  many 
are  still  living.  At  Poblet  they  wore  the  white 
Bernardine  habit,  and  at  mass  they  officiated  in 


TARRAGONA  AND  POBLET.  65 

long  trains  of  white  ;  but  the  feeling  against  them 
is  still  so  bitter,  that  if  one  of  them  reappeared  in 
his  former  costume  he  would  be  immediately- 
assassinated.  Each  has  retired  to  his  family.  We 
asked  the  guide  if  none  had  ever  revisited  their 
former  home.  "  Yes,"  he  said,  "  five  of  the  friars 
came  last  summer;  but  they  could  not  bear  to  look. 
They  wept  and  sobbed  the  whole  time  they  were 
here  ;  it  was  piteous  to  see  them."  From  the  ruins 
of  their  old  home  must  have  come  back  to  them 
with  thrilling  force,  an  echo  from  the  hymn  of  their 
Founder  so  often  chaunted  within  its  walls  : — 

"Hortus  odoribus  affluet  omnibus,  hie  paradisus, 
Plenaque  gratia,  plenaque  gaudia,  cantica,  risus  ; 
Plena  redemptio,  plena  refectio,  gloria  plena  : 

Vi,  lue,  luctibus  aufugientibus,  exule  pcena. 

Nil  ibi  debile,  nil  ibi  flebile,  nil  ibi  scissum  ; 

Res  ibi'publica  pax  erit  unica,  pax  in  idipsum. 

Hie  furor,  hie  mala,  schismata,  scandala,  pax  sine  pace  ; 

Pax  sine  litibus,  et  sine  luctibus  in  Syon  arce." 


V. 

VALENCIA,  ALICANTE,  AND  ELCHE. 

Hotel  Per.egk.ino,  Murcia,  February  2. 

'E  travelled  all  night  from  Tarragona  to 
Valencia,  a  most  fatiguing  journey  of  eleven 
hours,  in  a  train  which  rattled  and  shook  beyond 
description,  making  sleep  quite  impossible.  We 
were  obliged  to  console  ourselves  with  the  conver- 
sation of  our  fellow-travellers,  and  many  are  the 
pleasant  glimpses  into  the  national  life  and  character 
one  may  gain  at  such  times.  One  woman  remarked 
to  another  how  sweetly  her  baby  was  smiling  in  its 
sleep.  "Yes,"  she  said,  "it  is  laughing  at  the 
angels,  which  it  only  can  see."  "  I  have  such  a 
buzzing  in  my  ears,"  said  an  old  woman  to  another. 
"  It  is  the  sound  of  a  leaf,"  she  answered,  "falling 
from  the  Tree  of  Life." 

Day  broke  in  time  to  show  us  the  first  vision  of 
tall  palms,  with  their  feathery  foliage  rising  black 


VALENCIA,  ALICANTE,  AND  ELCHE.      67 

against  one  of  Tennyson's  "  daffodil  skies,"  which 
above,  still  deep  blue,  was  filled  with  stars.  A 
truly  southern  mob  greeted  our  arrival,  shrieking" 
out  the  merits  of  the  opposition  hotels,  and  trying 
to  appropriate  us  and  our  packages  by  force.  Woe 
betide  the  traveller  who  on  such  occasions  has  not 
chosen  his  resting-place ;  but  its  name  had  made 
us  already  decide  upon  the  Fonda  del  Cid,  which 
well  deserves  recommendation,  and  was,  in  fact, 
the  first  thoroughly  comfortable  hotel  we  had  met 
with  in  Spain.  Opposite  the  windows  rises  the  tall 
semi-Moorish  tower  of  the  Miguelete,  built  by  Juan 
Franck,  138 1  — 141 8,  which,  with  the  magnificent 
gate  called  Puerta  de  Serranos  (1349),  and  the 
Gothic  Lonja,  or  town-hall  (1482),  are  almost  the 
only  ancient  buildings  of  importance  which  remain 
in  Valencia,  where,  unlike  other  Spanish  towns,  a. 
perfect  warfare  against  the  antiquities  has  been 
carried  on  for  some  years  past,  the  ajimez  windows 
having  been  almost  all  modernised,  and  the  whole 
of  the  grand  old  walls  having  been  pulled  down 
after  King  Amadeo's  visit  in  1871,  "in  order  to 
give  employment  to  the  poor"  (!),  though  the 
condition  of  the  streets  is  disgraceful,  and  the 
roads  are  left  in  such  a  state  of  neglect  as  to  be 
utterly  impassable  ;  the  principal  one,  leading  to 


68  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

El  Grao,  the  port  of  Valencia,  being  like  a 
ploughed  field,  with  the  furrows  a  yard  deep.  For 
some  unaccountable  reason  the  avenue  of  fine  old 
trees  which  lined  this  road,  was  demolished  at 
at  the  same  time  as  the  walls.  The  most  interest- 
ing historical  fragment  in  the  town  was  pulled 
down  by  its  idiotic  authorities  in  1865,  and  its  site 
is  now  only  marked  by  an  inscription  on  a  wall. 
This  was  the  tower  Albufat,  upon  which  the  cross 
was  first  hoisted  when  the  Cid  took  Valencia  from 
the  Moors,  after  a  twenty  years'  siege,  in  1094, 
with  the  famous  gate  adjoining,  the  Puerta  del  Cid, 
by  which  he  entered  the  town.  From  hence,  in 
the  moment  of  triumph,  he  sent  back  a  command 
that  the  enemy  should  be  permitted  to  bury  their 
dead,  and  when  the  Moorish  chieftain,  touched  by 
the  unexpected  clemency,  sent  two  beautiful  slaves 
for  his  acceptance,  replied  that  to  him,  for  whom 
the  welcome  of  his  own  Ximena  was  waiting,  no 
other  charms  could  offer  any  attraction.  Here,  his 
first  act  was  to  take  Ximena  with  her  daughters, 
Sol  and  Elvira,  to  the  top  of  the  tower,  and  bid 
them  look  down  upon  the  glories  of  the  Huerta, 
the  garden  of  Spain,  which  his  perseverance  at 
length  had  conquered.  Here,  in  1099,  he  lay  upon 
his  death-bed,  surrounded  by  all  his  beloved  ones, 


VALENCIA,  ALICANTE,  AND  EL  CHE.      69 

even  his  famous  war-steed,  Bavieca,  being  brought 
into  the  chamber,  and  "  standing  there  like  a 
lamb  "  to  gaze  upon  his  dying  master.  From  this 
gate  also  once  more  the  Cid  rode  forth  upon 
Bavieca,  upright  in  death,  his  corpse  arrayed  in 
full  armour,  with  the  face  uncovered  and  his  white 
beard  falling  down  over  his  breastplate,  supported 
by  Gil  Diaz  and  the  Bishop  Geronimo,  and 
followed  by  the  faithful  Ximena  and  his  warriors  ; 
a  sight  so  awful  that  the  Moors — who,  regaining 
courage  at  the  news  of  his  death,  had  again 
encamped  against  the  town — fled  in  terror,  leaving 
the  strange  funeral  procession  to  carry  out  the 
chieftain's  last  wish  that  he  should  be  laid  in 
S.  Pedro  de  Cerdena,  and  abandoning  so  great 
a  booty  to  the  Christians  that,  in  the  words  of  the 
old  ballad,  the  Cid,  even  after  death,  won  such 
riches  from  the  heathen  that  "  the  poorest  became 
rich." 

No  breath  from  these  heroic  days  now  blows 
upon  Valencia,  which  is  a  very  concentration  of 
dulness,  stagnation,  and  ugliness ;  its  cathedral, 
chiefly  Corinthian,  is  poor  and  featureless  ;  none  of 
the  churches  are  fine  ;  the  dusty  gardens  of 
Alameda  and  Glorieta  are  ill-kept  and  rubbishy, 
and  the  handsome  bridges,  even  in  January,  cross 


70  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

only  a  dry  bed,  without  the  smallest  streamlet 
of  water.  In  the  market  many  picturesque  cos- 
tumes, however,  may  be  seen  and  admired  ; 
swarthy  labourers  of  the  Huerta,  with  sandals, 
linen  drawers,  velvet  jackets,  flowing  mantas  of 
scarlet  and  blue,  and  their  heads  bound  tight  with 
a  gaily-covered  handkerchief,  knotted  behind,  with 
the  ends  hanging  down ;  women  of  the  lower 
classes,  in  bright  handkerchiefs  also  over  their 
black  hair,  and  of  the  upper  classes,  invariably  in 
the  mantilla,  which  is  so  much  the  rule  here,  that 
English  ladies  who  do  not  wear  them  are  followed, 
much  as  an  Indian  in  feathers  would  be  in  Reeent 
Street,  and  those  of  our  party  who  went  to  see 
Ribera's  pictures  at  the  Colegio  Patriarca,  were 
iorcibly  ejected  from  the  church  for  venturing  to 
onter  it  in  bonnets. 

We  stayed  till  Friday  afternoon,  in  order  to  be 
present  at  the  morning  ceremonies  of  that  day 
in  [the  chapel  of  Corpus  Christi  in  this  college. 
At  ten  A.M.  the  congregation,  all  in  black,  take 
their  places  near,  the  high-altar,  which  on  ordinary 
occasions  is  surmounted  by  a  Last  Supper  of 
Ribera;  around  this  many  tapers  are  burning, 
but  the  rest  of  the  naturally  gloomy  church  is 
additionally  darkened.     In  front  of  the  altar  the 


VALENCIA,  ALICANTE,  AND  ELCHE.      71 

priests  kneel  in  silence,  while  the  penitential 
psalms  are  sung  by  a  hidden  choir.  Then,  as  the 
Miserere  swells  in  thrilling  notes  through  the 
gloom,  the  picture  over  the  altar  descends  by  an 
invisible  machinery,  and  violet  curtains  are  seen 
within.  Gradually,  as  the  chant  proceeds,  one 
veil  after  another  is  withdrawn ;  lilac,  grey,  black, 
till,  when  the  imagination  is  fully  aroused,  appears, 
deeply  recessed  and  dimly  shewn  by  a  quivering 
torchlight,  the  figure  of  the  dying  Saviour  upon 
the  Cross,  only  the  bent  head  fully  lighted  up  into 
a  vividness  of  reality ;  the  rest  of  the  figure  rather 
expressed  than  seen.  The  whole  service  is  most 
impressive  and  touching,  and  can  scarcely  be 
witnessed  without  emotion.  The  last  veil  is  only 
drawn  for  a  few  minutes,  and  as  it  is  closed  again, 
and  the  people  rise  from  their  knees,  the  joyful 
notes  of  the  organ,  accompanied  by  a  chorus  of 
voices,  tell  of  the  Resurrection  and  a  new  life. 

The  painters  of  Valencia  form  a  separate  school 
of  their  own,  and  are  largely  represented  in  their 
native  town.  The  most  remarkable  were  Juanes 
(1523 — 1597),  who  answers  in  Spain  to  Raphael; 
Francisco  di  Ribalta  (1551 — 1628),  who  is  compared 
with  Domenichino ;  Josef  Ribera  or  Spagnuoletto 
(1588 — 1666);  Espinoza  (1600 — 1680);  and  Orrente 


7z  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

(1560 — 1644),  who  is  chiefly  remarkable  as  a  painter 
of  cattle.     The  confiscated  convent  of  El  Carmen 
is   now   the    Museo,    and    contains,   amid    a   vast 
amount   of    trash,    some   pictures   of    Ribera   and 
Ribalta,  powerful,  but  chiefly  of  the  black-agony 
school,  excruciating  representations   of  ecstasies, 
St.  Francis,  Santa  Teresa,  &c.     One  specimen  of 
Ribalta,  however,  rises  far  above  the  rest,  "The 
Nailing    to    the    Cross,"   in    which    the    Saviour, 
seated  upon  the  slightly-inclined  cross,  on  which 
He  is  being  fastened,  looks  up  to  heaven  in  rapt 
contemplation,  while  one  of  the  thieves,  standing 
near,  with  his  hands  bound,  watches  with  intense 
interest  the  preparations  of  the  cross  to  which  He 
is   to    be    fixed.       In    striking    contrast    to    these 
subjects,  dark  both  in  conception  and  execution, 
are  some   lovely  works   of  Juanes,  especially  the 
Saviour  instituting   the   Sacrament  of  the   Lord's 
Supper,   which   is   quite   sublime   in   its   touching 
solemnity   of  expression,    and    the   picture   called 
"  La   Purisima,"    painted,    after   long  fasting   and 
prayer,  to  represent  the  Virgin  as  she  was  described 
by    the    Jesuit,    Martino   de    Alvaro,    as    having 
appeared  to  him  in  a  vision.     Still  more  beautiful 
works  of  Juanes  may  be  seen  over  two  altars  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Nicolas,  which  contains  a  perfect 


VALENCIA,  ALICANTE,  AND  ELCHE.      73 

gallery  of  this  flower  of  Spanish  painters,  its 
masterpiece  being  a  Ccnacolo  of  matchless  beauty. 
Our  Saviour  is  standing  in  awful  beauty  and 
solemnity,  and  is  about  to  administer  the  sacra- 
mental wafer,  which  He  raises  in  one  hand,  while 
the  other  rests  upon  the  beloved  St.  John,  who 
bends  beneath  Him  in  ecstatic  adoration  ;  the  other 
disciples  lean  breathlessly  forward ;  in  the  fore- 
ground is  the  dark  figure  of  Judas  with  his  money- 
bag. 

All  around  Valencia  lies  the  Huerta,  the  most 
fertile  district  in  Europe,  and  in  the  highest  state 
of  cultivation.  Here  lucerne  is  mown  fifteen  times 
in  one  year,  and  the  rest  of  the  crops  are  in 
proportion.  Peas  (January  20)  were  already  in 
pod,  and  other  vegetables  in  perfection.  But  the 
miasma  from  the  stagnant  waters  —  the  whole 
course  of  the  river  being  diverted  for  purposes  of 
artificial  irrigation — is  unwholesome,  and  combined 
with  the  frequent  sirocco,  fresh  from  African 
deserts,  renders  the  climate  very  depressing.  We 
delighted  to  escape  for  one  day  by  the  railway 
to  the  more  exhilarating  air  of  Saguntum, — the 
old,  well-known  Roman  name  being  that  marked 
on  our  railway  tickets,  though  the  place  is  gene- 
rally known   in    modern   times  as  Murviedro. 


74  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

is  a  wild  and  interesting  place,  a  huge  rock 
crowned  with  the  remains  of  a  Moorish  castle, 
and  clothed  with  prickly  pear,  and,-  on  one  of  its 
sides,  grand  remains  of  a  Roman  theatre.  While 
we  were  drawing,  the  simple,  hospitable  people 
crowded  round  us,  full  of  eager  questions  as  to 
England  and  other  places  of  which  they  knew 
nothing,  and  peeled  for  us  the  delicious  juicy 
cactus  fruit.  "  Saguntum,"  they  said,  "  was,  next 
to  Rome,  the  most  important  place  in  the  world, 
and  their  Parroquia  ranked  only  next  to  St.  Peter's, 
on  which  account  it  had  been  decided  that  if  the 
Holy  Father  should  leave  Rome,  Saguntum  was 
to  be  his  residence.  The  Moors,  who  lived  before 
the  Romans,  were  the  founders  of  Saguntum,  and 
the  ruined  theatre  was  their  Plaza  de  Toros." 

"We  broke  the  long  land  journey  to  Alicante 
by  sleeping  at  Jativa,  which  is  just  beyond  the 
bounds  of  a  lovely  garden  about  ten  miles'  wide, 
which  separates  the  Huerta  from  the  stony  deserts 
of  inland  Spain.  Here  the  boughs  of  the  orange- 
trees  swept  the  carriage  windows  as  we  passed, 
and  the  vibrations  of  the  train  shook  off  showers 
of  the  over-ripe  golden  fruit.  Groves  of  palms, 
often  gathered  around  solitary,  desolate  cartuyas, 
bent  and  rustled  in  the  breeze.     Jativa  itself  is  full 


VALENCIA,  ALICANTE,  AND  ELCHE.      75 

of  fountains — a  perfect  city  of  clear  rushing  waters 
— and  its  bright  little  Alameda  is  fragrant  with 
fruit  and  flowers.  Behind  the  town,  the  mountain- 
side is  full  of  hermitages  and  chapels,  built  amid 
groves  of  old  carouba-trees  and  thickets  of  prickly- 
pear.  Altogether,  it  is  a  place  one  would  like  to 
linger  in ;  but  the  extreme  wretchedness  of  the 
inn  drove  us  across  the  dismal  plains,  seven  hours, 
to  Alicante,  where  there  is  an  excellent  hotel 
(Bossio),  one  of  the  best  in  Spain. 

This  is,  however,  the  best  thing  about  the  place 
— this  and  the  climate — for  Alicante  is  one  of  the 
driest  places  in  the  world.  Not  a  particle  of 
vegetation  is  to  be  seen,  except  the  palm-trees 
on  its  Alameda.  Everything  has  an  Eastern  look. 
The  flat-roofed  houses,  the  roads,  the  tawny, 
desolate  plains  which  stretch  around  for  miles  and 
miles,  are  alike  dust-coloured.  The  huge  castle- 
crowned  mass  which  overhangs  the  town  and  port 
is  scarcely  a  rock,  it  is  rather  an  immense  dust- 
heap.  Yet,  even  here,  sunshine  and  shadow  can 
work  their  ever-changing  miracles,  and  can  send 
great  purple  shadows  across  the  mountains,  which 
change  their  drab  steeps,  as  by  an  enchanter's 
wand,  and  clothe  them  with  colours  of  sapphire 
and  amethyst.     A  small  English  colony  exists  at 


WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 


VALENCIA,  ALICANTE,  AND  ELCHE.      77 

Alicante,  with  a  consul,  a  chaplain,  and  a  pleasant, 
hospitable  little  society.  They  told  us  that  if  we 
stayed  long,  we  should  learn  to  delight  in  the 
place,  and  even  to  think  it  beautiful ;  but  to  us 
it  appeared  so  miserably  abject  and  squalid,  we 
could  not  believe  it  possible. 

The  drive  from  Alicante  to  Elche  was  our  first 
experience  of  a  Spanish  diligence.  We  thought 
its  discomforts  greatly  exaggerated,  as  the  speed 
is  far  greater  in  proportion  than  that  of  the  rail- 
way, without  the  trial  to  one's  patience  of  per- 
petual unnecessary  pottering  at  the  small  stations, 
which  occur  every  five  minutes.  On  the  outside, 
the  fresh  air  blowing  over  the  vast  plains  was 
delightful,  and  the  old  Arragonese  coachman  in 
his  quaintly  decorated  velveteen  suit,  with  a  large 
sombrero,  vied  in  civilities  with  the  Valencian 
■mayoral.  "  To  the  right ;  to  the  left ;  go  on,  you 
creatures ;  Ave  Maria  Purisima,  more  to  the  left, 
you  first  one  ;  go  along  with  God,  you  outsider  ;  " 
thus  they  talk  to  their  horses,  in  a  loud,  stormy 
voice.  There  is  very  little  guidance  used,  literally 
no  driving  at  all ;  the  horses  hear  and  obey,  or  if 
the  leader  takes  advantage  of  his  distance,  far 
beyond  the  reach  of  whip,  to  become  wilful,  stones 
are  thrown  at  his  tail,  from  a  little  hillock  pre- 


7  8  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

pared  all  ready  on  the  coach-box, ; —  the  object 
of  which,  on  setting  out,  had  greatly  puzzled  us. 

After  two  hours'  drive,  a  serrated  line  of  palms 
rose  upon  the  horizon,  and  soon  we  entered  their 
forests.  Far  in  the  air,  sometimes  sixty  feet  high, 
rose  the  beautiful  fans,  with  their  enormous 
pendent  bunches  of  dates,  the  golden  fruit  hanging 
from  stems  of  so  gorgeous  an  orange,  that  no 
mere  description  of  colour  can  give  the  faintest 
idea  of  their  effect  when  they  are  lighted  up  by 
the  sun,  and  backed  by  a  deep  blue  sky,  as  we 
first  saw  them.  Their  variety  also  is  most  beauti- 
ful :  some  of  the  older  trees  growing  perfectly 
straight,  others  bending  in  the  most  picturesque 
attitudes,  some  buttressed  up  with  little  stone 
walls,  and  beside  them  younger  palms  rising  in 
full  youthful  vigour,  tens  upon  tens  of  thousands, 
for  miles  around. 

Only  the  female  trees  bear  fruit,  and  this  only 
when  they  are  impregnated  with  dust  from  the 
males,  which  is  consequently  done  artificially. 
The  male  palms  are  often  tied  up  and  blanched  to 
be  cut  for  the  Palm-Sunday  festivals,  and  they  are 
also  sold  to  be  stuck  up  in  balconies  as  a  protec- 
tion against  lightning,  being  considered  quite  as 
efficacious,  and  being  certainly  much  cheaper,  than 


VALENCIA,  ALICANTE,  AND  ELCHE.     79 

an  iron  conductor.  ,£2,000  worth  are  sold  annually 
in  Elche  for  this  purpose,  and  ^14,000  worth  of 
dates.  The  latter  were  being  gathered  during  our 
visit  (January)  by  the  clever  little  hortelanos  who 
climb  the  branchless  trunk  like  cats,  a  rope 
being  passed  round  it  and  their  waists,  upon  which 
they  rest  their  whole  weight  in  a  horizontal  posi- 
tion, lowering  their  baskets  when  filled,  and  rais- 
ing them  again  by  a  pulley.  The  defective  palm- 
leaves  are  sent  to  the  manufactories  and  used  as 
cigarettes.  By  the  road-side,  before  every  cottage- 
door,  are  quantities  of  dates  in  baskets,  no  one 
watching  them  ;  any  passer-by  can  eat  as  many  as 
he  likes,  fill  his  pockets,  and  leave  his  halfpenny 
in  payment.  It  is  generally  left,  for  where 
Spaniards  are  trusted  they  scarcely  ever  abuse  a 
trust.  When  we  walked  in  the  groves  the  hospit- 
able peasants  were  only  too  anxious  to  load  us 
with  branches  of  the  best  fruit,  and  would  accept 
no  payment  at  all. 

We  spent  three  days  in  Elche,  which,  though 
the  Roman  Illica,  is  completely  Moorish  in  cha- 
racter. There  is  a  humble  but  decent  posada. 
Ever-increasing  was  our  delight  in  the  enchanting 
walks ;  sometimes  through  the  thick  groves  of 
magnificent  date-palms,  where  all  is  richness  and 


WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

splendour  of  colour  ;  sometimes  in  the  deep  brown 
ravine  of  the  dried-up  Vinalapo,  which  reminded 
us  of  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat, — Elche,  entirely 
Moorish,  rising  above  like  Jerusalem,  with  its  flat- 
roofed  houses,  old  walls,  and  crowning  mosque ; 
sometimes  by  the  banks  of  little  streams  bordered 
with  prickly  pear  and  pomegranates;  and  some- 
times out  upon  the  desolate  gravelly  plain  beyond 
all  these,  which  assumes  a  wonderful  colour  to- 
wards sunset,  and  where  the  extreme  clearness  of 
the  air  makes  the  most  distant  objects,  even  to  the 
violet  mountains  on  the  horizon,  appear  super- 
naturally  distinct. 

It  is  across  a  mere  track  in  this  plain  that  you 
set  forth  in  the  Murcia  diligence,  a  track  so  ill- 
defined,  so  broken  by  large  stones  and  even  rocks, 
that  an  overturn  seems  inevitable  every  minute. 
Sometimes  you  reach  the  brink  of  an  abandoned 
stone-quarry ;  further  progress  seems  impossible, 
but  the  mayoral  shouts  and  cracks  his  whip,  down 
go  the  leaders  by  the  merest  semblance  of  a  road, 
the  lumbering  diligence  tumbles  after,  and  at  the 
bottom  the  horses  just  shake  themselves  and 
scramble  on  again  not  a  bit  the  worse.  But  the 
road  improves  as  it  reaches  Orihuela,  an  old 
cathedral  city,  where  all  the  handsome  girls  were 


%  W-'m  re* 


VALENCIA,  ALICANTE,  AND  ELCHE.      Si 

walking  about  with  fresh  roses  stuck  jauntily 
behind  their  ears,  and  where  the  country  is  so 
excessively  fertile  that  an  old  proverb  says,  whether 
it  rains  or  not,  corn  will  grow  in  Orihuela — 
"  Llueva  or  no  llueva,  trigo  in  Orihuela."  Merrily, 
with  jangling  bells,  we  drove  on  through  the 
starlight  to  Murcia  (Hotel  Peregrino),  a  pleasant 
place  with  an  interesting  Gothic  cathedral,  and 
one  of  the  most  especially  Moorish  places  in 
Spain,  said,  from  the  stagnation  of  its  long  exist- 
ence, to  be  the  only  place  Adam  would  recognise 
if  he  returned  to  earth. 

Here  we  have  heard  the  bell  ringing  through  the 
streets  and  the  people  joining  in  singing  the 
Rosario  de  la  Aurora,  so  called  because  it  is  sung 
at  dawn  for  the  benefit  of  the  souls  in  purgatory. 
This  is  a  verse  of  it : — 

"  En  cl  Cielo  se  reza  un  Rosario 
Todas  las  mananas  al  amanecer, 
Santiago  lleva  el  estandarte, 
San  Pedro  la  luz,  la  cruz  San  Miguel. 

Pues  vamos  alia, 
Que  no  hay  cosa  mas  santa  y  mas  dulce 
Que  el  Santo  Rosario  que  se  va  a  rezar." 

In  Murcia  we  take  leave  of  the  eastern  coast  (for 
Cartagena  is  not  worth  visiting),  with  much  grati- 

G 


82  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

tucle  for  the  enjoyment  it  lias  afforded  us.  No  one 
who  has  not  seen  it  can  imagine  the  changes  of 
scene  it  offers,  the  pictures  it  enables  one  to  store 
up  in  one's  mental  gallery.  The  climate  is  delicious, 
not  the  burning  sun  by  day  with  the  cold  frosty 
nights  of  a  Roman  winter,  which  send  you  to  shiver 
in  the  evenings  over  a  hopeless  wood  fire,  but  the 
clear  equable  bracing  warmth  of  a  fine  early  English 
September.  Since  the  New  Year  to  the  present 
date  (Feb.  2),  we  have  had  no  rain.  But  what  has 
most  surprised  us  has  been  the  exceeding  facility 
of  travelling  and  the  charm  of  the  treatment  we 
have  met  with.  We  have  quite  laid  aside  now  all 
thought  of  the  mistrust  which  is  a  necessary  habit 
in  'Italy.  The  fixed  prices  of  the  different  hotels, 
which  include  board  as  well  as  lodging,  prevent  all 
trouble  and  preclude  all  notion  of  bargaining ;  and, 
whether  in  a  first-rate  fonda  or  a  humble  posada, 
you  are  received  and  treated,  not  as  mere  customers, 
but  like  honoured  and  welcome  guests  at  a  country 
house  ;  and,  being  so  treated,  you  learn  to  behave 
as  such.  The  master  of  the  house  is  your  friend, 
who  considers  himself  as  your  equal,  and  invariably 
expects  to  be  shaken  hands  with  on  taking  leave  ; 
the  waiters  and  chamber-men  (there  are  scarcely 
ever  any  female  servants   in   Spanish  hotels)  are 


VALENCIA,  ALICANTE,  AND  ELCHE.      83 

also  your  friends,  but  at  a  more  respectful  distance. 
Cheating  and  extortion  seem  incompatible  with  the 
Spanish  character.  Even  the  poorest  peasant  who 
has  shown  us  our  way,  and  who  has  walked  a  con- 
siderable distance  to  do  so,  has  invariably  refused 
to  receive  anything  for  his  services ;  yet  all  are 
most  willing  and  anxious  to  help  strangers.  The 
same  liberal  spirit  seems  to  breathe  through  every- 
thing, and  was  equally  shown  at  our  little  posada 
at  Elche — equivalent  to  a  small  English  public- 
house — where  a  number  of  maimed,  blind,  and  halt 
collected  daily  to  receive  the  broken  viands  from 
the  table-d'hote,  which  the  mistress  distributed  to 
them,  and  in  the  delicate  blacksmith's  wife  oppo- 
site, who  keeps  two  lamps  burning  nightly  at  her 
own  expense,  before  the  little  shrine  of  "  Our  Lady 
of  the  Unprotected  "  in  her  balcony.  The  temporal 
works  of  mercy — to  give  bread  to  the  hungry,  and 
drink  to  the  thirsty,  to  take  care  of  the  sick,  to  visit 
the  captives,  and  to  bury  the  dead,  these  are  the 
common  duties  which  none  shrink  from. 

As  I  write,  a  handsome  dark-eyed  brown  boy  in 
rags,  who  looks  as  if  he  had  stepped  out  of  one  of 
Murillo's  pictures,  is  leaning  against  the  opposite 
wall  in  the  moonlight,  watching  a  shrine  of  the 
Virgin.     It  is  a  picture  typical  of  Spain,  ruined 


84  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

and  superstitious,  but  still  most  beautiful — and 
so  is  the  cry  of  the  watchman  which  is  ringing 
through  the  silent  air,  "  Ave  Maria  Santisima,  it  is 
a  quarter  to  twelve  o'clock." 


VI. 

CORDOVA. 

Fonda  Rizzi,  Cordova,  February  8,  1872. 

T  T  is  a  tremendous  railway  journey  of  twenty-two 
-*•  hours  from  Murcia  to  Cordova,  with  many  dis- 
agreeable changes  at  miserably  ordered  stations, 
and  no  decent  stopping  place  on  the  way.  At 
Albacete,  picturesquely-dressed  men  step  into  the 
carriage  out  of  the  midnight  darkness,  hung  all 
round  with  knives  with  inlaid  handles,  and  the 
daggers  which  are  so  indispensable  to  the  costume 
of  the  majo  or  peasant  dandy,  and  which  are 
generally  worn  sticking  out  of  the  breeches-pocket. 
They  are  frequently  adorned  with  mottoes,  gene- 
rally indicative  of  the  savage  service  for  which 
they  are  intended — the  object  of  a  Spanish  knife 
being  "  to  chip  bread  and  kill  a  man."  An 
immense  number  of  people  are  employed  in  their 
manufacture  at  Albacete,  which  is  bombastically 


86  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

called  the  Sheffield  of  Spain,  and  they  are  always 
sold  at  the  station. 

In  the  morning  the  train  plodded — for  a  Spanish 
train  never  hurries — through  La  Mancha,  the  Don 
Quixote  country,  still  almost  as  wild  and  unculti- 
vated as  in  the  days  when  the  famous  knight  rode 
over  its  dull  and  desolate  plains.  Towards  mid- 
day these  were  exchanged  for  green  fields,  and  low 
hills  clothed  with  cork  trees,  till  at  length  the 
welcome  towers  of  Cordova  appeared,  and  an 
omnibus  conveyed  us  along  a  bright  Alameda, 
garden,  and  then  through  the  narrow  streets,  in 
which  it  often  touches  the  houses  on  either  side,  till 
it  could  proceed  no  further,  and  disgorged  its  con- 
tents at  the  mouth  of  a  street  too  narrow  for  any 
but  foot  passengers,  leading  to  the  Hotel  Rizzi. 

The  narrow  streets,  or  rather  alleys,  so  well 
adapted  to  give  a  shade  in  summer,  when  the  heat 
here  is  almost  insupportable,  are  an  unaltered  relic 
of  the  Moorish  dominion,  under  which  Cordova  was 
the  successful  rival  of  Bagdad  and  Damascus. 
Utterly  devoid  of  picturesqueness,  they  have  a 
more  thoroughly  African  appearance  than  those 
of  any  other  town  in  Spain.  One  threads  one's 
way  between  interminable  whitewashed  walls, 
their  scanty  windows  guarded  by  heavy  iron  bars, 


CORDOVA.  87 

over  a  pebbly  pavement  so  rough  that  it  is  like  the 
bed  of  a  torrent,  littered  with  straw  from  the 
burdens  of  innumerable  donkeys.  There  are  no 
shops  apparent,  no  animation  whatever,  nor  any 
sign  of  life  in  the  houses,  and  the  few  silent  figures 
you  pass  are  only  miserable  beggars  wrapped  in 
their  mantas,  generally  lying  on  steps  in  the  sun, 
almost  too  inert  to  extend  their  hands  for  charity, 
an  occasional  veiled  lady  gliding  by  to  mass,  or  a 
majo,  who  goes  swiftly  along,  erect  upon  his  tall 
mule.  Cordova  is  like  a  city  of  the  dead ;  yet  it 
looks  modern  and  fresh,  for  every  mark  of  antiquity 
is  effaced  by  the  coating  of  whitewash  which  clothes 
everything,  and  which  makes  the  building  of  a 
thousand  years  ago  undistinguishable  from  that  of 
yesterday. 

The  little  life  which  remains  all  seems  to  con- 
verge to  the  mosque,  the  one  centre  of  interest  in 
the  town,  the  magnet  which  still  attracts  travellers 
to  this  whited  sepulchre  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Here,  in  the  magnificent  court  of  oranges,  troops  of 
children  play,  a  spectacle  for  a  perfect  regiment  of 
beggars,  who  sun  themselves  all  day  long  on  the  low 
stone  seats  around  its  walls,  while  crowds  of  strong 
able-bodied  men  stand  here  for  hours  gossiping 
and  playing  at  cards — for  at  Cordova  Spanish  idle- 


88  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

ness  reaches  its  climax.  If  a  man  wants  a  few 
pesetas  he  earns  them  ;  but  when  he  has  earned 
them  he  does  not  work  again  till  they  are  spent, 
and  as  a  Cordovan  can  live  luxuriously  on  an 
orange,  a  piece  of  dried  fish,  and  an  air  on  the 
guitar,  plenty  of  time  is  left  to  flaneur  and  amuse 
themselves.  And  for  this  what  spot  can  be  more 
delightful  than  the  grand  old  court,  surrounded  by 
flame-shaped  battlements,  entered  by  rich  Moorish 
gateways,  and  where  the  fountain  erected  by  Ab- 
dur-r-rahman  in  945  still  sends  forth  its  volume  of 
crystal  waters  beneath  huge  orange-trees  planted 
some  three  hundred  years  ago,  and  above  which 
feathery  palms  and  tall  cypresses  shoot  up  into  the 
clear  air  ? 

Oftentimes  a  group  of  the  loiterers  forms  round 
one  who  is  singing  in  a  loud  shrill  voice,  not  very 
suitable  for  the  consecrated  precincts  of  a  cathedral, 
some  such  snatches  as  this  : — 

"  Los  calzones  del  padre 
De  Catalina 
Tienen  cincuenta  varas 
Sin  la  pretina;" 


or,— 


"  Mi  marido  se  murio 
Dios  en  el  cielo  le  tenga  ; 
Y  le  tenga  tan  tenido 
Que  nunca  por  aca  vuelva ;  " 


CORDOVA.  89 

or,  with  a  quaint  look  towards  the  stranger, — 

"Los  enemigos  del  alma 
Todos  dicen  que  son  tres. 
Y  yo  digo  que  son  cuatro 
Desde  que  conozco  a  usted." 

From  the  court  you  step  with  bewilderment  into 
a  roofed-in  forest  of  pillars,  where  you  may  truly 
lose  your  way  amid  the  thousand  still  remaining 
columns  (there  were  twelve  hundred  once)  of  varied 
colour,  thickness,  and  material,  which  divide  the 
building  into  twenty-nine  naves  one  way  and  nine- 
teen the  other.     Into  the  midst  of  all  a  cathedral 
was   engrafted    in    1547,    for  which    many  of  the 
columns  were  destroyed,  permission  having  been 
extorted  by  the  canons  from  Charles  V.,  who  was 
unaware  of  the  mischief  they  were  doing,  but  who 
bitterly  reproved  them  when  he  visited  their  work 
for  having  thus  injured  what  was  unique  in  the 
world.     A  tiny  chapel,  with  a   roof  like  a  shell, 
formed  from    a   single  block  of   marble,  is   orna- 
mented outside  with  mosaics  sent  from  Constanti- 
nople by  the  Emperor  Romanus  II.,  the  finest  in 
the  world.  This  is  the  Ceca,  where  the  Alcoran  was 
kept,  as  in  a  Holy  of  Holies ;  and  at  the  opposite 
chapel  of  the  Maksurah,  also  a  beautiful  remnant 
of   Moorish  times,  though   its   pavement   of  pure 


9o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

silver  lias  disappeared,  the  kalif  performed  his 
chofba  or  public  prayer,  at  the  Mihrab,  a  window 
looking  towards  the  shrine.  Just  outside  their 
sacred  Ceca  now  stands,  as  if  in  mockery,  the 
tomb  of  the  Conde  de  Oropesa,  who  defended  Cor- 
dova against  the  Moors  in  1368.  The  only  other 
especial  object  of  interest  shown  is  a  scratch  of  the 
Crucifixion  on  a  wall,  attributed  to  the  nails  of  a 
Christian  captive  ;  but  the  mosque  may  be  visited 
in  all  hours  and  all  lights  with  increasing  wonder 
and  delight. 

Close  below  the  mosque  flows  the  broad  Guadal- 
quiver,  here  crossed  by  a  fine  old  bridge,  at 
the  entrance  of  which  is  one  of  the]  most  beauti- 
ful artistic  compositions  in  Cordova,  where  a  huge 
brown  gateway  forms  the  background  for  the  gaudy 
groups  of  country  people,  who  wait  with  their 
mules,  while  their  burdens  are  being  examined  at 
the  barrier.  It  is  a  most  animated  scene,  the  mules 
kicking,  struggling,  and  crowding  on  one  another, 
the  drivers  gesticulating,  shouting,  and  singing. 
Close  by,  the  picturesque  ruins  of  some  Moorish 
mills,  with  open  horse-shoe  arches,  stride  out  into 
the  water.  Behind,  on  a  tall  pillar,  stands  the 
statue  of  St.  Raphael,  the  archangel,  the  pro- 
tector of  Cordova,  an  office  which  he  swore  to  under- 


CORDOVA.  91 

take,  when  he  appeared  to  the  Cordovan  priest 
Andres  Roelas,  on  the  7th  of  May,  1578,  in  the 
words  which  we  may  still  read  beneath  his  column. 

"  Yo  te  juro  por  Jesu  Cristo  cruzificado 
Que  soy  Rafael  angel,  a  quien  Dios  tiene  puesto 
Por  guarda  de  esta  ciudad." 

An  excursion  should  be  made  from  Cordova  to 
the  picturesquely  situated  hermitages  of  the  Sierra- 
Morena,  a  small  Thebaid,  about  four  miles  distant, 
which  may  be  accomplished  on  mules.  There,  or 
near  where  the  hermitages  now  stand,  was  once 
situated  the  most  magnificent  of  the  Moorish 
buildings  of  Cordova,  the  city-like  palace  of 
Azzahra,  built  by  tho-J-Qialif  Annasir  in  honour  of 
his  wife,  who  begged  that  he  would  build  a  city  for 
her  which  should  be  called  by  her  name.  It  was 
begun  A.D.  936,  and  was  constructed  by  architects 
from  Bagdad  and  Constantinople,  10,000  men, 
2,400  mules,  and  100  camels,  being  employed  in 
the  work.  The  palace  contained  4,312  pillars  of 
different  kinds  of  precious  marble  ;  its  hall  called 
the  Khalafat,  had  eight  doors  overlaid  with  gold 
and  encrusted  with  precious  stones,  hung  in  arches 
of  ebony  and  ivory ;  in  the  hall  called  Almunis  was 
a  great  fountain  brought  from  Constantinople, 
decorated   with    many   figures    of    animals    made 


92  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

of  pure  gold  adorned  with  precious  stones,  with  the 
water  streaming  from  their  mouths.  When  the 
palace  was  completed  it  was  universally  allowed 
that  the  whole  land  of  Islam  contained  nothing 
to  compare  to  it,  that  it  passed  the  powers  of  lan- 
guage to  describe.  During  the  twenty-five  years 
in  which  Annasir  inhabited  it,  the  annual  expense 
was  300,000  dinars,  and  the  number  of  its  servants 
was  13,750  males,  and  6,314  females,  besides  3,750 
Schlavonians.  The  miracles  of  art  at  Azzahra 
were  totally  destroyed  in  1 009  ;  even  the  exact  site 
of  the  palace  is  unknown,  but  the  surrounding 
country  still  retains  traces  of  the  beautiful  gardens 
of  fruit  trees  by  which  it  was  surrounded  by  its 
founder.  The  ride  to  the  hermitages  is  a  lonely 
one,  brigands  are  not  absolutely  unknown,  and 
some  little  dread  may  be  experienced  at  the  sight 
of  armed  figures  approaching  down  the  narrow 
wooded  paths.  Generally,  however,  you  are  passed 
with  the  friendly  Spanish  salutation  :  "  Dios  guarde 
a  usted  !  "  "  Va  usted  con  Dios,  caballero  !  "  "  God 
guard  you,  God  be  with  you,  sir." 


VII. 

SEVILLE. 

Fonda  Europa,  Seville,  February  21,  1872. 

A  PLEASANT  railway  journey  of  four  hours 
-^*-  brought  us  from  Cordova  to  Seville.  Long 
before  reaching  it,  the  famous  Giralda  tower  ap- 
peared above  the  green  corn  plains,  divided  by 
hedges  of  aloes,  and  as  the  railway  runs  close 
under  the  town,  between  it  and  the  Guadalquiver, 
all  the  principal  buildings  are  seen  before  you 
arrive  at  the  station.  The  tiresome  and  useless 
delay  of  the  local  custom-house,  which  worries 
travellers  at  the  entrance  of  almost  all  the  large 
Spanish  towns,  made  it  nearly  dark  when  wc 
reached  the  Fonda  Europa,  a  thoroughly  national 
hotel,  with  a  court  of  oranges  and  a  fountain,  but 
exceedingly  gloomy.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  we  have 
often  amused  ourselves  by  thinking  what  a  false 
idea  people  must  entertain  of  places  who  only  read 


9+  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

of  them  in  books.      It  is  so  easy  to  give  a  glowing 
picture  of  that  which  is  dismal  enough  in  reality, 
and  from  those  who  see  the  original  the  impression 
of  the  picture  vanishes  for  ever.     Thus  O'Shea's 
really   excellent    guide-book,   quite   the   best,   we 
think,    practically,    though    Ford — the     original, 
unadulterated  Ford — should  on  no  account  be  left 
behind,  writes  of  Valencia  : — "  The  sultana  of  the 
Mediterranean    cities,    robed    in    the    loose    and 
sparkling    white    of    her    straggling   houses,   lies 
softly  embosomed  amid  high  palms  and  deep-green 
oranges,  with  her  feet  lazily  bathing  in  the  blue 
waves    of  the    sea.      The    magic    Huerta    which 
surrounds  her  is  but  a  large  orchard,"  &c.     How 
delightful    an    impression     of    dust-laden,    wind- 
stricken  dead-alive  Valencia,  three  miles  from  the 
sea,  with  its  three  or  four  unhealthy  palms,  and  its 
surrounding  marshes  and  nursery  gardens,  which 
Murray  further  glorifies   by  describing  their  mud 
huts  {quintets)  as  "  pearls  set  in  emeralds  !  "     Even 
the  truest  picture  is  often  misleading ;  for  in  writing 
from  Seville  I  might  say  with  perfect  truth  that  I 
look    down    from     my    window    through    marble 
colonnades,   bathed  and    glittering   in   the  bright 
moonlight,   perfumed   with    the    scent   of  ancient 
orange  and  citron  trees,  which  bend,  fruit-laden, 


SEVILLE.  95 

over  a  richly-sculptured  fountain,  while  many- 
birds  of  strange  plumage  flit  amid  their  boughs, 
and  golden  fish  float  beneath  the  waters.  Yet  I 
should  only  be  describing  an  ordinary  Sevillian 
house,  in  which  the  bird-fancying  landlord  has 
clipped  the  wings  of  a  number  of  hawks  and  owls, 
who  live  amid  his  orange-trees,  and  frighten  his 
inmates  by  unexpectedly  hopping  in  through  their 
bedroom  windows. 

From  the  deathlike  stillness  of  Cordova  it  is 
a  strange  transition  to  the  animation  and  bustle  of 
the  central  part  of  Seville,  with  its  brilliant  shops 
and  crowded  streets,  in  which  you  would  think 
that  the  whole  population  amused  themselves  all 
day  long.  Of  all  the  inhabitants  of  Spain,  the 
Sevillians  have  the  greatest  reputation  for  live- 
liness of  character  and  enjo}'ment  of  all  the 
pleasures  which  the  world  can  afford  them.  The 
past  and  the  future  seem  to  have  no  part  in 
their  existence ;  the  present  is  everything.  The 
churches  here  are  deserted  by  comparison  with 
those  of  other  towns  ;  the  theatres  and  promenades 
are  crowded.  When  we  arrived  the  whole  popula- 
tion was  throwing  itself  rapturously  into  the 
delights  of  the  carnival.  The  streets  were  filled 
every  evening  with  masquers  in  every  description 


WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

of  ridiculous  dress,  from  Chinese  mandarins  and 
Indians  in  feathers  to  old  English  ladies  with  poke 
bonnets,  reticule,  and  spectacles,  and  old  English 
gentlemen    with    high     collars,    tail     coats,     and 
umbrellas,  very  admirably  imitated.     Reverence  to 
the  Church  also  was  little  evinced  in  the  number  of 
would-be   nuns,   mumbling    over  their  breviaries, 
while  their  eyes,  sparkling  through  their  masques, 
sought  a  new  object  for  a  joke ;  and  even  the  Pope 
himself  had  his  representative,   dragged  woefully 
along  by  a  horrible  green  devil  with  a  long  tail, 
which  he  lashed  in  glee  over  each  contortion  of  the 
wretched  potentate.     In  the  carriages  were  many 
lovely   little    children    of    the    nobles,   beautifully 
dressed   in   blue,   green,    and    yellow   satin,    a    la 
Louis  XIV.,  with  their  hair  powdered,  the  little 
boys    of  three   and    four  years    old    having    silk 
stockings    and    buckles    in    their    shoes.        "  Me 
conoces  "  resounded  on  all  sides  in  the  shrill  voice 
of    disguise   which    is    universally   adopted.      All 
classes  mingled  together,  and  amused  one  another ; 
yet  at  such  times  the  high  breeding  and  courtesy 
of  every  rank  of  Spaniard  never  deserts  them,  and 
no  coarseness  or  breach  of  decorum  can  be  dis- 
covered.    At  the  same  time,  the  unusual  collision 
into  which  all  persons  are  thrown  is  often  produc- 


SEVILLE. 


97 


tive  of  bloodshed,  and  the  utter  insouciance  about 
life  which  prevails  in  Spain  was  evidenced  by 
the  fact,  that  six  persons  were  killed  and  eight 
wounded  during  the  course  of  the  first  masqued 
ball,  the  long  Albacete  knives  being  used,  and  the 
murderers  easily  escaping  in  their  masquerade 
dress,  without  its  producing  any  effect  upon  the 
gaiety  of  the  rest  of  the  revellers. 

With  more  than  slightly  sarcastic  reference  to 
the  Italian  king,  who  is  much  disliked  here,  the 
whole  people  of  Seville,  with  banners  flying,  bands 
of  music,  and  mounted  troops  of  imaginary  cavalry, 
went  out  to  the  gates  at  the  beginning  of  carnival 
to  meet  the  King  of  Nonsense,  and  solemnly  escort 
him  into  the  city,  which  he,  a  puppet,  entered  in  a 
coach-and-four,  bowing  and  nodding  on  either  side 
from  the  windows,  as  real  kings  do.  On  the  last 
day  this  figure  was  public  deposed  and  executed — 
strangled  as  criminals  are,  on  a  scaffold  in  the  great 
square,  amid  universal  acclamations ;  and  on  the 
first  Sunday  in  Lent  (for  the  Sevillians,  if  robbed 
of  some  of  their  fun  by  the  wet  weather,  use  the 
Sundays  in  Lent  for  more  carnival)  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  country  people  came  into  the  town  to 
see  him  lie  in  state,  and  attend  his  funeral  with  a 
procession  of  mock  penitents,  torches,  and  chant- 

H 


98  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

ing.  On  other  days  of  carnival  los  giganies — huge 
figures  of  the  Moorish  sovereigns — were  paraded 
round  the  town. 

The  people  of  Seville  all  seem  proud  now  of  its 
Moorish  history,  and  aware  of  the  advantages 
which  that  period  has  bequeathed  to  them.  All 
the  best  Moorish  houses  are  preserved,  and  the  hot 
season  of  "  the  oven  of  Spain  "  is  rendered  endur- 
able by  the  forethought  which  made  the  streets  so 
narrow  that  it  is  generally  impossible  for  two  car- 
riages to  pass  one  another,  while  the  houses 
which  line  them  have  large  gardens,  or  are  built 
round  open  courts,  which,  in  summer,  are  covered 
with  an  awning  or  veto;  while  the  windows  are 
defended  by  the  thick  matted  blinds  called  esteras. 
The  names  which  are  written  up  at  the  entrance  of 
the  streets  in  Seville  are  in  themselves  always  pic- 
turesque and  interesting,  and  have  reference  to 
events  which  occurred  in  them,  or  persons  who 
have  lived  there.  The  word  "  calle,"  or  street,  is 
always  omitted.  The  name  stands  alone — "  Mu- 
rillo,"  "  Juan  de  Mena,"  "  Abades,"  "  Dados,"  &c. 
All  are  whitewashed,  as  at  Cordova,  and  the  clear 
shadows  of  the  passers-by  fall  blue  upon  the  daz- 
zling walls.  In  the  streets  where  most  business  is 
carried  on,  barriers  are  placed  at  each  end  of  the 


SEVILLE. 


9< 


broad  flagged  pavement  to  prevent  a  carriage  from 
attempting  to  enter,  so  that  only  mules  and  donkeys, 
jostle  the  foot-passengers  with  their  heavy  burdens. 
Here  the  chief  shops  have  no  doors  or  windows, 
but  are  open  porticos,  supported  on  pillars,  like 
oriental  bazaars.  Conspicuous  among  these  are  the 
shops  of  the  gaily-coloured  Mantas,  generally  kept 
by  solemn-looking  old  Moors,  who  insist  upon  their 
customers  being  seated,  and  regale  them  with  dates 
and  sweetmeats,  while  they  exhibit  their  wares  ; 
and  those  of  the  common  earthenware,  with  their 
picturesque  forms  and  bright  green  and  red  enamel. 
In  the  engravers'  windows  strangers  will  notice 
that  some  of  the  visiting-cards  are  black,  with  the 
name  in  white — these  are  the  cards  of  the  doctors, 
and,  rather  ominously,  signify  their  calling. 

If,  in  the  evening,  leaving  the  busier  streets,  filled 
far  into  the  night  with  a  moving  crowd,  amid  which 
water-carriers  are  constantly  circulating,  with  their 
shrill  cry  of  "  Agua,  agua ! "  you  turn  into  the 
quieter  lanes  flanked  by  private  houses,  you  may 
generally  see,  not  one,  but  many  scenes,  which  look 
as  if  they  were  taken  out  of  the  play  of  Romeo  and 
Juliet,  of  young  men  wrapped  in  their  cloaks, 
clinging  to  the  iron  bars  of  one  of  the  lower  win- 
dows, making  love,  with  the  ripple  of  the  fountain 


ioo  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

in  the  neighbouring  patio  as  an  accompaniment ; 
only,  at  Seville,  there  is  nothing  surreptitious  in 
this ;  it  is  the  approved  fashion  of  love-making, 
admitted  by  parents  and  guardians,  and  to  neglect 
it  on  the  part  of  the  innamorato,  would  be  to  forfeit 
his  lady's  good  graces.  Fatal  frays  frequently 
occur  in  the  streets,  in  consequence  of  the  lover 
arriving  and  finding  his  place  occupied  by  another. 
Often  the  love-making  is  no  whispered  confidence, 
but  a  serenade  on  the  guitar.  The  verses  sung  are 
seldom  original,  and  have  a  savour  of  Moorish 
times  and  imagery.     Here  are  some  of  them  : — 

"Tus  colchones  son  jazmines 

Y  tus  sabanas  mosquetas, 
Azucenas  tu  almohada, 

Y  tu,  rosa  que  te  acuestas." 

"  Los  cipreses  de  tu  casa 
Estan  vestidos  de  Into, 

Y  es  porque  no  tienen  flores 
Que  ofrecerte  por  tribute " 

"  El  naranjo  de  tu  patio 
Cuando  te  acercas  a  el, 
Se  desprende  de  sus  flores 

Y  te  las  echa  a  los  pies." 

"  Son  tus  labios  dos  cortinas 
De  color  de  carmesi, 

Y  entre  cortina  y  cortina 
Estoy  esperando  el  si." 


SEVILLE.  101 

Looking  into  the  patios  of  Sevillian  houses  is 
like  looking  into  the  private  life  of  their  inhabit- 
ants, for  the  adornment  of  each  may  be  considered 
to  reflect  the  taste  of  its  owner ;  in  one  brilliant 
flowers,  in  another  a  marble  fountain,  or  a  beauti- 
ful statue,  or  drooping  bananas,  or  tall  palms,  or 
cypresses   clipped   into    strange  forms  of  temples 
and  pagodas.      Here   the   tcrtulias  are  given,  the 
pleasant,  unformal  receptions  which  are  the  only 
kind  of  evening  parties  in  common  use  in  Spain. 
When  properly  presented  at  any  Spanish  house, 
its  master  says  to  you  on  taking  leave,  after  your 
first  visit,  "  Henceforth  this  house  is  yours,"  and 
from  that  time  you  may  come  and  go  unrestrained, 
and  feel  sure  that  you  are  always  welcome,  though 
you  are  offered  no  refreshment,  or  only  a  cup  of 
chocolate,  which   it  is   not   usual   to   accept,   and 
though  the  master  of  the  house  himself  is  seldom 
at  home,  being   at  some  other   tertulia.      In   the 
course  of  the  evening,  one  of  the  gentlemen  pre- 
sent often  takes  a  guitar,  then  the  younger  guests 
dance,  while   their  elders  play  at  cards  or  gossip 
round  the  fountain.     If  a  sudden  silence  falls  upon 
the  company  it  is  attributed  to  the  passing  of  an 
angel,  who  imposes  upon  the  air,  which  is  wafted 
by  his  wings,  the  respect  of  silence,  without  any 


j  02  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

-definite  cause  or  comprehension.  With  Spaniards 
dinner-parties  are  almost  unknown;  though  invi- 
tations are  sometimes  given,  it  is  a  mere  matter 
of  form,  which  all  well-bred  persons  are  expected 
to  refuse,  unless  pressed  repeatedly.  Great  stress 
is  laid  upon  all  the  formalities  of  Spanish  courtesy, 
and  a  stranger  is  measured  by  his  observation  of 
them.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  a  first  visit  at 
a  Spanish  house  should  be  paid  in  complete  black, 
though  morning  dress  may  be  worn.  The  visitor's 
hat  is  then  seized,  the  utmost  consideration  is  paid 
to  it,  and  it  is  solemnly  placed  on  a  cushioned  chair 
by  itself,  and  this  attention  must  be  carefully  ob- 
served when  the  visit  is  returned.  No  attempt 
must  be  made  to  shut  the  doors,  for  to  be  alone 
with  a  lady  with  closed  doors  would  be  considered 
indecorous,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that 
Spanish  ladies  never  either  shake  hands  or  take  a 
gentleman's  arm;  but  when  the  visitor  rises,  he 
must  say,  "  Beso  los  pies  de  usted,  senora " — 
("  Lady,  I  kiss  your  feet ;")  to  which  the  lady  re- 
sponds, "  Beso  a  usted  la  mano,  caballero  " — "  Sir, 
I  kiss  your  hand.")  Religious  topics  can  seldom 
be  touched  upon  with  impunity,  for  the  mass  of 
Spaniards  consider  Protestants  little  better  than 
heathen,  a  belief  which  is  very  naturally  fostered 


SEVILLE.  103 

by  the  extremely  irreverent  behaviour  of  our 
countrymen  in  Roman  Catholic  churches,  and  by 
their  habit  of  walking  about  looking  at  the  pictures 
and  statues,  and  talking  aloud,  even  at  the  most 
solemn  moments  of  the  services.  Here,  though 
the  spirit  may  be  overlooked,  scrupulous  attention 
is  paid  to  the  letter  of  the  national  religion,  which 
is  nowhere  more  perceptible  than  in  the  universal 
impulse  with  which  all  classes  alike  fall  at  once  on 
their  knees  when  the  tinkling  of  a  little  bell 
announces  that  the  Sacrament  is  being  carried 
past.  An  old  proverb  says,  with  regard  to  genu- 
fiecture — "  Al  Rey,  en  viendole ;  a  Dios  en  oyen- 
dole."  Even  at  a  theatre,  in  the  midst  of  a  per- 
formance, if  this  bell  is  heard,  actors  and  audience 
alike  fall  upon  their  knees  till  it  ceases.  The 
Sacrament,  like  the  king,  is  spoken  of  as  "Su 
Majestad."  Thus  when,  after  prayer,  the  conse- 
crated wafer  is  placed  in  the  mouth  of  a  dying 
person,  a  priest,  after  a  few  minutes,  approaches 
with  a  napkin,  and  asks,  "  Ha  pasado  su  Majestad?" 
("  Has  his  Majesty  gone  down  ? ") 

"  Quien  no  ha  visto  Scvilla, 
No  ha  visto  mara villa," 

is  a  proverb  which  its  inhabitants  delight  in,  but 
which  may  equally  be   applied    to  many  of    the 


io4  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

other  towns  of  Spain.  To  the  seeker  after  the 
picturesque,  Seville  must  unavoidably  be  a  disap- 
pointment. The  first  view  even  of  the  famous 
cathedral  is  a  shock.  It  has  no  external  beauty, 
and  cannot  compare  with  any  of  the  great  French 
cathedrals,  or  even  with  many  of  the  English  ones. 
It  stands  on  a  high  platform,  girdled  with  pillars, 
partly  brought  from  Italica,  and  partly  relics  of 
the  mosques,  of  which  two  existed  on  this  site. 
The  last,  built  by  the  Emir  Yusuf  in  1 1 84,  was 
pulled  down  1401,  when  the  cathedral  was  begun, 
only  the  Giralda,  the  Court  of  Oranges,  and  some 
of  the  outer  walls  being  preserved.  The  Chapter, 
when  convened  for  the  building  of  the  cathedral, 
determined,  like  religious  Titans,  to  build  one  "  of 
such  size  and  beauty  that  coming  ages  should  pro- 
claim them  mad  for  having  undertaken  it."  To 
their  efforts  the  main  portion  of  the  edifice  is  due, 
paid  for  chiefly  out  of  their  own  incomes,  but  so 
many  chapels  and  dependent  offices  have  been 
added,  that  even  on  the  exterior  every  phase  of 
architecture  is  represented  —  Gothic,  Moorish, 
Graeco-Roman,  Revival,  and  Plateresque ;  while 
in  the  interior  every  century  has  erected  a  chapel 
or  retablo  in  its  own  peculiar  style. 

Far   above   houses   and  palaces,  far   above   the 


SEVILLE.  105 

huge  cathedral  itself,  soars  the  beautiful  Giralda, 
its  colour  a  pale  pink,  encrusted  all  over  with 
delicate  Moorish  ornament ;  so  high  that  its  detail 
is  quite  lost  as  you  gaze  upward  ;  so  large  that 
you  may  easily  ride  on  horseback  to  the  summit, 
up  the  broad  roadway  in  the  interior.  The  lower 
part  of  the  tower  alone  is  really  Moorish;  the 
upper  tier,  with  the  bells  and  the  surmounting 
cupolas,  was  added  by  Francesco  Ruiz  in  1568, 
who  inscribed  his  work  with  the  large  letters, 
"  Turris  fortissima  nomen  Dei."  At  the  summit  is 
a  figure  of  Faith,  inappropriately  chosen  to  turn 
with  every  wind  of  heaven,  executed  by  Bartolome 
Morel.  Nothing  can  be  more  enchanting  than  to 
spend  a  morning  at  the  top  of  this  tower,  where 
from  the  broad  embrasures,  you  overlook  the  whole 
city,  the  soft  bends  of  the  Guadalquiver,  and  the 
sunny  green  plains  melting  into  an  amethystine 
distance.  Subdued  by  the  height,  the  hum  of  the 
great  city  scarcely  reaches  you  ;  but  the  chime 
of  many  bells  ascends  into  the  clear  air,  and 
mingles  with  the  song  of  the  birds,  which  are 
ever  circling  round  the  tower  in  the  aerial  space, 
and  perching  on  the  great  lilies  which  adorn  it. 
Just  below  are  children,  always  playing  in  the 
Court   of  Oranges,   where  the  old  fountain,   used 


io6  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

in   the   Moorish    ablutions,    still    sparkles    in   the 
sunshine. 

It  is  perhaps  best  to  enter  the  mighty  cathedral 
from  this  courtyard,  where  you  find  the  Puerta 
del  Lagarto,  so  called  from  the  crocodile  which 
hangs  above  it,  which  was  sent  by  the  Sultan  as 
a  present  when  he  asked  for  the  daughter  of 
Alonzo  el  Sabio  as  .his  wife.  The  king  kept  the 
gift,  but  declined  the  young  lady,  who  thought  that 
her  lover's  first  present  was  scarcely  indicative 
of  the  tender  regard  she  expected. 

The  effect  of  the  interior  of  the  cathedral  is 
terribly  marred  by  the  huge  mass  of  the  choir  and 
the  retablo  of  the  high  altar,  which  block  up  the 
view  in  every  direction.  In  the  former  is  an 
inscription,  saying  that "  Nufro  Sanchez,  a  sculptor, 
whom  God  held  in  his  keeping,  made  this  choir 
in  1475."  Everything  is  vast,  clown  to  the  paschal- 
candle,  placed  in  a  candlestick  twenty-five  feet 
high,  and  weighing  2,500  lbs.  of  wax,  while  the 
expenditure  of  the  chapter  may  be  estimated  by 
the  fact  that  18,750  litres  of  wine  are  consumed 
annually  in  the  sacrament.  Of  the  ninety-three 
stained  windows,  many  are  old  and  splendid. 
Their  light  is  undimmed  by  curtains,  for  there  is 
an   Andalusian   proverb   that  the  ray  of  the   sun 


SEVILLE.  107 

has  no  power  to  injure  within  the  bounds  in  which 
the  voice  of  prayer  can  be  heard.  In  the  centre 
of  the  nave,  near  the  west  door,  surrounded  by- 
sculptured  caravelas,  the  primitive  ships  by  which 
the  New  World  was  discovered,  is  the  tomb  of 
Ferdinand  Columbus,  son  of  the  great  navigator 
(who  himself  rests  in  Havannah),  inscribed — 

"  A  Castilla  y  a  Leon 
Mundo  nuevo  dio  Colon." 

At  the  opposite  end  of  the  church  is  the  royal 
chapel,  where  St.  Ferdinand,  who  was  canonised 
in  1627,  "because  he  carried  faggots  with  his 
own  hands  for  the  burning  of  heretics,"  rests 
beneath  the  altar  in  a  silver  sarcophagus.  Here 
also  are  his  Queen  Beatrix,  his  son  Alonzo  el 
Sabio,  father  of  our  Queen  Eleanor,  and  Maria 
de  Padilla,  the  beautiful  morganatic  wife  of  Pedro 
the  Cruel. 

Every  chapel  is  a  museum  of  painting  and 
sculpture ;  but  amid  such  a  maze  of  beauty  three 
pictures  stand  forth  beyond  all  others.  The  first 
is  the  "  Angel  de  la  Guarda  "  of  Muriilo,  in  which 
a  glorious  seraph  with  spreading  wings  leads  a 
little  trustful  child  by  the  hand,  and  directs  him 
to   look    beyond    earth    into    the    heavenly   light. 


io8  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

The  second  is  the  S.  Antonio  of  Murillo,  in  the 
baptistery.  The  saint  is  represented  kneeling  in 
a  cell,  of  which  all  the  poor  details  are  faithfully 
given,  while  the  long  arcade  of  a  cloister  can  be 
seen  through  the  half-open  door.  Above,  in  a 
transparent  light,  which  flows  from  himself,  the 
child  Jesus  appears,  and  descends,  floating  through 
wreaths  of  angels,  drawn  down  by  the  power  of 
prayer.  The  third  is  in  the  great  sacristy ;  it  is 
the  solemn,  awful  "  Deposition  from  the  Cross," 
by  Pedro  de  Campana,  before  which,  by  his  own 
desire,  Murillo  was  buried.  In  his  lifetime  he 
would  remain  for  hours  before  this  picture.  The 
sacristan  once  asked  him  why  he  thus  stood 
gazing  there.  "  I  am  waiting,  he  said,  "  till  those 
holy  men  have  finished  their  work." 

Many  of  the  services  in  this  church  reach  a 
degree  of  splendour  which  is  only  equalled  by 
those  of  St.  Peter's  ;  and  the  two  organs,  whose 
gigantic  pipes  have  been  compared  to  the  columns 
of  Fingal's  cave,  peal  forth  magnificently.  But 
one  ceremony,  at  least,  is  far  more  fantastic  than 
anything  at  Rome,  when  at  Corpus  Christi  and 
the  octave  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  the 
choristers  dance  before  the  altar  with  castanets, 
wearing  plumed  hats  and  a  dress  of  the  time  of 


SEVILLE.  109 

Philip  III.,  red  and  white  for  Corpus  Christi,  and 
blue  and  white  for  the  Virgin. 

Sermons  are  still  occasionally  preached  in  the 
open  cloister,  from  the  stone  pulpit,  whence  S. 
Vicente  Ferrer  declaimed  the  horrors  of  the 
Inquisition,  and  most  picturesque  is  the  scene,  of 
the  vast  congregation  seated  round  the  fountain, 
and  under  the  shade  of  the  old  orange-trees.  The 
gift  of  preaching  has  by  no  means  perished  out 
of  Spain,  and  is  still  well  represented  in  Seville. 
Perhaps  the  most  celebrated  preacher  of  late  years 
in  the  Peninsula  has  been  Don  Cayetano  Fernan- 
dez, a  monk  of  the  Oratory  here,  some  of  whose 
teachings  have  been  published  under  the  title  of 
"Fabulas  Asceticas."  Their  pictorial  eloquence 
and  imagery  is  well  suited  to  the  Spanish  mind : 
see  this  fragment : — 

"  '  O  suffering  !  O  cruelty  !'  thus  cried  an  olive-tree,  which  an  active 
hand  was  despoiling  of  its  branches. 

"  '  Why,  by  the  edge  of  your  bill-hook,  do  you  thus  cause  my  ruin  ? 
Is  this  your  love  for  me,  O  gardener  ? 

"  '  Already  my  shorn  and  injured  head  has  ceased  to  offer  cither  shade 
or  beauty,  in  the  midst  of  the  pain  which  overwhelms  me.' 

"'Be  silent!  cease  your  importunate  lamentations,'  answered  the  man. 
'  That  which  is  required  of  you  is  not  beauty,  or  shade,  it  is  olives. 

"  'You  will  see,  in  April,  with  how  many  flowers  your  poverty  will 
be  clothed,  and  the  abundant  harvest  which  you  will  give  in  October. 

"  '  Until  that  time,  O  olive,  have  patience.' 

"Do  you  also,  O  Christian,  adore  the  chastisement  of  a  severe  and 


no  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

inflexible  Providence  ;  it  does  but  prepare  through  suffering  the  fruits 
of  autumn." 

Or  this : — 

" '  Penelope,  many  persons  call  me  a  Penelope ;  it  enrages  me  to 
hear  it.  Why  do  they  treat  me  so  ill  ?  ' — '  Because  your  life  is  spent  in 
spinning  and  unspinning? 

"  Do  you  not  know  that  the  Lady  Penelope  passed  her  days  in 
spinning  her  web,  and  that,  in  the  night,  she  unravelled  it  ?  This  is 
why  the  name  is  given  to  all  women  who  imitate  her — who  spin  and 
unspin. 

"  The  young  girl  who  thinks  herself  religious,  who  goes  to  mass  and 
sermon,  and  who  at  night,  at  parties,  dances  the  fango  and  gavotta,  is 
occupied,  in  my  opinion,  in  spinning  and  unspinning. 

"If  she  reads  A  Kempis  and  the  Christian  Year,  and  then  has 
Dumas  and  Victor  Hugo  in  her  hands,  it  is  (who  cannot  see  it  ?)  to 
spin  and  unspin. 

"  And  if,  a  model  daughter,  she  is  like  a  slave  in  her  obedience,  yet 
wives  rendezvous  at  the  grille  of  her  window  and  the  crevice  of  her 
door,  it  is  but  the  old  story  of  spinning  and  unspinning. 

"  She  who  humbly  kisses  the  earth,  and,  at  the  least  insult,  rises  to 
become  a  fury;  she  who  throws  herself  upon  her  enemy  and  tears  her 
hair,  has  made  terrible  progress  in  the  art  of  spinning  and  unspinning. 

"  She  who  rises  early  to  go  to  confession,  as  I  see  more  than  one  of 
you  do,  and  who,  in  the  evening,  thinks  of  nothing  but  amusing 
herself  at  the  theatre ;  what  do  you  call  that  ? — spinning  and  unspinning. 

"  And  what  when  she  welcomes  the  poor,  because  she  loves  to  do 
good;  if,  at  Tertulias,  she  backbites  her  neighbours,  it  is  so  much 
good  lost.     She  has  spun  and  unspun. 

"And  if,  at  a  religious  meeting,  she  recites  the  Short  Litany  and 
immediately  goes  to  gallivant  upon  the  Alameda  at  the  expense  of  her 
modesty,  she  runs  the  risk  of  losing  everything  in  spinning  and 
unspinning. 

"  For  to  be  an  angel  by  day  and  a  little  devil  by  night,  is  to  go  with 
four  horses  to  hell,  is  foolish  and  absurd,  is  to  sow  and  not  to  reap, 
is to  spin  and  unspin" 


SEVILLE.  1 1  r 

The  grass-grown  squares  to  the  north  of  the 
cathedral  are  surrounded  by  an  interesting  group 
of  buildings  of  various  dates.  First  comes  the 
vast  Lonja  or  Exchange,  built  1582-98,  enclosing  a 
grand  staircase  of  brown  and  red  marble,  and  con- 
taining, on  its  upper  floor,  the  precious  correspond- 
ence of  Columbus,  Pizarro,  and  Fernando  Cortes. 
Opposite  this  is  the  huge  Archiepiscopal  Palace  of 
1697. 

Between  these  two  buildings  we  approach  the 
serrated  walls  of  the  famous  Alcazar  (Al  Kasr — 
the  house  of  Caesar),  which  was  begun  in  1181,  but 
in  great  part  rebuilt  by  Pedro  the  Cruel  (1353-64), 
and  again  altered  by  Charles  V.,  who  displayed 
here  the  same  passion  for  building  one  palace 
inside  another  which  has  disfigured  the  Alhambra. 
Pedro,  however,  strictly  imitated  the  Moorish 
sovereigns  in  his  buildings,  as  he  tried  to  resemble 
them  by  administering  open-air  justice  in  the 
Patio  de  las  Banderas.  The  history  of  this  strange 
monarch  gives  the  Alcazar  its  chief  interest.  Hither 
he  fled  with  his  mother  as  a  child  from  his  father 
Alonzo  XL  and  his  mistress,  Leonora  de  Guzman. 
They  were  protected  by  the  minister,  Albuquerque, 
at  whose  house  he  met  and  loved  Maria  de 
Padilla,  a  Castillian  beauty  of  noble  birth,  whom 


ii2  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

he  secretly  married.  Albuquerque  was  furious, 
and  aided  by  the  queen-mother,  forced  him  into  a 
political  marriage  with  the  French  princess,  Blanche 
de  Bourbon.  He  met  her  at  Valladolid,  but, 
three  days  after  his  nuptials,  fled  from  the  wife  he 
disliked  to  the  one  he  loved,  who  ever  after  held 
royal  court  at  Seville,  while  Queen  Blanche,  a 
sort  of  Spanish  Mary  Stuart,  after  being  cruelly 
persecuted  and  imprisoned  for  many  years,  was 
finally  put  to  death  at  Medina-Sidonia.  In  this 
Alcazar  also  Pedro  received  the  Red  King  of 
Granada,  with  a  promise  of  safe  conduct,  and  then 
murdered  him  for  the  sake  of  his  jewels,  one  of 
which,  a  large  ruby,  which  he  gave  to  the  Black 
Prince  after  Navarete,  and  which  is  "  the  fair  ruby 
great  like  a  racket-ball,"  which  Elizabeth  showed 
to  the  ambassador  of  Mary  of  Scotland,  now 
adorns  the  royal  crown  of  England.  Of  his 
nocturnal  adventures  many  strange  stories  are 
told.  One  is  still  quaintly  commemorated  in 
Seville.  The  king,  cloaked  and  disguised,  used 
to  serenade  his  various  loves,  Seville  -  fashion, 
beneath  their  window-bars.  One  day,  on  arriving 
at  a  rendezvous,  he  found  his  place  already  oc- 
cupied, and  in  a  fit  of  jealousy  he  killed  his  rival. 
The  only  person  who  saw  the  deed  was  an  old 


SEVILLE.  113 

woman  who  was  sitting  up  baking.  In  the 
murderer  she  recognised  the  king,  but,  fearing 
one  whom  all  dreaded,  she  kept  silence.  The 
next  day  the  news  of  the  tragedy  resounded 
through  Seville.  Pedro,  imagining  that  no  eye 
had  seen  the  deed,  sat  upon  his  judgment-seat  in 
the  Banderas,  sent  for  the  alcalde  of  the  town,  and 
declared  that  his  own  head  should  answer  for  that 
of  the  murderer  unless  he  produced  him  in  three 
days.  The  terrified  alcalde  inquired  of  all  people 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  fatal  spot,  and  at 
length  found  the  old  woman,  who  revealed  the 
truth.  But  there  was  still  the  difficulty  of  accus- 
ing the  awful  king  to  his  face.  To  meet  it  he 
made  a  puppet,  which  he  painted  and  dressed 
exactly  like  the  king,  and  when  the  three  days 
expired  he  presented  himself  before  Pedro,  saying 
that  he  had  found  the  murderer  and  captured  him, 
and  when  Pedro  declared  his  incredulity  he  pro- 
duced the  image.  Then  the  king  went  through  a 
mock  form  of  trial,  and  condemned  the  image  to 
death,  and  it  was  hung  in  chains  at  the  entrance 
of  the  street  ever  since  called  Justicia,  where  the 
bust  of  Pedro  may  still  be  seen  on  the  spot  on 
which  the  murder  was  committed,  as  well  as  the 
Moorish  house,  unaltered,  whence  it  was  seen  by 

I 


si4  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

the  old  woman.     It  was  in  the  Alcazar  also  that 

Pedro  murdered  his  illegitimate  brother,  the  master 

of  Santiago,  who  had  caused  him  much  trouble  by 

a  rebellion.     Maria  de  Padilla  knew  his  coming 

fate,  but  did  not  dare  to  tell  him,  though  from  the 

beautiful  ajimez  window  over  the  gate,  she  watched 

for  his  arrival,  and  tried  to  warn  him  by  her  tears. 

Six  years  after,  this  murder  was  avenged  by  Henry 

of   Trastamare,   the    brother    of    the    slain,    who 

stabbed  Pedro  to  the  heart ;  but  Maria  de  Padilla 

was  already  dead,  and  buried  with  queens  in  the 

royal  chapel,  when  Pedro  publicly  acknowledged 

her  as  his  lawful  wife,  and  the  marriage  received 

the  sanction  of  the  Spanish  Church. 

Over  the  door  of  the  Alcazar  is  the  device  of  El 
Nodo,  in  reference  to  the  fidelity  of  Seville  to 
Alonzo  el  Sabio.  Within  all  is  still  fresh  and 
"brilliant  with  light  and  colour.  It  is  like  a  scene 
from  the  Arabian  Nights,  or  the  wonderful  creation 
of  a  kaleidoscope.  The  first  court  is  called  Las 
Donzellas,  because  there  it  is  said  that  the  Moorish 
sovereign  used  to  choose  his  wives,  fifty  rich  and 
■fifty  poor,  all  the  young  ladies  of  Seville  passing 
in  review  for  the  purpose.  The  Hall  of  Ambassa- 
dors is  perfectly  glorious  in  its  delicate  lacelike 
-ornaments    and   the  rich  colour   of    its   exquisite 


SEVILLE.  iiS 

azulejos.  It  has  a  "Naranja  ceiling"  like  the 
inside  of  an  orange.  In  one  corner  there  are  dark 
stains  upon  the  floor.  "Ah,  blood!"  said  the  old 
guide,  "I  know  that  word  of  English;  it  means 
sangre.  All  the  English  ladies  who  come  here 
look  for  that  stain,  and  then  they  say  'Blood!'" 
It  is  said  to  be  that  of  the  victim  of  Don  Pedro, 
wTho  called  out,  "  Slay  the  master  of  Santiago  ! ' 
from  the  upper  gallery,  beneath  which  his  portrait 
and  those  of  his  two  wives,  opposite  to  one  another, 
are  let  into  the  wall.  Beyond  this  are  shown  the 
sleeping  rooms  of  the  Moorish  king,  where  his  four 
hundred  wives  and  his  three  hundred  children  were 
accommodated — a  number  which  seems  less  in- 
credible when  one  learns  that  the  present  Emperor 
of  Morocco  has  had  eighty  children  born  in  one 
month  ! 

On  the  upper  floor  is  the  bedchamber  of  Don 
Pedro,  outside  which  still  hang  the  skulls  of  some 
unjust  judges  which  he  caused  to  be  placed  there, 
that  he  might  look  upon  them  whenever  he  went  in 
or  out.  Here  also  is  a  beautiful  little  chapel  built 
by  Isabella  the  Catholic,  in  which  her  grandson, 
Charles  V.,  was  married  to  Isabella  of  Portugal. 
The  arms  of  the  great  Isabella  are  seen  bound  by 
a  yoke    to    those   of    Ferdinand,   whose    jealousy 


1x6  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

added  the  motto,  "  Tanto  monta,"  "  One  is  as  good 
as  the  other." 

Behind  the  Alcazar,  approached  by  a  separate 
entrance,  are  its  lovely  gardens,  laid  out  by  Charles 
V.,  an  absolute  blaze  of  sunshine  and  beauty,  where, 
between  myrtle  hedges  and  terraces  lined  with 
brilliant  tulips  and  ranunculuses,  fountains  spring 
up  on  either  side  the  path,  and  gradually  rising 
higher  and  higher,  unite,  and  dance  together 
through  the  flowers.  Beyond  the  more  formal 
gardens  are  ancient  orange-groves  covered  with 
fruit.  The  ground  is  littered  with  their  golden 
balls.  "There  are  so  many,"  the  gardener  said, 
"it  is  not  worth  while  to  pick  them  up."  We 
gathered  as  many  as  we  liked,  and  felt  that  no  one 
knew  what  an  orange  was  who  had  not  tasted  the 
sunny  fruit  of  Seville.  One  old  tree  is  shown  as 
having  been  planted  by  Don  Pedro.  It  stands  near 
the  pleasant  summer-house  of  Charles  V.,  covered 
with  purple  azulejos.  His  bath  is  also  shown  be- 
neath the  orange  bowers,  and  that  of  Maria  de 
Padilla,  an  arched  crypt,  delightful  in  summer, 
with  a  hole  through  which  Pedro  could  look  down 
at  her.  In  another  part  of  the  garden  are  twenty- 
nine  hideous  camels,  pets  of  poor  Queen  Isabella, 
which   the    new   government    tried    to    sell,    and, 


SEVILLE.  117 

when  they  failed,  sent  here  to  do  what  work  they 
could. 

Just  behind  the  Alcazar  is  the  Plaza  S.  Tomas, 
where  Figaro,  "  the  Barber  of  Seville,"  had  his 
shop.  It  is  strange  that  no  enterprising  barber 
should  set  up  a  shop  there  now. 

Facing  the  pretty  Botanical  Garden  near  this  is 
an  enormous  and  stately  building,  which  we  at  first 
imagined  to  be  a  royal  palace,  but  afterwards  found 
to  be  the  Government  tobacco  manufactory,  where 
six  thousand  women  are  employed  daily.  As  they 
are  paid  according  to  the  amount  of  work  they  do, 
all  is  activity  and  diligence,  and  it  is  astonishing 
to  see  the  deftness  with  which  the  cigars  are  rolled 
up.  Here  the  best  types  of  Andalusian  beauty 
may  be  seen.  One  part  of  the  building  is  entirely 
devoted  to  the  Gipsies,  who  carry  on  their  separate 
dialect  and  sing  their  own  songs  here  among  them- 
selves.    Morality  is  at  a  low  ebb  : — 

"  El  hombre  e  fuego,  la  muger  estopa, 
Viene  el  diablo  y  sopla." 

Infants  produce  small  scandal  in  Seville;  they  may 
be  only  the  result  of  having  eaten  of  the  lily,  which 
is  sacred  to  the  Virgin  ! 

On  the  other  side  of  the  same  garden  rises 
another  palace,  really  inhabited  by  royalty.     It  is 


i  j  8  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

that  of  S.  Elmo,  originally  founded  as  a  naval 
school  by  the  companions  of  Columbus,  in  grati- 
tude for  having  been  saved  during  a  tempest  by  the 
mariners'  saint.  His  statue  stands  above  the  hand- 
some portal,  but  his  reputation  is  at  a  low  ebb 
now,  even  at  Naples,  for  he  is  always  said  to  appear 
after  the  storm  is  over !  Queen  Isabella  gave  the 
building  to  her  sister,  the  Duchesse  de  Montpensier, 
and  since  the  revolution  of  1848  she  and  her  hus- 
band have  made  it  their  principal  residence.  They 
are  exceedingly  popular  at  Seville,  where  they  do 
a  great  deal  of  good  by  careful  and  discriminating 
charity,  to  which  they  give  much  personal  atten- 
tion, and  in  encouragement  of  art  and  skill  of  every 
description.  S.  Elmo  is  a  charming  ideal  of  a 
happy  family  home.  Its  beautiful  marble  courts 
and  halls,  where  a  fountain  often  plays  in  the  centre 
of  each  chamber,  and  in  which  are  no  fire-places, 
present  too  cold  an  aspect  for  our  northern  notions 
of  comfort  in  winter  ;  but  in  summer  they  must  be 
delightful ;  and  the  walls  are  completely  covered 
with  family  relics  and  souvenirs,  evidently  greatly 
prized  and  cared  for.  These  include  portraits  of 
Louis  Philippe,  Marie  Amelie,  and  Madame  Ade- 
laide, frequently  repeated,  with  those  of  all  the 
brothers  and  sisters  of  the  Duke  ;  pictures  also  of 


SEVILLE.  119 

various  family  events — the  baptism  and  marriage 
of  the  Comte  de  Paris,  Louis  Philippe  and  his  five 
sons  on  horseback,  &c.  Among  a  number  of 
sketches,  evidently  framed  rather  for  the  sake  of 
the  artists  than  for  any  intrinsic  value  of  their  own, 
is  one  "  par  la  Princesse  Alexandrine  Victoire,  fille 
du  Due  de  Kent;  en  1835,"  representing  an  angel 
of  mercy  visiting  a  starving  family.  In  the 
Duchess's  room  are  many  portraits  of  her  own 
family — her  sister,  Queen  Isabella,  represented  over 
and  over  again,  the  first  time  as  a  baby  of  a  few 
months  old ;  her  mother,  and  Don  Francisco 
d'Assisi,  the  queen's  husband.  The  first  hall  is 
surrounded  by  glass-cases  filled  with  little  memo- 
rials of  family  tours — pottery  from  Etruria,  glass 
and  lamps  from  the  Catacombs,  coins,  medals,  and 
dried  plants.  In  one  of  the  rooms  are  the  Madonna 
della  Faja  of  Murillo  and  Ary  Scheffer's  beautiful 
picture  of  "Monica  and  Augustine."  In  a  patio- 
are  copies  of  the  tombs  of  two  infantas  who  have 
died.  When  the  first  child  died,  it  was  buried  in 
the  royal  chapel  of  the  cathedral,  but  when  the 
second  died,  and  the  parents  wished  to  lay  it  there 
also,  it  was  not  allowed  :  "  They  were  no  longer 
royal;  the  royal  chapel  was  not  for  them."  It  was  the 
greatest  insult  which  the  Revolution  offered  them. 


i2o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

In  front  of  S.  Elmo  rises  the  Torre  del  Oro,  a 
river  bastion  of  the  Alcazar,  once  united  to  it  by- 
walls  which  were  destroyed  to  make  way  for  the 
promenade  called  the  Christina.  It  was  used  as  a 
prison  for  the  disgraced  mistresses  of  Don  Pedro. 
Its  name  is  said  to  be  derived  from  the  gilt  tiles 
which  once  roofed  it.  These  have  now  been  taken 
away,  but  are  amply  compensated  for/as  far  as  the 
name  goes,  by  the  bright  yellow  wash  with  which 
the  walls  are  covered. 

Hence,  along  the  bank  of  the  muddy  Guadal- 
quiver,  extends  the  pleasant  promenade  of  Las 
Delicias,  crowded  in  the  afternoon  with  Sevillian 
beauties.  On  the  promenade  ladies  often  wear  low 
dresses  and  their  hair  dressed  with  flowers,  while 
even  at  a  large  evening'party  high  dress  is  the  rule. 
Every  possible  form  and  size  of  fan  is  to  be  seen — 
often  with  a  handle,  and  so  large  that  it  is  used  as 
a  parasol.  There  are  fans  for  every  season  and  for 
every  occasion.  A  friend  of  ours  asked  a  Spanish 
lady  how  many  she  had.  "  Only  thirty  dozen," 
she  said,  and  thought  it  very  few.  In  church, 
where  there  are  no  chairs  or  seats  of  any  kind, 
and  where  all  the  ladies  sit  picturesquely  upon  the 
floor,  the  flapping  of  fans  in  the  hot  weather  is 
prodigious.     Many  writers  have  dilated  upon  the 


SEVILLE.  .      121 

beautiful  feet  of  the  Spanish  ladies,  but  their 
dresses  are  worn  so  very  long,  that  it  is  difficult  to 
imagine  how  this  knowledge  can  have  been  arrived 
at.  Nor  is  this  hiding  of  feet  merely  the  result  of 
modern  fashion  ;  the  feet  of  Spanish  ladies  have 
always  been  concealed.  Mediaeval  artists  were 
always  forbidden  to  paint  the  feet  of  the  Virgin, 
and  to  mention  them  was  as  sacrilegious,  as  it  was 
disloyal  to  allude  to  the  possibility  of  the  queens 
of  Spain  having  legs. 

The  Hospital  of  the  Caridad  was  founded  by 
Don  Miguel  de  Mariana,  or  Tenorio,  a  Don  Juan 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  His  story  relates  that 
when  he  was  coming  out  from  a  midnight  orgy, 
he  encountered  a  funeral  procession,  with  mutes 
and  torches,  and  inquiring  whose  it  was,  was 
told  that  it  was  that  of  Don  Miguel  de  Mariana, 
and  in  the  corpse  they  bore  beheld  with  horror 
his  own  image.  The  bearers  said  that  they  were 
about  to  celebrate  the  funeral  mass,  and  bade  him 
accompany  them,  and  join  them  in  praying  for 
the  soul  of  Don  Miguel.  He  did  so,  and  the 
following  morning  was  found  senseless  upon  the 
floor  of  the  church.  From  that  time  his  career 
was  changed,  he  sought  only  works  of  charity  and 
mercy,  and   at   his   death   endowed   this   hospital 


i22  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

with  ten  thousand  pounds  a  year,  commanding 
that  he  should  be  buried  at  the  church-door,  so 
that  all  who  passed  by  might  trample  on  his 
grave,  which  by  his  own  direction  bears  the 
epitaph,  "  Here  lies  the  worst  man  in  the  world." 

"When  we  went  to  see  the  pictures  we  asked  for 
the  sacristan,  and  were  told,  "  Here  the  sacristan 
is  una  Madre  de  Caridad."  These  sisters  manage 
the  whole,  and  take  care  of  a  hundred  and  forty 
old  men  in  a  well-organized  hospital,  the  wards 
consisting  of  two  long  galleries,  divided  by  pillars. 

The  small  church  contains  a  wonderful  collection 
of  pictures.  The  six  Murillos  include  his  two 
famous  large  representations  of  Moses  striking 
the  rock  and  the  miracle  of  the  loaves  and  fishes. 
The  grand  and  affecting  altar-piece  of  the  Deposi- 
tion is  by  Pedro  Roldan,  with  a  background 
painted  by  Valdes  Leal.  Near  the  door,  by  the 
same  artist,  is  the  too  truthful  picture  of  "Los 
Dos  Cadaveres,"  before  which  Murillo  used  to 
hold  his  nose. 

The  picture-gallery  in  the  Convento  de  la  Merced 
is  almost  filled  with  the  works  of  Murillo.  [Eight 
of  his  finest  pictures  were  painted  for  the  glorious 
retablo  of  the  Capuchin  convent,  closed  in  1835, 
and  of  these  seven  are  now  here.      Perhaps  the 


SEVILLE.  123 

gem  of  the  whole  collection  is  the  St.  Thomas  of 
Villanueva,  Murillo's  own  favourite  picture,  which 
he  called  "Mi  Cuadro."  St.  Thomas  was  the 
favourite  preacher  of  Charles  V.,  and  was  created 
Archbishop  of  Valencia,  where  he  seemed  to  spend 
the  whole  of  his  revenues  in  charity,  yet  never 
contracted  any  debt;  so  that  his  people  used  to 
believe  that  angels  must  minister  to  his  temporal 
wants.  He  is  represented  at  his  cathedral  door, 
distributing  alms,  robed  in  black,  with  a  white 
mitre.  A  poor  cripple  kneels  at  his  feet,  and 
other  mendicants  are  grouped  around.  Near  this, 
hangs  the  grand  picture  of  the  Vision  of  St. 
Francis  of  Assisi,  to  whom  the  Saviour  visibly 
descends  from  the  crucifix.  St.  Francis  turns  to 
receive  his  Lord  with  awe  and  love  unspeakable, 
and,  as  he  turns,  the  world,  represented  by  a 
globe,  rolls  away  from  beneath  his  feet.  "La 
Virgen  de  la  Servilleta  "  is  a  lovely  small  picture, 
which  derives  its  name  from  having  been  painted 
on  a  napkin.  When  Murillo  was  working  at  the 
convent,  the  cook  entreated  to  have  something  as  a 
memorial,  and  presented  a  napkin  as  the  canvas, 
on  which  this  brilliant,  glowing  Madonna  was 
painted,  with  a  Child  which  seems  quite  to  bound 
forward  out  of  the  picture. 


i24  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

One  other  building  in  Seville  deserves  especial 
mention.  It  is  the  Casa  de  Pilatos,  the  palace  of 
the  Dukes  of  Medina  Celi,  built  by  a  Marquis  of 
Tarifa  on  his  return  from  Palestine  in  1520,  in 
professed  imitation  of  the  house  of  Pilate  at  Jeru- 
salem. To  render  this  resemblance  complete, 
nothing  has  been  omitted,  the  PraBtorium,  the  pillar 
of  the  scourging,  the  basin  in  which  the  hands 
were  washed,  the  table  where  the  thirty  pieces  of 
silver  were  counted,  while  at  the  top  of  the  stairs 
the  cock  which  crowed  is  seen,  stuffed,  in  a  niche, 
with  entire  disregard  of  the  fact  that  this  famous 
bird  lived  in  the  house,  not  of  Pilate,  but  Caiaphas. 
But  the  real  interest  of  the  house  is  derived  from 
its  splendid  azulejos,  like  those  of  the  Alcazar,  the 
gorgeous  purple  colour  of  its  tiled  staircase,  and 
its  little  garden  of  enormous  bananas. 

One  lovely  evening  we  drove  out  to  Italica, 
passing  through  the  gipsy  quarter  of  Triana, 
where  Murillo  studied  his  ragged  boys,  and  where 
pots  are  still  sold  like  those  which  Santa  Rufina 
and  Santa  Justina  were  making  on  this  spot, 
where  they  were  stoned  to  death  for  refusing  to 
bow  down  to  the  image  of  Venus.  Murillo,  when 
he  painted  his  famous  picture  of  the  sainted  tutelars, 
took  as  his  models  two  peasant-girls  of  Triana. 


SEVILLE.  125 

Here  is  a  church  with  the  strange  name  of  "  Sant' 
O."  Beyond  Triana,  a  dreadfully  bad  road  leads 
across  the  green  corn-covered  plain  to  the  foot  of  a 
low  line  of  hills,  where  are  to  be  found  the  few 
vestiges  which  mark  the  site  of  the  city  where  the 
emperors  Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  Theodosius,  were 
born.  Even  the  "  ruins  of  the  ruins  "  were  de- 
stroyed by  the  earthquake  of  1755.  Enough  of 
the  amphitheatre  alone  remains  to  show  the  former 
importance  of  the  place.  When  we  saw  it,  the 
broad  area  was  filled  with  water,  in  which  the 
ruined  seats  were  reflected  as  in  a  mirror.  We 
sate  to  sketch  the  lovely  effect  as  sunset  bathed 
the  whole  with  gold,  and  introduced  the  figure  of 
the  old  guide,  seated  on  a  rocky  fragment ;  "  thus 
he  would  live  on  after  he  was  dead,"  he  said. 
His  cottage  clings  to  the  ruins  like  a  parasite, 
shaded  by  a  huge  fig-tree,  and  in  all  the  rugged 
interstices  around  he  has  planted  roses,  migno- 
nette, and  coronella,  so  that  it  is  a  perfect  bower 
of  sweets.  The  only  other  inhabitants  of  Italica 
are  vast  bands  of  black  pigs,  which  live  in  its 
vaulted  passages. 

On  a  neighbouring  hillock  is  the  fine  old  neg- 
lected convent  of  S.  Isidoro,  gutted  by  Soult.  Its 
church  contains  a  beautiful  statue  of  the  patron 


i26  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

saint,  by  Montanes,  and  the  tombs  of  Guzman  el 
Bueno  and  his  family.     This  Guzman  received  his 
surname  from   King   Sancho   el   Bravo,   after   the 
defence    of    Tarifa    against  the   Moors.      He   had 
entrusted  his  eldest  son,  of  nine  years  old,  to  the 
care  of  the  Infante  Juan,  who  leagued  with  the 
Infidels,    and    who   brought   the   child  under   the 
walls,  threatening  to  kill  him  if  the  fortress  was 
not  surrendered.  Guzman  replied,  "  I  prefer  honour 
without   a   son,  to    a   son  with   dishonour;"    and 
the  boy  was  killed.     When,  called  by  the  cry  of 
horror  to  the  battlements,  Guzman  saw  his  child's 
dead  body,  he  turned  to  its  mother,  saying  calmly, 
"  I  feared  that  the  infidel  had  taken  the  city."     The 
daughter-in-law  of  Guzman,  Dona  Uriaca  Osorio, 
who  is  also  buried  here,  was  burnt  alive  by  Pedro 
the    Cruel,   for   refusing   to   become    his   mistress. 
Her  epitaph  also  records  the  fate  of  her  faithful 
maid  Leonora  Davalos,  who  insisted  upon  dying 
with  her  beloved  mistress.     As  we  emerged  from 
the  dark   convent   courts   we   came   upon   one   of 
those    striking    views   so   completely   Spanish   in 
character,  and  which  derive  all  their  charm  from 
its  climate.      In   the  distance,  against  faint  blue 
mountains,  the  cathedral  and  town  rose  through  a 
violet  mist,  then  came  the  rich  green  plains,  inter- 


SEVILLE.  127 

sected  by  long  fiords  of  water ;  and  on  the  rich 
dark  Siena  foreground,  groups  of  gaily-dressed 
peasants,  with  their  hundreds  of  pigs,  stood  out 
in  the  strongest  relief  of  shadow  against  the  bril- 
liant sunset- colour.  Fernando  Cortes  died  hard  by 
(December  9,  1597),  at  Castillejo  de  la  Cuesta  (now 
a  country  house  of  the  Montpensiers),  where  Bernal 
Diaz  says  that  he  sought  retirement  for  the  purpose 
of  making  his  will  and  preparing  his  soul  for 
death ;  "  and  when  he  had  settled  his  worldly 
affairs,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  pleased  to  take 
him  from  this  troublesome  world."  He  was  first 
buried  at  S.  Isidoro,  but  his  remains  were  after- 
wards removed  to  Tezcuco,  in  New  Spain. 

Our  last  visit  at  Seville  was  to  the  site  of  the 
Quemadero,  on  the  plain  called  Prado  San  Sebas- 
tian, outside  the  walls ;  where,  and  in  the  Plaza 
San  Francisco,  beneath  the  picturesque  old  Casa 
del  Ayuntamiento,  the  autos  da  fe  took  place.  The 
bricks  of  the  long-used  scaffold,  where  so  many 
suffered,  can  only  just  be  seen  peeping  through  the 
grass  beneath  which  time  has  so  long  been  burying 
them.  But  here,  that  which  Bossuet  describes  as 
"  the  holy  severity  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  which 
will  not  tolerate  error,"  burnt  34,601  persons  alive, 
and   18,043   persons   in   effigy,  between   1481   and 


i28  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

1700,  besides  imprisoning  and  sending  to  the 
galleys  many  thousands  of  others.  In  all  cases  the 
property  of  the  sufferers  was  confiscated  and  their 
families  left  destitute.  It  can  scarcely  be  wondered 
at  that  Seville  is  now  foremost  among  Spanish 
cities  in  her  search  after  a  reformed  faith.  Many 
Protestant  schools  are  opened,  in  which  about  four 
hundred  children  are  being  educated ;  and  though 
they  are  preached  against  in  the  cathedral,  and 
denounced  from  the  pulpit  of  St.  Vincent  Ferrer, 
their  teachers  are  gladly  welcomed  and  universally 
treated  with  respect  by  the  people.  The  church  of 
S.  Basilio  has  been  bought  from  the  Roman 
Catholics,  and  services  are  performed  and  sermons 
preached  there  in  Spanish.  When  the  building 
was  being  repaired  by  its  new  possessors,  its  roof 
was  found  to  be  full  of  the  bones  of  children.  Even 
at  the  English  services  Spaniards  of  the  lower 
classes  often  appear,  and  behave  reverently. 


VIII. 
CADIZ  AND  GIBRALTAR. 

King's  Arms  Hotel,  Gibraltar,  March  u. 

(~\&    February  22nd  we  left    Seville  for  Cadiz. 

^~~^  For  more  than  an  hour  before  reaching  it,  the 
town  rises  over  the  flats,  but  the  railway  has  to 
make  a  long  circuit,  following  all  the  windings 
of  the  bay.  Here  are  productive  saltpans,  called 
by  religious  titles,  such  as  "  II  dulce  nombre 
de  Jesus,"  which  seems  profane ;  yet,  as  Ford 
observes,  is  perhaps  not  more  so  than  the  familiar 
use  in  Oxford  of  such  names  of  colleges  as  Corpus, 
Jesus,  Trinity,  and  Christ  Church.  The  distant  effect 
of  the  white  town  rising  above  the  deep  blue  waters 
is  most  brilliant  and  dazzling,  and  within  its  narrow 
streets  it  is  impossible  to  get  away  from  the  glare 
of  the  whitewash,  of  which  every  building  receives 
a  fresh  coating  annually.  The  high  sea-wall  is  the 
only  pleasant  walk,  with  its  little  gardens  full  of 

K 


i3o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

"bright  scarlet  geraniums  and  hedged  with  helio- 
trope and  ixias.  Here  we  may  spend  a  hot  after- 
noon very  agreeably,  and  study  Spanish  life  and 
manners,  or  listen  to  the  numerous  nursery  maids 
who  are  singing  to  their  children  such  verses  as  : — 

"  A  la  nana  le  cantaba 
La  Virgen  a  sus  amores  ! 
Duke  hijo  de  mi  vida, 
Perdona  a  los  peccadores 

A  la  puerta  del  cielo 
Venden  zapatos 
Para  los  angelitos 
Que  estan  descalzos. 

Todo  lo  chiquitito 
Me  hace  a  mi  gracia 
Hasta  los  pucheritos 
De  media  cuarta. 

El  nino  de  Maria 
No  tiene  cuna, 
Su  padre  es  carpintero 
Y  le  hard  una. 

Nino  chiquirrito 
De  pecho  y  cuna 
Donde  estara  tu  madre 
Que  no  te  arrulla." 

In  one  of  the  convents  of  Cadiz  is  the  picture  of 
the  marriage  of  St.  Catherine,  in  painting  which 
Murillo   fell   from   his  scaffold,   and   received   the 


CADIZ  AND   GIBRALTAR.  131 

injuries  of  which  he  died.  But  there  is  literally 
nothing  else  to  see  in  Cadiz,  and  as  the  land  road, 
which  we  had  intended  taking,  was  rendered  quite 
impracticable  by  the  recent  rains,  we  were  glad  to 
find  a  steamer  leaving  next  morning  for  Algeciras, 
opposite  Gibraltar. 

It  was  a  lovely  day,  and  a  calm  sea,  which  was  a 
great  subject  of  rejoicing,  for  even  as  it  was  the 
rickety  Spanish  vessel  rolled  disagreeably.  Owing 
to  the  miserable  slowness  of  everything,  we  were 
eleven  hours  on  board.  There  was  little  interest 
till  we  reached  the  yellow  headland  of  Trafalgar. 
Then  the  rugged  outlines  of  the  African  coast  rose 
before  us,  and  we  entered  the  straits,  between 
Tarifa  sleeping  amid  its  orange  groves  on  the 
Spanish  coast,  and  the  fine  African  peak  above 
Ceuta.  Soon,  on  the  left,  the  great  rock  of 
Gibraltar  rose  from  the  sea  like  an  island,  though 
not  the  most  precipitous  side,  which  turns  inwards 
towards  the  Mediterranean.  But  it  was  already 
gun-fire,  and  too  late  to  join  another  steamer  and 
land  at  the  town,  so  we  waited  for  a  shoal  of  small 
boats  which  put  out  from  Algeciras,  and  surrounded 
our  steamer  to  carry  us  on  shore. 

Here  we  found  in  the  Fonda  Inglesa  (kept  by  an 
English  landlady;,  one  of  the  most  primitive  but 


1 32  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

charming  little  hotels  we  ever  entered.  The  view 
from  our  rooms  alone  decided  us  to  stay  there 
some  days.  Hence,  framed  by  the  balcony, 
Gibraltar  rose  before  us  in  all  the  glory  of  its 
rugged  sharp-edged  cliffs,  grey  in  the  morning, 
pink  in  the  evening  light,  with  the  town  at  its  foot, 
whence,  at  night,  thousands  of  lights  were  reflected 
in  the  still  water.  In  the  foreground  were  groups 
of  fishing-boats  at  anchor,  and,  here  and  there, 
a  lateen  sail  flitted,  like  a  white  albatross,  across 
the  bay.  On  the  little  pier  beneath  us  was  endless 
life  and  movement,  knots  of  fishermen,  in  their 
blue  shirts  and  scarlet  caps  and  sashes,  mingling 
with  solemn-looking  Moors,  in  turbans,  yellow 
slippers,  and  flowing  burnouses,  who  were  watch- 
ing the  arrival  or  embarkation  of  their  wares  ;  and 
an  endless  variety  of  travellers  from  all  parts 
of  Europe,  waiting  for  different  steamers,  or  come 
over  to  see  the  place.  Here  an  invalid  might  stay, 
imbibing  health  from  the  fine  air  and  sunshine, 
and  never  be  weary  of  the  ever-changing  diorama. 
In  every  direction  delightful  walks  wind  along  the 
cliffs  through  groves  of  aloes  and  prickly-pear,  or 
descend  into  little  sandy  coves  full  of  beautiful 
shells.  Behind  the  town,  a  fine  old  aqueduct 
strides  across  the  valley,  and  beyond  it  the  wild 


CADIZ  AND   GIBRALTAR.  133 

moors  begin  at  once  sweeping  backwards  to  a 
rugged  chain  of  mountains.  Into  the  gorges  of 
these  mountains  we  rode  one  day,  and  most 
delightful  they  are,  clothed  in  parts  with  magnifi- 
cent old  cork-trees,  while  in  the  depths  of  a  ravine, 
overhung  with  oleander  and  rhododendron,  is  a 
beautiful  waterfall. 

It  was  with  real  regret  that  we  left  Algeciras 
and  made  the  short  voyage  across  the  bay  to 
Gibraltar,  where  we  instantly  found  ourselves  in  a 
place  as  unlike  Spain  as  it  is  possible  to  imagine. 
Upon  the  wharf  you  are  assailed  by  a  clamour  of 
English-speaking  porters  and  boatmen.  Passing 
the  gates,  you  come  upon  a  barrack-yard  swarming 
with  tall  British  soldiers,  looking  wonderfully 
bright  and  handsome,  after  the  insignificant  figures 
and  soiled,  shabby  uniforms  of  the  Spanish  army. 
Hence  the  Waterport  Street  opens,  the  principal 
thoroughfare  of  the  town,  though,  from  its  insigni- 
ficant shops,  with  English  names,  and  its  low 
public-houses,  you  have  to  look  up  at  the  strip  of 
bright  blue  sky  above,  to  be  reminded  that  you  are 
not  in  an  English  seaport. 

Just  outside  the  principal  town,  between  it  and 
the  suburb  of  Europa,  is  the  truly  beautiful 
Alameda,    an    immense    artificial    garden,   where 


i3+  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

endless  gravel  paths  wind  through  labyrinths  of 
geranium  and  coronella  and  banks  of  flame- 
coloured  ixia,  which  are  all  in  their  full  blaze  of 
beauty  under  the  March  sun,  though  the  heat 
causes  them  to  wither  and  droop  before  May. 
During  our  stay  at  Gibraltar,  it  has  never  ceased  to 
surprise  us  that  this  Alameda,  the  shadiest  and 
pleasantest  place  open  to  the  public  upon  the 
Rock,  should  be  almost  deserted ;  but  so  it  is. 
Even  when  the  band  playing  affords  an  additional 
attraction,  there  are  not  a  dozen  persons  to  listen 
to  it ;  whereas  at  Rome  on  such  occasions,  the 
Pincio,  exceedingly  inferior  as  a  public  garden, 
would  be  crowded  to  suffocation,  and  always 
presents  a  lively  and  animated  scene. 

One  succession  of  gardens  occupies  the  western 
base  of  the  Rock,  and  most  luxuriant  and  gigantic 
are  the  flowers  that  bloom  in  them.  Castor-oil 
plants,  daturas,  and  daphnes,  here  attain  the 
dignity  of  timber,  while  geraniums  and  heliotropes 
many  years  old,  are  so  large  as  to  destroy  all  the 
sense  of  floral  proportions  which  has  hitherto 
existed  in  your  mind.  It  is  a  curious  character- 
istic, and  typical  of  Gibraltar,  that  the  mouth  of  a 
cannon  is  frequently  found  protruding  from  a 
thicket  of  flowers. 


CADIZ  AND   GIBRALTAR.  135 

The  eastern  side  of  the  Rock,  in  great  part 
a  perpendicular  precipice,  is  elsewhere  left  unculti- 
vated, and  is  wild  and  striking-  in  the  highest 
degree.  Here,  beyond  the  quaint  Jewish  cemetery 
of  closely  set  gravestones,  bearing  Hebrew  inscrip- 
tions on  the  open  hillside,  a  rugged  path  winds 
through  rocks  and  tangled  masses  of  flowers  and 
palmito,  to  a  curious  stalactitic  cavern  called 
Martin's  Cave.  On  this  side  of  the  cliff  a  remnant 
of  the  famous  "apes  of  Tarshish"  is  suffered  to 
remain  wild  and  unmolested,  though  their  numbers,, 
always  very  small,  have  lately  been  reduced  by  the 
ignorant  folly  of  a  young  officer,  who  shot  one  and 
wounded  nine  others,  for  which  he  has  been  very 
properly  impounded. 

On  the  northern  side  of  the  Rock  are  the  famous 
galleries,  tunnelled  in  the  face  of  the  precipice, 
with  cannon  pointing  towards  Spain  from  their 
embrasures.  Through  these,  or,  better,  by  delight- 
ful paths,  fringed  with  palmitos  and  asphodel,  you 
may  reach  El  Hacho,  the  signal  station,  whence 
the  view  is  truly  magnificent  over  the  sea,  and  the 
mountain  chains  of  the  two  continents,  and  down, 
into  the  blue  abysses  beneath  the  tremendous 
precipice  upon  which  it  is  placed. 

The  greatest  drawback  to  the  charms  of  Gibraltar 


1 36  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

has  seemed  to  us  to  be  the  difficulty  of  leaving  it. 
It  is  a  beautiful  prison.     We  came  fully  intending 
to  ride  over  the  mountain  passes  by  Ronda,  but  on 
arriving  we  heard  that  the  whole  of  that  district 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  brigands  under  the  famous 
chief    Don    Diego,    and    the    Governor  positively 
refused  to  permit  us  to  go  that  way.     Our  lamenta- 
tions at  this  have  since  been  cut  short  by  the  news 
of  a  double  murder  at  the  hands  of  the  brigands  on 
the  way  we  wished  to  have  taken,  and  at  the  very 
time  we  should  have  taken  it.     So  we  must  go  to 
Malaga  by  sea,  and  wait  for  the  happy  combina- 
tion of  a  good  steamer  and  calm  weather  falling  on 
the  same  day. 


IX. 
GRANADA. 

Hotel  de  los  Siete  Suelos,  April  4. 

T  ATE  in  the  afternoon  of  the  15th  of  March  we 
— '  embarked  on  board  the  Lisbon  in  the  dockyard 
of  Gibraltar.  It  had  been  a  lovely  day,  and  the 
grand  Rock  had  looked  its  best,  its  every  cleft  filled 
with  flowers  and  foliage.  The  sun  set  before  we 
had  rounded  Europa  Point,  and  the  precipitous  cliffs 
of  the  eastern  bay  rose  utterly  black  against  the 
yellow  sky.  Then  all  was  night,  and  in  the  warm 
starlight,  the  different  groups  of  passengers  made 
themselves  comfortable  on  deck  with  cushions  and 
mattresses. 

At  two  A.M.  a  long  line  of  lamps  sparkling 
through  the  darkness  showed  that  we  had  reached 
Malaga ;  but  we  had  still  many  hours  to  wait 
before  the  health  officers  would  visit  us,  without 
which  we  were  not  allowed  to  land,  and  daylight 


138  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

gradually  broke,  and  gilded  first  the  mountain  tops, 
and  then  the  massive  cathedral,  the  shipping,  and 
the  town.  At  seven  our  examiners  came,  and, 
standing  in  a  boat  beneath  the  steamer,  demanded 
that  all  the  crew  should  come  up  to  the  side  of  the 
vessel.  "Show  them  all  your  tongues,"  said  the 
captain,  but  apparently  the  inspection  was  -not 
satisfactory,  for  they  came  on  board  afterwards, 
and  examined  each  separately.  Then  the  pas- 
sengers were  all  called  out,  and  great  difficulty 
made  because  their  number  was  one  less  than  that 
entered  in  the  books.  "  Being  cannibals,  we  have 
eaten  him  since  we  left  Gibraltar,"  explained  the 
captain  jocosely.  At  last  we  were  allowed  to 
bestow  ourselves  and  our  packages  in  the  fleet  of 
little  boats  whose  owners  were  fighting  to  take  us 
to  the  pier ;  a  tiresome  custom-house  was  ready  to 
prove  the  Spanish  rule  that  though  custom-house 
duties  need  not  be  paid,  custom-house  officers 
must — and  the  proverb,  "  No  hay  tan  ciegos  que 
los  que  no  quieren  ver."  Then  the  watermen, 
having  done  their  best  to  extort  twenty  francs  for 
doing  almost  nothing,  and  having,  after  a  battle, 
been  beaten  down  to  ten,  at  last  left  us  in  peace  at 
our  hotel. 

Malaga  is  the  dearest  place  in  Spain,  being  the 


GRANADA.  139 

most  Anglicised.  The  prices  there  are  nearly  the 
double  of  those  in  the  northern  towns.  We  won- 
dered that  it  should  be  so  much  resorted  to  by 
invalids,  as,  when  we  were  there,  a  fierce  east  wind 
was  blowing,  and  the  whole  air  was  clouded  with 
the  thin  white  dust,  which  is  almost  a  permanent 
misery,  and  prevents  any  enjoyment  from  walking. 
There  is  very  little  to  see.  The  long  Alameda  is  a 
dusty  walk  between  insignificant  trees,  with  a  very 
pretty  fountain  at  the  end,  which  was  brought  by 
Charles  V.  from  Genoa,  and  intended  for  his 
•  palace  at  Granada.  The  Grseco-Roman  cathedral 
was  built  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  is  little 
worth  visiting.  It  occupies  the  site  of  a  mosque, 
and  stands  at  the  entrance  of  the  moorish  quarter 
of  the  town,  which  straggles  up  one  side  of  a 
cactus-clothed  hill,  crowned  by  the  Arabic  castle  of 
Gibralfaro.  The  surrounding  country  consists  of 
ploughed  lands  over  which  the  dust-storms  sweep 
uninterruptedly,  or  yellow  hills  covered  with  the 
productive  vines  of  Malaga. 

The  journey  from  Malaga  to  Granada  is  a 
difficult  one.  The  only  train  leaves  at  half-past 
three  in  the  afternoon,  and  takes  passengers  to  Las 
Salinas.  The  railway  runs  through  a  gorge  of 
most  Salvator  Rosa-like  scenery,  where  the  Xenil 


1 4o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

tosses  wildly  through  a  great  rift  in  the  rocky 
precipices,  sometimes  lost  altogether  beneath  the 
cliffs,  and  then  emerging  more  boisterous  than 
ever.  At  Las  Salinas  two  diligences  were  waiting 
for  us,  not  nearly  enough  for  the  great  number  of 
passengers,  so  the  crowding  was  dreadful.  The  road 
from  hence  was  a  mere  track,  broken  in  some  places 
into  deep  quagmires  and  pools  of  water,  mended 
in  others  by  great  lumps  of  rock  thrown  loosely 
down  anyhow.  Through  and  over  these  we  floun- 
dered, thumped,  jolted,  and  crashed,  in  a  way 
which  was  absolutely  frightful,  especially  when  a 
precipice  at  the  side,  dimly  seen  through  the  night, 
added  to  the  dangers.  Every  one  was  occupied  in 
holding  on  as  they  best  could.  No  one  had  time 
to  think  of  the  robbers,  though  many  were  known 
to  be  about,  and  we  had  an  armed  escort  hanging 
on  behind.  As  we  reached  Loja  the  road  improved, 
and  our  sixteen  mules  swung  us  skilfully  round  the 
sharp  corners  of  its  narrow  streets.  In  the  valley 
below  the  town,  the  railway  began  again,  and  in 
two  hours  more,  at  half-past  two  A.M.,  we  were  at 
Granada,  and  climbing,  in  an  omnibus,  the  ascent 
to  the  Hotel  Siete  Suelos,  which  is  within  the 
hallowed  precincts  of  the  Alhambra. 

There    is    nothing    more    interesting    than   the 


GRANADA.  141 

awakening  in  a  place  new,  and  yet  so  old,  so  well 
known  from  stories  and  pictures  of  earliest  child- 
hood, as  Granada.     And  it  was  like  an  awakening 
in  Paradise.     Far  below  our  windows  a  deep  green 
gorge  descends  towards  the  town  and  vega,  filled 
with    tall    elm-trees    and    carpeted    with   violets. 
Broad,  well-kept  paths  run  in  different  directions 
through   this   beautiful  wood,  skirted   by  rushing 
brooks  of  crystal  water.     In  the  different  openings 
of  the  green  glades  are  lofty  stone  basins,  in  which 
fountains    plash   and    play,    not    sending   forth   a 
narrow  jet  such  as  one's  recollection  of  an  English 
fountain  conveys,  but  bursting  forth  in  a  foaming 
mass  of  abundant  waters.     Here,  nightingales  sing 
incessantly  in  their  season,  and  the  whole  wood  is 
always  alive  with  a  chorus  of  singing  birds.     The 
trees,  the  only  elms  in  Spain,  except  those  in  the 
garden  of  Aranjuez,  indeed  almost  the  only  trees 
of  any  size  which  are  not  fruit  trees,  were  planted 
by  the   Duke   of  Wellington.      They   have   never 
been  thinned,  and  though  no  individual  tree  can 
ever    be    a  fine   one,    a   change  can    scarcely  be 
wished  for,  there  is  such  a  picturesqueness  in  the 
immensely  tall,  narrow,  interlacing  stems,  in  the 
arching  foliage  which  bends  and  meets  in   mid-air 
over  the  roadways,  and  in  the  swinging  garlands 


1 42  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

of  ivy  which  drop  here  and  there  from  the  high 
branches.  On  the  right,  the  red  towers  of  the 
Alhambra  guard  the  heights  ;  to  the  left,  glimpses 
of  the  snowy  Sierra-Nevada  may  be  caught  here 
and  there  through  the  trees.  Almost  adjoining  the 
house  is  the  famous  tower  of  the  Siete  Suelos,  from 
whose  postern  gate  Boabdil,  the  last  of  the 
Moorish  kings,  passed  out  with  his  family  after  the 
conquest  of  Granada.  Altogether  a  more  enchant- 
ing dwelling-place  can  scarcely  be  imagined  than 
the  Hotel  of  Los  Siete  Suelos. 

It  is  scarcely  five  minutes'  walk  through  the 
wood  to  the  entrance  of  the  Alhambra,  the  grand 
"  Gate  of  Justice,"  beneath  which  the  Moorish 
kings  dispensed  judgment.  Over  the  first  arch  is 
seen  a  hand  with  the  fingers  uplifted  as  in  a 
Neapolitan  talisman.  Over  the  second  arch  is  a 
key.  Only  when  the  hand  grasped  the  key,  said 
the  Moors,  could  the  Alhambra  be  taken.  Above 
the  gate  runs  the  inscription  placed  there  by  its 
founder  Yusuf,  in  1348,  "May  the  Almighty  make 
this  a  bulwark  of  protection,  and  inscribe  its 
erection  amongst  the  imperishable  actions  of  the 
just."  No  artist  will  fail  to  sketch  this  gate — either 
its  glowing  orange  walls,  seen  through  the  deep 
shadows  of  the  wood,  or  combined  with  the  pictu- 


<.  \  I E   OF   JUSTICE,    ALU  WIHKA. 


I".    Mi 


GRANADA. 


M3 


resque  Berruguete  fountain,  of  the  time  of  Charles 
V.,  which  stands  beneath  its  terrace  wall. 

Hence,  by  a  winding  vaulted  passage,  we  arrive 
at  the  upper  platform  of  the  Alhambra.  That  part 
which  we  reach  first,  gay  with  fountains  and 
myrtle-fringed  gardens,  is  called  the  Plaza  de  los 
Algibes — the  place  of  Moorish  cisterns.  On  its  left 
are  the  rugged  range  of  yellow  towers  which 
enclose  the  Alcazaba-Kassabah,  or  citadel ;  on  the 
right  is  the  grand  palace  of  Charles  V.,  built  of 
bright  yellow  stone,  reminding  one  in  its  colour 
of  the  Coliseum,  and  in  its  forms  of  the  Otto 
Heinrichs  Bau  at  Heidelberg.  Its  windows,  which 
have  never  been  glazed,  frame  broad  strips  of  deep 
blue  sky,  but  its  car}ratides  and  bas-reliefs  are  still 
fresh  as  if  from  the  workman's  chisel.  The  arrange- 
ment is  curious,  as  the  interior  is  an  immense 
circular  court-yard,  though  the  exterior  is  quad- 
rangular. Beyond  the  palace  are  more  trees  and 
gardens,  a  church,  a  convent,  a  mosque,  a  little 
town,  all  within  the  castellated  precincts  of  the  hill, 
which  is  pointed  at  both  ends,  and  girdled  with 
towers. 

From  the  terraced  wall  you  look  down  upon 
the  great  town,  which  is  still  one  of  the  largest 
in  Spain,  though  its  population,  400,000  under  the 


i44  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

Moors,  is  now  reduced  to  75,000.  Above  the  vast 
expanse  of  whitewashed  houses,  the  churches, 
towers,  and  cypresses,  rises  conspicuously  the 
Graeco-Roman  cathedral,  where  the  first  Christian 
sovereigns  of  Granada  rest  side  by  side.  The 
nearest  hill  is  covered  all  over  with  prickly  pear, 
intersected  by  narrow  paths  leading  to  caves,  in 
which  a  great  part  of  the  gipsy  population  burrow 
and  live.  Between  this  and  the  platform  on  which 
we  stand,  rushes  the  rapid  gold-producing  Darro, 
emerging  from  a  rocky  gorge  in  the  mountains, 
and,  as  it  enters  the  town,  becoming  lined  with 
the  quaintest  old  houses,  leaning,  bracketed,  over 
its  stream,  and  looking  as  if  they  would  topple 
over  every  moment.  Each  wall  is  full  of  balconies, 
upon  which  bright-coloured  clothes  are  hanging 
out  to  dry  in  the  sun,  while  the  parapets  are  lined 
with  large  red  vases  filled  with  hyacinths  and 
yellow  gladiolus,  and  pinks  and  nasturtiums  stream 
dpwnwards  luxuriantly  from  the  boxes  beneath. 
Here  a  high  gothic  bridge,  there  a  broken  Moorish 
arch,  spans  the  narrow  river.  As  your  eye  follows 
the  Darro  to  its  junction  with  the  Xenil,  the 
houses  become  thinner,  till  at  length  they  are  lost 
altogether  in  the  bright  green  of  the  vega,  shut  in 
on  two  sides  by  chains  of  beautiful  mountains,  and 


GRANADA.  145 

backed  by  the  Sierra-Nevada,  one  sheet  of  un- 
tarnished snow,  which,  under  this  deep  blue  sky, 
is  almost  too  dazzling  to  look  upon. 

If  we  turn  away  from  the  view  to  the  hill-garden 
itself,  what  a  scene  of  life  and  sunshine  it  is ! 
how  fresh  its  rich  foliage  and  flowers,  how  abun- 
dant its  fountains !  It  is  as  if  all  the  natural 
beauties  of  Spain  were  concentrated  on  this  one 
spot,  which  seems  to  belong  to  a  different  country 
altogether  to  the  desolated  treeless  plains  of  the 
rest  of  the  peninsula.  What  picturesque  figures 
are  constantly  passing  backwards  and  forwards  ! — 
copper-coloured  gipsies  with  blue-black  hair,  the 
men  in  embroidered  jackets  with  hanging  silver 
buttons,  scarlet  fajas  round  their  waists,  and  broad- 
brimmed  sombreros :  the  women  in  bright  pink 
and  yellow  petticoats,  and  with  large  bunches  of 
flowers,  generally  yellow  by  way  of  strongest  con- 
trast, pinned  behind  their  black  locks.  Each  scene 
at  the  doors  of  the  encircling  towers,  which  are 
mostly  let  out  to  poor  families,  is  a  study.  What 
combinations  of  colour!  what  picturesqueness  in 
the  natural  grouping  of  the  figures,  with  their  pigs, 
their  goats,  and  their  dogs,  the  latter  generally 
called  Melampo,  Cubilon,  or  Lubina,  because  such 
are   said   to  have   been   the   names   of  the   three 

L 


146  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

favoured  animals  who  accompanied  the  shepherds 
to  look  upon  the  newly-born  Infant  at  Bethlehem, 
and  dogs  called  by  those  names  never  go  mad. 

Much  of  the  Moorish  palace  was  destroyed  by 
Charles  V.  when  he  erected  his  own  building. 
That  which  remains  occupies  so  very  small  a 
portion  of  the  Alhambra  precincts,  and  is  so  con- 
cealed behind  the  later  edifice,  that  at  first  a 
stranger  will  wonder  where  it  can  be,  and  if  he 
goes  round  to  the  back,  and  is  told  that  some  low 
pointed  shed-like  roofs  enclose  the  most  beautiful 
building  in  the  world,  will  think  it  quite  impossible. 
This  excessively  plain  exterior  was  adopted  to 
avert  the  evil  eye,  which  scowls  upon  that  which  is 
too  prosperous.  It  is  by  a  narrow  alley,  ending  in 
a  low  door-way  behind  the  palace  of  Charles,  that 
you  enter  the  building.  But,  as  you  pass  that 
door-way,  you  are  translated  out  of  fact-land  into 
fairy-land.  You  never  think  again  about  size, 
all  the  proportions  are  so  perfect.  Court  succeeds 
court,  and  hall  follows  hall  with  a  bewildering 
loveliness  of  sculpture  quite  indescribable,  and 
which,  though  endlessly  varied,  is  perfectly  harmo- 
nious. A  petrified  veil  of  the  most  delicate  lace 
covers  every  wall,  formed  partly  by  flowers  and 
geometrical  patterns,  but  in  the  main  intention  of 


GRANADA.  147 

its  fretwork,  as  strictly  religious  as  the  sculpture 
of  a  gothic  cathedral,  and  filled  with  sentences 
and  maxims  from  the  Koran,  which  it  is  intended 
to  bring  constantly  before  the  eyes  and  heart  of 
the  beholder.  Over  and  over  again  also  occurs  the 
motto  "  Wa  la  glaliba — ilia — allah,"  "  There  is  no 
conqueror  but  God" —  the  words  which  Ibn-1- 
Ahmar  answered  to  his  subjects,  when  they  came 
forth  to  meet  him  as  he  returned  victorious  to 
Granada,  greeting  him  at  the  same  time  as 
"  Galib  " — the  conqueror.  The  delicate  creamy 
pink  of  the  stucco  adds  to  the  magical  effect  of 
the  whole.  The  only  inmates  are  the  martlets, 
which  build  under  the  overhanging  eaves,  and  are 
for  ever  flying  in  and  out  of  their  nests, — the  only 
birds  sacred  and  unmolested  in  Spain,  because 
they  are  believed  to  have  plucked  off  the  thorns 
from  the  crown  of  our  Saviour  as  He  hung  upon 
the  cross.  In  a  few  places  fragments  of  colour 
remain,  the  primary  colours,  blue,  red,  and  yellow, 
having  been  the  only  ones  used  by  the  Moors  in 
their  upper  decorations,  though  the  secondary 
colours,  purple,  green, '  and  orange,  are  employed 
in  the  Azulejo  dados,  which  are  nearer  the  eye* 
In  the  Hall  of  Justice,  where  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  heard  high  mass  on  taking  possession  of 


148  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

the  Alhambra,  are  some  curious  paintings  upon 
leather,  nailed  to  the  wooden  dome.  They  re- 
present bearded  Moors,  sitting  cross-legged  upon 
cushions,  with  their  heads  covered,  and  two-edged 
swords  in  their  hands  ;  and,  as  the  Moors  were 
prohibited  from  making  the  exact  representation  of 
any  living  creature,  are  supposed  to  have  been  the 
work  of  a  Christian  captive  ;  others  imagine  that 
they  were  painted  after  the  conquest,  and  that 
they  only  date  from  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century. 

The  whole  Alhambra  teems  with  reminiscences 
of  the  romantic  history  of  the  two  last  Moorish 
sovereigns.  King  Abu-1-hasan  took  prisoner  the 
Christian  maiden  Isabel  de  Solis,  daughter  of  the 
governor  of  Martos,  and,  falling  passionately  in 
love  with  her,  made  her  his  wife  under  the  Moorish 
title  of  Zoraya,  or  "the  morning  star."  The 
former  sultana,  Ayeshah,  imprisoned  in  the  tower 
of  Comares  (so  called  from  its  Moorish  architect), 
fearing  for  the  safety  of  her  son  Abu-Abdillah,  or 
Boabdil,  under  the  hands  of  her  rival,  let  him 
down,  with  the  help  of  her  ladies,  from  a  window 
overhanging  the  Darro  ravine,  and  he  escaped  by 
night.  Thenceforward  the  palace  was  filled  with 
dissensions,  the  powerful  clan  of  the  Abencerrages, 


GRANADA.  149 

who  were  the  mainstay  of  the  kingdom,  espousing 
the  cause  of  Zoraya,  the  Zegris  that  of  Ayeshah. 
In  1482  Boabdil  dethroned  his  father,  and  became 
known  as  "  El  Rev  Chico."  Ayeshah  at  once 
urged  upon  him  the  importance  of  conciliating  so 
powerful  a  family  as  the  Abencerrages,  but  his 
spirit  of  vengeance  was  too  strong,  and,  inviting 
the  chiefs  of  the  family  to  a  banquet  as  if  to  make 
peace,  he  had  them  beheaded  one  after  another  in 
the  hall  which  is  called  by  their  name,  and  where 
their  blood-stains  are  still  shown  on  the  marble 
pavement.  Thirty-three  warriors  fell  thus,  and 
their  ghosts  may  still  be  heard  nightly  moaning  in 
the  hall  where  they  died.  The  rest  of  the  family 
were  warned  by  a  page,  and  forthwith  joined  the 
Christian  army,  under  Ferdinand  and  Isabella, 
which  was  already  encamped  against  Granada. 
In  the  Hall  of  the  Ambassadors  Ayeshah  girt  her 
son  with  a  sacred  sword,  with  which  he  was  to 
repel  the  invaders.  But  the  young  sultana  Morayna 
wept  over  his  departure,  when  she  heard  that  he 
had  struck  his  lance  against  the  gateway  and 
broken  it — an  omen  which  gave  him  the  name  of 
"  El  Zogoybi,"  "  the  unlucky  one." 

The  city  fell  January    2,    1492,    when   Boabdil, 
having  presented  the  keys  and  done  homage  to 


iSo  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

the  Catholic  sovereigns,  departed  for  ever  by  the 
gate  of  the  Siete  Suelos,  which,  in  accordance  with 
his  last  request  to  Isabella,  was  walled  up,  so  that 
no  one  might  ever  use  it  again.  From  the  spur  of 
the  Alpuxarras,  still  called  "  El  ultimo  sospiro  del 
Moro,"  he  looked  his  last  upon  the  town,  and  wept 
as  he  beheld  it.  "  It  is  well,"  said  the  stern 
Ayeshah,  "  that  you  should  weep  as  a  woman  for 
what  you  could  not  defend  as  a  man." 

Several  of  the  towers  round  the  walls  are  well 
worth  visiting,  especially  those  of  Las  Infantas  and 
La  Cautiva,  which  are  filled  with  exquisite  Moorish 
tracery,  though  much  defaced  by  the  French.  The 
latter  tower  derives  its  name  from  a  Christian 
captive  who  the  then  Moorish  king  wished  to  add 
to  his  harem,  and  who,  when  she  found  no  other 
means  of  protection,  flung  herself  from  its  window, 
beneath  which  her  lifeless  form  was  found  by  her 
knightly  lover,  who  came  that  day  to  her  rescue. 
In  the  same  neighbourhood,  in  a  charming  garden, 
is  the  beautiful  little  mosque,  in  which  Yusuf  I., 
the  principal  builder  of  the  Alhambra,  was  mur- 
dered at  his  prayers. 

Issuing  from  the  walls  near  this  by  the  Torre 
del  Pico,  whose  battlements  were  added  by 
Ferdinand  and   Isabella,  one  may  cross  the  glen 


GRANADA.  151 

to  the  Generalife,*  a  summer  villa  of  the  Moorish 
sovereigns.  Its  gardens  are  so  lovely,  with  their 
wide  views  over  the  town  and  vega,  that  Andersen 
and  many  other  travellers  have  even  preferred  this 
palace  to  the  Alhambra.  Through  its  cloistered 
courtyard,  rushes,  fresh  from  its  source,  an  im- 
petuous life-diffusing  branch  of  the  Darro.  Its 
decorations,  much  injured  by  whitewash,  are  still 
full  of  grace  and  beauty ;  its  faded  pictures  of 
the  Spanish  kings  and  queens,  unimportant  as 
works  of  art,  are  yet  interesting  here  from  their 
historic  associations ;  and  its  venerable  cypresses, 
beneath  one  of  which  the  Sultana  Zoraya  is  said 
to  have  met  her  Abencerrage  lover,  are  the  most 
magnificent  in  Spain. 

It  requires  many  visits  to  understand  the  Alham- 
bra, and  for  this  purpose  all  who  stay  any  length 
of  time  at  Granada  should  arm  themselves  with 
an  order,  "■  per  estudiare,"  from  the  governor, 
Senor  Contreras,  who  lives  in  the  house  near  the 
entrance,  which  contains  the  beautiful  arch  called 
the  "  Puerta  del  Vino."     Unsupplied  with  this,  the 


*  An  order  for  the  Generalife,  now  belonging  to  the  great  Genoese 
family  of  Grimaldi,  must  be  obtained  in  the  town  from  the  Italian 
Consul,  who  will  at  the  same  time  exhibit  Boabdil's  beautiful  inlaid 
sword. 


iS2  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

traveller  will  be  incessantly  persecuted  by  the 
troop  of  officious  and  greedy  guides  who  lurk  in 
the  entrance.  Each  light  in  each  hour  of  the  day 
has  its  own  special  charm,  and  lends  its  own 
peculiar  effect  to  some  part  of  the  building ;  but 
no  one  should  miss  a  visit  by  moonlight,  when 
the  Court  of  Lions,  strangely  expanded  in  size, 
looks  as  if  it  were  wrought  in  burnished  silver, 
and  when  all  modern  changes  are  lost  in  shadow, 
and  only  the  beautiful  ideal  of  the  Arabian  palace 
remains  in  its  splendour.  At  sunset,  crossing  the 
kitchen  garden  which  occupies  the  interior  of  the 
Alcazaba,  the  Torre  de  la  Vela  should  be  ascended 
for  the  sake  of  the  view,  the  last  tower  on  the 
southern  point  of  the  promontory,  where,  even 
from  Moorish  times,  a  loud  bell,  beginning  at 
"  Las  Animas  "  (8 J  P.M.),  and  continuing  till  day- 
light, has  announced  to  the  farmers  of  the  plain 
that  they  might  turn  aside  the  waters  of  the  river 
for  the  irrigation  of  their  meadows.  It  was  upon 
this  tower  that  the  Christian  standard  and  cross 
were  first  raised  after  the  conquest,  and  a  cross 
in  the  wall  still  marks  the  exact  spot.  Hence 
the  fiery  orb  of  the  sun  will  be  seen  grandly  dis- 
appearing behind  the  purple  mountains,  and  the 
snowy  ranges  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  bathed  with 


GRANADA.  153 

rose-colour  in  the  after-glow.  The  whole  scene 
will  call  to  mind  the  lines  of  George  Eliot  in  the 
"  Spanish  Gipsy  :  " — 

"  The  old  rain-fretted  mountains  in  their  robes 
Of  shadow-broken  grey  ;  the  rounded  hills 
Reddened  with  blood  of  Titans,  who  huge  limbs 
Entombed  within,  feed  full  the  hardy  flesh 
Of  cactus  green  and  blue-sworded  aloes  ; 
The  cypress  soaring  black  above  the  lines 
Of  white  court-walls  ;  the  pointed  sugar-canes 
Pale-golden  with  their  feathers  motionless 
In  the  warm  quiet ;  all  thought-teaching  form 
Utters  itself  in  firm  unshimmering  lines." 

While  our  minds  were  still  full  of  sympathy 
for  the  exiled  Moors,  and  while  every  detail 
relating  to  their  conquest  was  of  interest  to  us, 
we  drove  out  to  Zubia,  whither  the  great  Isabella 
came  during  the  siege,  to  look  upon  Granada, 
and  where  she  narrowly  escaped  being  taken 
prisoner.  After  her  victory,  she  erected  a  hermit- 
age there,  to  commemorate  her  escape,  which 
still  stands  amid  some  tall  cypresses,  and  contains 
faded  portraits  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  A 
thicket  of  bay  is  shown  as  that  in  which  the 
queen  hid  herself  with  her  children,  and  was 
concealed  by  the  closely  entwined  branches,  like 
Charles  in  the  oak,  until  the  enemy  had  passed  by. 


iS4  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

Another  short  excursion  may  be  made  to  Santa 
Fe,  the  town  which  rose  during  the  siege,  built 
in  eighty  days  by  the  indomitable  Isabella,  after 
her  troops  had  been  rendered  shelterless  from  the 
accidental  destruction  of  the  camp  by  fire.  Here, 
the  crucifix,  which  the  queen  carried  with  her,  is 
preserved  in  a  small  chapel.  Not  far  off  is  the 
old  bridge  of  Pinos,  the  spot  which  Columbus  had 
reached  when,  wearied  by  five  years'  waiting  and 
petitioning  at  the  Spanish  court,  he  was  about 
to  offer  his  services  to  Henry  VII.  of  England. 
Hither  the  messengers  of  the  queen  pursued  him, 
and  brought  him  back  to  arrange  at  Santa  Fe 
the  expedition  which  ended  in  the  discovery  of 
America. 

The  story  of  the  conquest  is  told  in  a  series  of 
curious  bas-reliefs  in  the  "  Capilla  de  los  Reyes," 
which  joins  the  cathedral.  Isabella  is  seen  riding 
into  Granada  on  her  white  palfrey,  with  Ferdinand 
on  one  side  and  Cardinal  Mendoza  on  the  other, 
Boabdil  presents  the  keys,  and  numbers  of  despond- 
ent Moors  are  pouring  out  of  the  gates  of  the 
town.  Again,  the  Moors  are  represented  as  being 
baptized  en  masse,  their  costume  exactly  the  same 
as  that  which  may  still  be  seen  at  Tangiers.  In 
front  of  the  retablo  which  contains  these  sculptures, 


GRANADA.  155 

are  the  magnificent  tombs  of  the  Catholic  sove- 
reigns. Ferdinand  and  Isabella  lie  side  by  side  upon 
a  lofty  sarcophagus.  Both  figures  are  beautiful, 
but  that  of  Isabella  (Elizabetha  in  Latin)  is  indeed 
worthy  of  her  whom  Shakespeare  called  "the  queen 
of  earthly  queens,"  and  Lord  Bacon  describes  as 
"  an  honour  to  her  sex  and  the  corner-stone  of  the 
greatness  of  Spain."  The  effect  of  her  character 
upon  those  she  lived  amongst,  is  touchingly  por- 
trayed in  a  letter  written  by  Peter  Martyr  from 
beside  her  death-bed: — "You  ask  me  of  the  state 
of  the  queen's  health.  We  all  sit  in  the  palace  all 
day  sorrowing,  and  tremblingly  await  the  hour 
when  religion  and  virtue  shall  quit  the  earth  with 
her.  Let  us  pray  that  we  may  be  permitted  to 
follow  whither  she  is  now  going.  She  so  far  exceeds 
all  human  excellence,  that  there  is  scarcely  any- 
thing mortal  left  in  her.  Hers  can  hardly  be  called 
death,  it  is  rather  the  passing  into  a  nobler  and 
higher  existence,  which  should  excite  our  envy 
instead  of  our  sorrow.  She  leaves  a  world  filled 
with  her  renown,  and  goes  to  enjoy  a  life  everlast- 
ing with  her  God  in  heaven.  I  write  in  the  alter- 
nations of  hope  and  fear,  while  her  breath  is  still 
fluttering  within  her." 

Close  to  that  of  her  parents,  is  the  tomb  (a  beau- 


156  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

tiful  work  of  the  Genoese  Peralta)  of  Joanna  and 
her  handsome  husband  Philip  of  Burgundy.  In 
the  vault  beneath,  the  four  coffins  may  be  seen. 
That  of  Philip  is  most  interesting,  as  being  the 
same  which  Joanna  carried  about  with  her  every- 
where, often  passionately  embracing  it,  and  watch- 
ing it  constantly  for  forty-seven  years,  in  the  tear- 
less madness  of  her  long  widowhood.  A  magnifi- 
cent reja  by  Bartolome  of  Jaen  (1533)  screens  off 
the  tombs  from  the  rest  of  the  chapel.  Round  the 
cornice  is  inscribed  : — "  This  chapel  was  founded 
by  the  most  catholic  Don  Fernando  and  Doiia 
Isabel,  King  and  Queen  of  Las  Espanas,  Naples, 
Sicily,  and  Jerusalem,  who  conquered  this  kingdom 
and  restored  it  to  our  faith ;  who  acquired  the 
Canary  Isles  and  the  Indies,  as  well  as  the  cities 
of  Oran,  Tripoli,  and  Bugia  ;  who  crushed  heresy, 
expelled  the  Moors  and  Jews  from  these  realms, 
and  reformed  religion.  The  Queen  died  Tuesday, 
Nov.  26,  1504.  The  King  died  Jan.  2$,  1516.  The 
building  was  completed  in  15 17."  In  the  sacristy 
are  portraits  of  Philip  and  Joanna,  and  in  one  of 
the  chapels  of  the  cathedral  are  fine  pictures  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  copies  of  the  originals  by 
Rincon,  which  were  destroyed  by  fire. 

The  plan  of  the  cathedral  (which  is  the  work  of 


GRANADA.  157 

Diego  de  Siloe,  son  of  the  sculptor  of  the  tombs  at 
Miraflores)  is  a  very  noble  and  peculiar  one.  The 
central  aisle,  forty  feet  in  width,  instead  of  ending 
in  an  apse,  expands  into  a  dome  seventy  feet  in 
diameter,  beneath  which  is  the  high  altar.  The  side 
aisles  also  end  in  altars  ;  an  ambulatory  surrounds 
the  whole.  In  the  side  chapels  are  very  fine  works 
of  Alonzo  Cano,  especially  one  of  that  picturesque 
subject  often  treated  by  Spanish  painters — "the 
Solitude  of  the  Virgin." 

There  is  a  great  deal  more  to  be  seen  in  Granada. 
The  principal  Moorish  street,  "  El  Zacatin,"  re- 
mains, and,  adjoining  it,  the  "  Alcaiceria,"  or  silk 
bazaar,  consisting  of  two  narrow  alleys,  beautifully 
adorned  with  stucco  and  sculpture  in  the  style  of 
the  Alhambra.  Of  the  same  character  is  the  old 
Moorish  gateway  on  the  other  side  of  the  Darro, 
built  in  1070,  but  now  called  "Puerta  del  Carbon," 
from  the  Carboneros  who  frequent  it.  Near  the 
Darro,  opposite  the  ruin  of  a  horse-shoe  bridge,  is 
a  Moorish  bath,  having  a  coved  roof  supported 
on  low  pillars,  with  richly  carved  capitals.  The 
church  of  San  Geronimo  was  built  in  1497  by 
Talavera,  confessor  of  the  Catholic  sovereigns,  and 
first  Archbishop  of  Granada.  He  was  anxious  to 
convert  the  Moors  by  kindness,  and  translated  the 


i58  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

church  services  into  Arabic  for  their  use.  He  after- 
wards wished  to  translate  the  Bible  likewise,  but 
was  prevented  by  Cardinal  Ximenes,  who  declared 
that  "  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin  were  the  only 
languages  in  which  the  word  of  God  ought  to  be 
used — the  three  languages  plainly  pointed  out  to 
mankind  by  the  inscription  on  the  cross  itself."  San 
Geronimo  contains  the  empty  tomb  of  the  great 
Captain  Fernando  Gonsalez  of  Cordova,  who  lived 
at  Granada  during  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  being 
driven  to  a  life  of  complete  retirement  by  the 
jealousy  of  Ferdinand  and  the  animosity  of  his 
second  queen  Germaine.  At  the  very  time  of  his 
death  Ferdinand  had  given  orders  for  his  arrest, 
fearing  that  he  was  about  to  embark  for  Flanders, 
yet  the  king  and  the  whole  court  went  into  mourn- 
ing for  him,  and  a  hundred  banners  waved  above 
his  tomb  till  the  year  1600.  His  painted  statue 
remains  in  the  church,  with  that  of  his  wife  Dona 
Maria  Manrique,  who  survived  him  only  a  few 
days,  but  their  bodies  are  no  longer  here ;  they 
were  actually  exhumed  by  the  revolutionary  Go- 
vernment in  1870,  and  carried  in  a  tin  box  to 
Madrid,  where  a  kind  of  Pantheon  has  been  made 
in  the  church  of  San  Francisco  el  Grande  with 
labelled    pigeon-holes    for    all  the    great   men   of 


GRANADA.  159 

Spain.  Some  English  travellers,  wishing  to  take 
seats  in  the  diligence  that  day,  were  told  that  they 
could  not  have  them,  because  the  places  were  be- 
spoken for  El  Gran  Capitan  ! 

The  neighbouring  hospital  of  San  Juan  de  Dios 
is  very  interesting,  as  having  been  founded  by  the 
saint  himself  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  He  preached  the  necessity  of  hospitals 
on  this  spot  with  such  ardour  that  he  was  con- 
sidered mad  and  shut  up  in  an  iron  cage,  which  is 
shown.  His  teaching,  however,  still  brings  forth 
fruit  here,  and  the  hospital,  whose  wards  all  open 
upon  a  spacious  cloistered  quadrangle,  is  admirably 
arranged  and  attended  to. 

Hence  a  short  walk  into  the  country  brings  one 
to  a  spot  bearing  the  Moorish  name  of  Hinadamar, 
where  stands  the  Cartuja,  a  Carthusian  convent  and 
church,  decorated  somewhat  in  the  style  of  the  Cer- 
tosa  of  Pavia.  The  jaspers,  marbles,  and  inlaid 
work  of  ebony  and  tortoiseshell  are  very  gorgeous, 
though  their  taste  may  be  questioned.  The  most 
real  treasure  preserved  here  is  a  small  statuette  of 
San  Bruno  by  Alonzo  Cano,  one  of  the  most  ex- 
pressive representations  of  touching  humility  and 
suffering  that  can  be  imagined.  The  old  guide 
delights  to  point  out  the  quaint  images  formed  by 


160  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

the  vagaries  of  the  veins  in  the  alabaster  and  agate 
decorations — an  "Ecce  Homo,"  a  "Mater  Dolo- 
rosa," a  "Grenadina  in  her  Mantilla,"  &c.  The 
cloisters  are  surrounded  by  a  horrible  series  of 
paintings,  representing  the  history  of  the  order, 
especially  the  awful  sufferings  of  the  English  Car- 
thusians under  Thomas  Cromwell,  which,  if  true, 
may  weigh  heavily  in  the  scale  against  the  martyr- 
doms under  Catholic  Mary.  These  pictures  are  the 
work  of  Juan  Sanchez  Cotan,  a  brother  of  the  order, 
who  was  of  such  eminent  piety  and  purity  of  life, 
that  the  Virgin  herself  is  believed  to  have  de- 
scended from  heaven  in  order  to  give  him  a  sitting 
for  her  likeness,  upon  which  he  was  engaged. 

As  he  returns  to  the  town  the  pedestrian  should 
pause,  for  here,  at  the  entrance  of  Granada,  oc- 
curred one  of  the  most  striking  scenes  of  history. 
The  body  of  the  beautiful  and  beloved  Isabella  of 
Portugal,  wife  of  Charles  V.,  had  been  brought 
hither  by  slow  stages,  attended  by  all  the  young 
knights  who  had  faithfully  served  her  in  life. 
Among  these  was  Francis  Borgia,  Duke  of  Gandia. 
At  the  entrance  of  Granada  the  corpse  was  un- 
covered, and  the  attendants  pressed  forward  to 
gaze  upon  the  honoured  features  of  their  mistress 
for  the  last  time.     But  under  the  terrible  hand  of 


GRANADA.  161 

death  all  her  beauty  had  disappeared,  and  Borgia 
was  so  overwhelmed  by  the  change  of  decay,  that 
he  abandoned  for  ever  the  vanities  of  the  world  to 
become  an  ascetic,  a  priest,  and  eventually  a  saint 
of  the  Catholic  Church. 

Wearied  by  much  sight-seeing,  a  tourist  may 
refresh  his  eyes  and  mind  in  the  beautiful  Alameda 
near  the  junction  of  the  Xenil  and  Darro,  where 
the  aristocratic  part  of  the  population,  always 
conscientiously  employed  in  doing  nothing,  unite 
every  summer  evening  and  winter  afternoon.  The 
ladies  universally  wear  mantillas  and  carry  fans ; 
the  gentlemen  are  so  well  dressed  that  Mr.  Poole 
himself  might  take  a  lesson  from  the  crack  tailor 
of  Granada.  The  older  Alameda,  lined  with  fine 
old  trees,  and  ending  in  fountains,  is  not  inappro- 
priately called  "  El  Salon,"  for  there  society  meets 
and  does  its  chief  business.  It  is  a  regular  evening 
party  in  public  and  in  the  open  air,  a  Vanity  Fair 
in  miniature, — the  unmarried  daughters,  followed 
by  their  admirers,  being  paraded  up  and  down  by 
their  parents,  not  unmindful  perhaps  of  the  old 
Spanish  proverb,  "  Three  daughters  and  a  mother 
are  four  devils  for  a  father."  On  festas  the 
assembly  extends  to  all  classes,  and  numbers  of 
majas  may  be  seen  in  gaudy  dresses  with  flowers 

M 


i  bz  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

in  their  hair,  attended  by  their  majos  in  their 
velvet  jackets  and  bright  sashes,  and  with  the 
stick — "  vara  " — in  their  hands,  without  which  no 
well-bred  majo  ever  appears  in  public.  More, 
probably,  is  spent  upon  dress,  taking  all  the 
classes  together,  in  Spain  than  in  any  other 
country  of  Europe ;  only,  in  the  provinces,  the 
soldiers  often  appear  shabby  and  ragged,  for  they 
are  not  only  irregularly  paid,  but  are  sometimes 
unsupplied  with  even  the  most  necessary  articles 
of  clothing.  Thus  the  following  placard  appeared 
upon  the  walls  of  the  Andalusian  towns  proposing 
a  reward  for  the  defenders  of  Algeciras  and 
Tarifa : — "  El  brigadier  Cordoba  ha  abierto  una 
suscricion,  poniendose  a  la  cabeza  de  ella,  para 
regalar  un  far  de  ftantalones  de  pano  a  los  valientes 
soldados  de  Asturias."  ' 

In  the  week  preceding  Passion  Week  large 
placards  appeared,  headed  by  a  picture  of  the 
Crucifixion,  and  the  words,  "Jesu  Redemptor" 
in  large  letters.  They  announced  a  "Passion 
Play"  to  be  acted  in  the  theatre.  The  whole  story 
of  the  last  days  of  our  Saviour  was  enacted,  as  at 
Ober-Ammergau — the  Last  Supper,  and  the  Cruci- 
fixion itself,  being  represented  upon  the  stage.  A 
burlesque  was   by  no  means   intended,  yet  some 


GRANADA.  163 

parts  bordered  upon  the  ludicrous.  One  scene  was 
rapturously  encored  by  the  audience  ;  it  was  when. 
Judas  descended  to  the  infernal  regions  amid  a 
crash  of  thunder  and  a  blaze  of  blue  lights  !  It  is 
due  to  the  venerable  Archbishop  of  Granada  to  say- 
that  he  strongly  deprecated  this  exhibition,  and 
did  all  he  could  to  oppose  it. 

All  the  ceremonies  of  Holy  Week  at  Rome  are 
reproduced  on  a  minor  scale  here,  and  on  Holy- 
Thursday  the  Archbishop  washes  the  feet  of 
twelve  pilgrims  in  the  cathedral.  On  Good  Friday 
the  whole  population  wear  black. 

Easter  Sunday  is  a  great  day  in  Granada,  not 
because  the  resurrection  of  our  Saviour  is  com- 
memorated on  that  day,  but  because  then  at  five 
P.M.  the  famous  "Virgen  de  las  Angustias"  goes 
forth  from  her  church  to  visit  a  sister-image  in  the 
cathedral.     That  afternoon  the  streets  assumed  the 
most  festal  appearance ;    the  windows  were  hung- 
with    red,   yellow,    and    blue    draperies,    and    the 
balconies   were   filled   with   gaily   dressed   ladies. 
Long   before  the   hour  arrived   the  whole  of  the 
Alameda  was  filled  from  end  to  end  with  a  dense 
multitude   of  expectant  people,  and   hundreds   of 
boys  were  rushing  about  in  front  of  the  sanctuary 
waving  long  branches  of  green  elder,  which  they 


1 64  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

threw  down  under  the  feet  of  the  bearers  as  they 
carried  the  image  down  the  steps  of  the  church ; 
literally  they  "cut  down  branches  from  the  trees 
and  strewed  them  in  the  way."  This  image  of  the 
Virgin  of  Sorrows  is  one  of  the  most  famous  in  the 
south  of  Spain,  and  half  the  women  in  Granada 
are  christened  Angustia,  to  place  them  under 
her  protection  ;  indeed  the  name  is  so  common 
as  to  cause  inextricable  confusion  amongst  the 
number  of  Angustias.  The  figure  is  of  the  size  of 
life,  and  is  better  as  a  work  of  art  than  most 
worshipped  images  of  saints.  It  is  dressed  in 
black  velvet  robes  spangled  with  golden  stars, 
wears  a  crown  on  its  head  filled  with  precious 
stones,  and  has  a  sad,  pensive  expression  in  its 
countenance,  which  is  bent  over  the  dead  figure  of 
the  Saviour — for  it  is,  in  fact,  a  Pieta.  Its  jewels 
are  most  magnificent,  and  such  is  the  enthusiasm 
and  courage  it  is  known  to  inspire,  that  when  the 
French  came  to  Granada  they  never  ventured  to 
plunder  or  even  enter  this  church,  though  the 
people,  in  defiance,  had  decorated  the  Virgin  with 
all  her  jewels,  lighted  the  church  by  night  and  day, 
and  left  the  doors  always  open. 

As   the  image  left   the  church,  carried   by  the 
principal  citizens  of  Granada  in  full  dress,  a  blare 


GRANADA.  165 

of  trumpets  and  crash  of  drums  greeted  its 
appearance.  Guns  were  fired,  and  rockets  sent 
up ;  the  noise  was  deafening.  As  the  procession 
entered  the  Alameda,  with  one  impulse  the  whole 
people  fell  upon  their  knees.  Many  women  wept 
and  sobbed  as  they  stretched  out  their  hands  in 
eager  supplication.  At  each  step  of  the  procession 
fresh  fireworks  rose  from  the  houses  on  either  side 
of  the  way ;  it  was  like  a  march  of  fire,  and  the 
appearance  of  the  tall  black  figure  slowly  advancing 
up  the  green  avenue  between  the  throng  of 
kneeling  people,  was  certainly  most  striking. 

A  very  different  scene  was  enacted  upon  the 
evening  of  Holy  Thursday,  when,  in  an  upper 
chamber,  seventy  earnest  Protestant  converts  met 
to  receive  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  at 
the  hands  of  a  Protestant  Presbyterian  minister. 
The  liturgy  used  was  almost  entirely  that  of  the 
English  Prayer-Book,  which  is  translated  into 
Spanish.  The  elements  were  received  seated, 
according  to  the  Presbyterian  custom.  In  spite  of 
the  power  of  the  Virgin  of  Las  Angustias,  Pro- 
testantism is  making  strong  advances  in  the  town 
where  Matamoros  suffered.  Nothing  has  a  greater 
effect  upon  the  Spaniards  than  our  Burial  Service ; 
its  reverence,  its  encouragement  of  Christian  hope, 


366  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

contrasting  so  strongly  with  the  indecent  indiffer- 
ence with   which    the   Romanist  funerals   of  the 
lower  classes  are  conducted  at  Granada,  where  no 
ceremony  whatever  takes  place  at  the  cemetery, 
and  where  the  bodies,  carried  unattended  to  the 
grave,  are  buried  like  dogs,  generally  ejected  from 
their  coffins  (which  are  used  again !),  and  with  only 
a  little  earth  scraped  over  them.      The  hollow  way 
"between  the  red  towers  of  the  Alhambra  and  the 
green  slopes  of  the  Generalife,  torn  by  a  torrent, 
and  filled  with  hundreds  of  pigs  which  are  herded 
there,  is  called  "  The  Way  of  the  Dead,"  because 
by    that    rough    path    the    bodies    are    generally 
carried    from    the    town    to    the    cemetery.      We 
witnessed    several   of   these   saddest   of   funerals. 
Once  it  was  a  beautiful  little  girl  who  was  to  be 
buried.     She  was   borne  upon  an  open   bier,  her 
waxen  features,  smiling  in  the  sleep  of  death,  were 
crowned  with  white  roses  and  jessamine,  her  little 
bands  were  folded,  she  was  dressed  in  white,  and 
other  white  flowers  were  sprinkled  over  her.     All 
had   evidently  been   done   by  the   tender   care   of 
loving  friends.     Yet  no  one  followed  but  the  grave- 
digger  smoking  a  cigar,  and   the  little  bier  was 
jerked  jauntily  along  by  six  rough  boys  of  thirteen 
or  fourteen  years  old,  some  of  whom  were  smoking, 


GRANADA.  167 

the  rest  whistling  and  singing.  We  could  hardly 
bear  to  think  of  the  fate  which  awaited  that  little 
child  at  the  cemetery,  where,  when  these  un- 
coffined  funerals  take  place,  the  gipsies,  by  an 
ancient  custom,  fall  upon  the  body  on  its  arrival, 
and  tearing  off  all  its  dress  and  decorations, 
fight  and  scramble  for  them  amongst  themselves, 
leaving  the  poor  corpse  to  be  tossed,  naked  and 
desecrated,  into  its  grave  amongst  the  docks  and 
nettles. 

The  savage  insolence  of  the  gipsy  population, 
their  coarse  language  and  manners,  and  their 
brutal  immoralities,  are  the  great  objection  to  a 
lengthened  residence  in  Granada.  They  are  abso- 
lutely uncontrolled  either  by  the  laws  or  the  police. 
Their  swarms  of  children  are  brought  up  systemati- 
cally to  beg  without  ceasing,  and  to  steal  whenever 
they  can.  They  are  utterly  without  shame.  If  an 
English  lady  ventures  into  the  gipsy  quarter  alone, 
a  troop  of  young  women  and  children  will  not 
scruple  to  fall  upon  her,  and  while  some  carry  off 
her  shawl,  parasol,  &c,  others  will  force  their 
hands  into  her  pockets  and  seize  all  it  contains. 
Gipsy  beggars  never  ask,  they  always  demand, 
in  the  most  violent  and  imperious  tones,  and 
wherever  a  number  of  gipsy  children  are  encoun- 


1 68  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

tered  together,  the  shouts  of  "  ochavito,  ochavito," 
are  more  than  deafening.  Unfortunately  the  view 
from  San  Nicolao,  one  of  the  grandest  in  Granada, 
is  in  a  stronghold  of  the  gipsies,  who  must  be  en- 
countered to  visit  it.  Their  chief  residence,  how- 
ever, is  in  the  hillside  of  the  Albaycin,  leading  to 
the  Monte  Sacro,  where  innumerable  caves  are 
perforated  in  the  living  rock,  beneath  immense 
prickly  pears,  which  serve  at  once  as  food,  shade, 
and  protection.  .  The  mouths  of  these  caves  are 
whitewashed,  and  the  entrances  generally  guarded 
by  a  piece  of  old  carpet.  There  the  savage 
families  bask  all  day  in  the  sun,  and  make  the 
air  resound  with  their  harsh  guttural  cries  and 
songs.  The  women  who  do  not  steal,  earn  money 
by  telling  fortunes  and  selling  amulets ;  the 
children  who  are  not  busy  begging,  roll  in  the 
dust  in  front  of  their  caves,  often  quite  naked, 
and  without  any  distinction  of  sex. 

It  is  impossible  not  to  be  struck  by  the  originality 
and  cleverness  of  the  gipsies  even  in  their  vices. 
A  gipsy-man  was  at  confession  one  day,  and, 
whilst  he  was  confessing,  he  spied  in  the  pocket 
of  the  monk's  habit  a  silver  snuff-box,  and  stole 
it.  "  Father,"  he  said,  immediately,  "  I  accuse 
myself  of  having  stolen  a  silver  snuff-box."     "Then, 


GRANADA.  169 

my  son,  you  must  certainly  restore  it."  "  Will  you 
have  it  yourself,  my  Father?"  "I,  certainly  not," 
answered  the  confessor.  "  The  fact  is,"  proceeded 
the  gipsy,  "  that  I  have  offered  it  to  its  owner,  and 
he  has  refused  it."  "  Then  you  can  keep  it  with 
a  good  conscience,"  answered  the  Father. 

At  Seville  a  stranger,  wishing  to  see  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  gipsies,  may,  on  paying  one 
real  (2^/.),  be  present  where  they  dance  their 
national  dances  and  sing  their  national  songs  in 
their  own  picturesque  costume.  At  Granada  a  few 
women  in  tawdry  white  muslin  gowns  extort  five 
francs  from  every  individual  of  the  large  assemblies 
who  have  the  folly  to  meet  to  see  them.  Their 
principal  dances  are  the  Malagena  and  the  Romalis. 
A  woman  generally  dances  alone  at  first,  in  slow 
motion,  more  with  her  arms  than  her  feet,  and 
her  attitudes  are  often  very  picturesque  and  grace- 
ful. Gradually,  by  her  gestures,  she  invites  a 
partner  to  join  her ;  thenceforth  the  dance  be- 
comes more  animated.  They  chase  one  another, 
they  circle  round  one  another,  they  throw  a  whole 
story  of  passionate  eloquence  into  their  gestures, 
and  all  is  accompanied,  in  the  way  of  music,  by 
the  clapping  of  hands  of  all  the  other  gitanos  and 
gitanas  sitting  round   in  a  circle,  who  keep   ex- 


170  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

cellent  time  together,  occasionally  bursting  into 
loucl  outcries,  which  reach  a  pitch  almost  of 
frenzy  when  any  especially  complicated  figure  is 
successfully  executed. 

For  the  last  few  da.ys  of  March  it  was  very  wet 
and  stormy.  They  say  it  is  always  so  in  Spain,  and 
concerning  this  there  is  an  old  Spanish  story.  A 
shepherd  once  said  to  March  that  if  he  would 
behave  well  he  would  make  him  a  present  of  a 
lamb.  March  promised  to  deserve  it,  and  con-, 
ducted  himself  admirably.  When  he  was  going 
out,  he  asked  the  shepherd  for  the  promised  lamb, 
but  the  sheep  and  the  lambs  were  so  very  beautiful, 
that  the  shepherd,  considering  that  only  three  days 
of  restraint  remained  to  March,  answered  that  he 
would  not  give  it  to  him.  "  You  will  not  give  it  to 
me,"  said  March,  "  then  you  do  not  recollect  that 
in  the  three  days  which  remain  to  me,  and  three 
which  my  comrade  April  will  lend  me,  your  sheep 
will  have  to  bring  forth  their  young  ;  "  and  for  six 
days  the  rain  and  cold  was  so  terrible  that  all  the 
sheep  and  all  the  lambs  died. 

"With  the  beginning  of  April,  we  were  per- 
suaded, by  glowing",  accounts  of  its  scenery,  to 
make  from  Granada  the  long  excursion  to  Llan- 
jaron,  a  mountain  citadel,  the  last  stronghold  of 


GRANADA.  171 

the  Moors  in  Spain.  But  the  distance  is  so  great 
and  the  long  diligence  journey  so  fatiguing,  that 
this  expedition  is  not  worth  while,  except  in  sum- 
mer, for  the  sake  of  ascending  the  Veleta,  one  of 
the  highest  peaks  of  the  Sierra-Nevada.  The  road 
runs  along  the  high  bleak  uplands  beneath  the 
chain  of  the  Alpuxarras,  which  are  by  no  means 
the  rich,  verdant,  smiling  hills  they  are  generally 
represented,  but  volcanic,  bare,  and  arid  in  the 
highest  degree.  The  name  Alpuxarras  is  an 
Arabic  word,  meaning  "Land  of  Warriors."  Amid 
these  fastnesses,  according  to  the  ballad,  fell  the 
famous  Christian  knight  Alonzo  de  Aguilar,  as  he 
was  endeavouring  to  accept  the  challenge  of 
Ferdinand  to  his  bravest  warriors  that  they  should 
plant  his  banner  on  the  highest  peaks  of  the 
mountains : — 

"  Qual  de  vosotros,  amigos, 
Ira  a  la  Sierra  mafiana, 
A  poner  mi  real  pendon 
Encima  de  la  Alpuxarra." 

Here  Alonzo's  brave  boy  Don  Pedro  de  Cordova 
fought  by  his  side  covered  with  wounds,  and  refused 
to  attend  to  his  entreaty — "Let  not  the  hopes  of  our 
house  be  crushed  at  one  blow;  go  live  as  a  Christian 
knight,  go  comfort  your  desolate  mother  " — till  he 


172  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

was  forcibly  carried  out  of  the  battle  by  the  at- 
tendants. 

We  reached  Llanjaron  by  a  terrible  road  along 
precipices  and  through  torrent-beds,  but  it  is  an 
oasis  in  a  hideous  desert,  and  its  orange  gardens, 
hanging  on  the  edge  of  the  mountain-side  over  a 
dismal  ravine,  are  amongst  the  most  productive 
in  Spain.  On  a  high  outlying  spur  of  the  hills  is 
a  ruined  Moorish  castle ;  but  the  village,  chiefly 
frequented  for  the  sake  of  its  medicinal  waters, 
contains  few  traces  of  its  former  occupants  ;  the 
population  is  savage,  the  posadas  miserable,  and 
beyond  bread,  eggs,  and  oranges,  there  is  no  food 
to  be  had. 


ARANJUEZ  AND   TOLEDO. 

T  T  is  almost  a  blur  upon  the  entire  pleasure  of  a 
■*-  visit  to  Granada,  that  all  arrivals  and  depar- 
tures by  train  are  necessarily  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  and  that  the  hotels  are  consequently  in  a 
chronic  state  of  disturbance  from  one  to  four  in  the 
morning.  Even  though  we  decided  upon  taking 
the  diligence  to  evade  the  long  railway  detour  by 
Cordova,  we  had  to  leave  at  four  A.M.,  when  our 
last  drive  to  the  town  through  the  dark  woods  of 
the  Alhambra  seemed  a  solemn  farewell  to  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  places  upon  earth. 

In  a  whirlwind  of  white  dust,  ten  horses  carried 
us  quickly  along  through  a  sterile,  treeless,  hideous 
country.  At  one  P.M.  the  scenery  improved  a 
little,  and  the  great  white  cathedral  of  Jaen  rose 
before  us  at  the  foot  of  its  jagged  mountains.     The 


i74  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

diligence  waited  for  an  hour  in  the  market-place, 
which  gave  time  for  its  driver  and  mayoral  to  dine, 
and  for  us  to  see  the  inside  of  the  cathedral,  a 
Graeco-Romano  building  of  1532,  but  very  hand- 
some of  its  kind.  Behind  the  Coro  is  a  silver 
Custodia  with  seven  keys,  only  opened  three  times 
in  the  year,  and  containing  one  of  the  many  pieces 
of  linen,  honoured  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
as  the  authentic  handkerchief  with  which  Santa 
Veronica  wiped  the  face  of  our  Saviour  on  His  way 
to  Calvary,  and  upon  which  His  image  remained 
impressed.  This  especial  relic,  however,  is  of 
historic  interest,  as  having  been  carried  by  St. 
Ferdinand  at  the  head  of  his  troops. 

At  four  in  the  afternoon  we  reached  the  quiet 
station  of  Mengibar,  a  lonely  shed  on  a  bank 
above  the  Guadalquiver,  seeming  a  strange  termi- 
nation for  a  long  diligence  journey,  but  a  very 
convenient  spot  for  joining  the  train  from  Cordova 
to  Madrid.  We  passed  our  waiting  time  in  a  tea- 
garden,  surrounded  by  a  hedge  of  oleanders,  which 
grow  wild  in  profusion  all  over  this  neighbourhood. 

Before  daybreak  we  had  reached  Aranjuez,  and 
were  walking  across  its  white  dusty  squares  and 
through  the  long  corridors  of  its  deserted  palace, 
something  like  a  very  miniature  Versailles,  to  the 


ARANJUEZ  AND   TOLEDO.  175 

pleasant  little  quiet  hotel  of  Los  Infantes,  which 
may  be  strongly  recommended  to  travellers  as 
both  clean  and  economical.  The  host,  too,  is  a 
pleasant  kindly  person,  who,  in  the  evening,  sate  in 
his  open  wooden  gallery,  playing  on  his  guitar, 
with  his  men  and  maid-servants  singing  around 
him,  in  happy  patriarchal  fashion.  It  is  desirable 
to  know  of  this  resting-place,  because  the  Hotel  de 
Paris  at  Aranjuez  is  one  of  the  worst  man-traps  in 
Spain  ;  and  an  English  lady  with  her  two  servants, 
lately  captured  to  wait  there  between  two  trains, 
found  themselves  locked  in  till  they  had  consented 
to  pay  230  reals  for  their  luncheon  and  waiting- 
room.  Another  place  to  be  avoided  is  the 
wretched  and  only  posada  at  Mengibar,  which 
extorts  fifteen  francs  for  a  single  egg.  Such 
thieves  are  rare  in  Spain,  but  there  is  no  redress 
from  them. 

We  spent  a  day  in  seeing  the  sights  of  Aranjuez, 
which  is  the  first  place  where  we  have  been  per- 
suaded to  take  one  of  the  guides,  who  are  generally 
the  greatest  bane  of  a  traveller's  comfort,  but  who 
are,  perhaps,  desirable  here,  as  saving  time  where 
many  silver  keys  and  permessos  are  required. 
For,  strangely  enough,  in  this  place,  which  the 
railway  renders  almost  a   suburb  of  Madrid,  and 


176  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

where  the  miles  upon  miles  of  parks  and  gardens 
would  be  most  grateful  to  its  parched  citizens,  as 
well  as  to  the  residents  of  Aranjuez  itself,  the 
government,  though  the  present  court  never  visits 
the  place,  is  sufficiently  careless  of  popularity  to 
keep  everything  closely  shut  up ;  so  that  gardens, 
such  as  at  Carlsruhe  or  Stutgard  form  the  delight 
of  the  whole  population,  are  here  entirely  unused 
except  by  the  thrushes  and  nightingales. 

The  larger  of  the  two  palaces,  a  rambling  French 
chateau,  is  little  worth  seeing,  except  for  china- 
fanciers,  who  will  be  delighted  with  a  wonderful 
room  entirely  walled  and  ceiled  with  beautiful 
Capo  di  Monte.  This  was  one  of  the  extrava- 
ganzas of  Charles  III.,  who  did  not  scruple  to 
waste  £3,000  of  gold  by  mixing  it  with  the  brass 
rails  of  a  back  staircase  in  his  other  Aranjuez 
palace.  This,  which  is  most  inappropriately  called 
the  Casa  del  Labrador  (the  Workman's  Cottage), 
is  about  a  mile  distant  from  the  town.  Its  rooms, 
though  low,  are  most  gorgeously  fitted  up  with 
exquisite  silk  embroidery  and  hangings.  Both 
palaces  are  filled  with  reminiscences  of  curious 
court  scandals  and  crimes,  but  especially  those 
connected  with  Charles  III.,  Maria  Louisa,  and 
her  lover  Godoy,  the  Prince  of  Peace,  whose  posi- 


ARANJUEZ  AND  TOLEDO.  177 

tion  was  so  easily  accepted  by  the  dissolute  court, 
that  his  being  represented,  with  the  king,  in  a 
fresco  which  still  remains  in  one  of  the  principal 
rooms,  was  no  matter  for  offence.  The  extra- 
ordinary trio  had  a  passion  for  clocks,  and  no  less 
than  forty-eight  clocks  adorn  their  small  apart- 
ments in  the  Casa  del  Labrador,  five  or  six  in  each 
room.  All  the  royal  residences  of  Spain  are  de- 
corated in  this  way.  The  mania  which  Ferdinand 
VII.  had  for  clocks  is  amply  shown  in  the  palace  at 
Madrid,  and  even  Charles  V.  made  a  collection  of 
them,  and  remarked  how  absurd  it  was  to  try  to 
make  two  men's  heads  think  the  same,  when  he 
could  not  make  two  of  his  clocks  go  alike. 

Aranjuez  is  an  oasis  in  the  wilderness.  The 
Tagus  and  Xarama,  meeting  almost  beneath  the 
palace  walls,  keep  its  island  garden  fresh  and 
verdant,  even  through  a  burning  Spanish  summer. 
The  fine  old  English  oaks  and  elms  were  brought 
over  by  Philip  II.,  and  were,  perhaps,  the  only 
good  which  accrued  to  his  native  land  from  his 
marriage  with  our  Mary.  They  still  attract  as 
much  notice  in  Spain  as  a  wood  of  palms  and 
prickly-pears  would  do  at  Hampton  Court.  The 
beauties  of  Aranjuez  have  been  a  constant  theme 
with  the  poets  of  Castile  :  Calderon  and  Garcilasso 

N 


i78  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

have  written  in  their  praise,  and  even  Fray  Juan 
de  Tolosa,  the  Augustine  prior  of  Zaragoza,  when 
he  published  a  religious  treatise  in   1589  for  the 
benefit  of  the  young  knights  of  the  period,  called 
it  "The  Aranjuez  of  the  Soul,"  in  order  the  better 
to  entice  them  to  read  it.     The  gardens  remain  as 
we  see  them  portrayed  in  the  faithful  pictures  of 
Velazquez  in  the  Museo  at  Madrid,  and  as  they 
are  described  by  Lady  Fanshaw,  English  ambas- 
sadress  in  Spain  during  the  reign  of  Philip  IV. 
Long  shady  avenues  of  elms  and  plane-trees  lead 
through  closely-planted  woods,  and  have  been  the 
scene  of  countless  intrigues,  both  of  politics  and 
love.     Even  down  to  the  late   revolution,  all   old 
customs  of  the  place  were  kept  up,  even  to   the 
b>reed  of  camels,  introduced  here  by  Philip  II.,  to 
perform  the  garden  work,  and  their  oriental  forms, 
slowly  parading  through  the  shady  groves,  were  a 
well-known  characteristic  of  the  place.      Isabella 
II.    never  failed   to  spend   the   spring   months   at 
Aranjuez,  but  now  it  is  the  picture  of  desolation ; 
fountains    without    water,   beds   without    flowers, 
promenades  without   people:    truly  one   may  say 
with  Schiller,  "  Die  schonen  Tage  in  Aranjuez  sind 
nun  zu  ende." 

A  short  journey  by  rail,  and  a  long  wait  in  the 


ARANJUEZ  AND  TOLEDO.  179 

wretched  junction  station  of  Castillejo — where  the 
only  accommodation  is  a  miserable  room,  open  at 
both  ends,  and  a  prey  to  beggars  and  dirt  of  every 
description — brought  us  to  imperial  Toledo.  At  a 
distance  the  town  rises  grandly,  not  distinguished 
by  any  one  marked  feature  or  building,  except  its 
great  Alcazar,  which  is  chiefly  of  the  last  century, 
but  an  irregular  line  of  towers,  battlemented  walls, 
and  ancient  houses,  crowning  the  black  precipitous 
rocks,  which  rise  abruptly  from  the  yellow  Tagus, 
and  backed  by  rugged  hills,  scorched  and  parched 
into  every  shade  of  orange  and  brown  by  the 
tropical  sunshine.  The  general  views  of  Toledo 
have  no  beauty,  but  are  solemn  and  affecting 
beyond  those  of  all  other  places,  so  huge  and 
historical  does  it  stand,  without  any  vegetation 
wrhatever,  girdled  in  from  the  living  world  by 
the  indescribable  solitude  of  its  utterly  desolate 
hills. 

Guarding  the  entrance  of  the  town  stands  the 
ruined  castle  of  Cervantes,  on  a  projecting  spur 
of  the  mountain.  At  its  foot  is  the  bridge  of 
Alcantara,  "  the  Bridge  of  the  Bridge,"  closed  at 
both  ends  by  gate  towers,  and  striding  with  high 
arches  across  the  Tagus,  as  it  rushes  through  the 
deep  chasm  in  the  rock  upon  which   it   is  built. 


i8o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

Hence  one  ascends  to  the  town  by  a  terraced 
road,  from  which  there  is  a  glorious  view  over 
the  Vega.  The  atmosphere  is  so  clear  that  every 
fissure  in  the  distant  hills  can  be  counted,  and 
each  building  on  the  line  of  the  horizon  stands 
out  against  the  transparent  turquoise  sky  as  if 
seen  through  a  microscope.  Where  the  terrace 
makes  a  zigzag  to  a  higher  level,  is  the  grand 
Moorish  gateway  called  Puerta  del  Sol,  richly 
embossed  with  tracery,  and  of  a  splendid  orange- 
red  colour.  Now  we  reach  the  Zocodover,  a 
Moorish  square  overhung  by  many  ranges  of 
balconies,  whence  a  tolerably  wide  street,  the  only 
one  in  Toledo,  winds  along  the  irregularities  of 
the  hill  to  the  cathedral,  which  unfortunately 
stands  so  low  that  its  fine  spire  can  never  become 
a  conspicuous  feature.  Diving  thus  into  the  heart 
of  the  town,  the  quaintness  of  everything  is 
increasingly  striking.  Here  a  beautiful  Moorish 
or  Gothic  fragment  breaking  the  line  of  white- 
washed walls,  there  balconies  adorned  with  cluster- 
ing vines  and  jessamine,  hung  with  bird-cages, 
and  with  handsome  dark-eyed  women  in  lace 
mantillas,  leaning  over  their  railings.  Near  the 
cathedral,  at  1 6,  Calle  Santa  Isabel,  is  a  house  of 
this  kind — the  pleasant  Casa  de  Huespedes  (board- 


I'l  ER  I'A    DEL    SOL,    TOl  I  DO. 


l8o 


ARANJUEZ  AND   TOLEDO.  iSj 

ing-house)  of  the  three  excellent  sisters  Figuerroa 
— where  we  spent  five  days  very  comfortably.  Our 
sitting-room  had  the  pleasantest  of  balconies,  filled 
with  birds,  and  common  but  luxuriant  flowers,  and 
looked  across  a  quiet  little  garden,  with  a  tree — a 
valuable  possession  in  Spain — to  the  cliffs  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river. 

Of  course  our  first  visit  was  to  the  cathedral, 
and  our  first  sensation  was  certainly  one  of  dis- 
appointment, but  perhaps  partly  because  we  had 
heard  so  much,  and  expected  so  much,  and  because 
the  beggars  are  so  tiresome,  and  their  perpetual 
whine,  with  their  mischievous,  even  malicious, 
tricks,  such  a  constant  irritant  to  the  temper. 
Much  also  of  the  building  has  been  whitewashed, 
and  the  fact  is  commemorated  in  a  triumphant 
inscription  on  one  of  its  walls ! 

Still,  the  beauties  of  the  cathedral  of  Toledo  are 
such  as  grow  upon  one  at  each  sight  of  it,  and 
surely  no  church  interior  was  ever  more  entirely 
picturesque  than  this,  where  the  coro,  filled  with 
wonderful  carved  stall-work,  divided  by  jasper 
pillars,  breaks,  but  does  not  block,  the  view  of  the 
five  naves  and  their  eighty-eight  columns,  through 
which  the  ancient  glass  sparkles  with  colours  of 
sapphire,  ruby,  and  emerald,  and  where  the  painted 


1 8z  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

and  gilt  retablo,  toned  but  uninjured  by  age,  rises 
from  pavement  to  ceiling  in  an  indescribable 
labyrinth  of  niches,  statues,  and  sculptured  tracery. 
Around  the  altar  are  glorious  tombs  of  some  of 
the  earlier  kings,  Alonzo  VII.,  Sancho  del  Deseado, 
Sancho  el  Bravo,  and  the  Infante  Don  Pedro.  Here 
also  is  buried  Cardinal  Mendoza  (ob.  1495),  who 
obtained  the  name  of  Tertius  Rex,  from  the  degree 
in  which  he  shared  the  sovereignty  with  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella. 

Behind  the  high  altar,  in  a  large  chapel  of  their 
own,  are  magnificent  tombs  of  a  knight  and  a 
lady.  He  is  Alvaro  de  Luna,  Master  of  Santiago, 
Constable  of  Castile,  and  Prime  Minister  of  John  II., 
whose  mind  and  counsels  he  completely  ruled  for 
five-and-thirty  years.  .  He  lived  with  royal  state, 
and  when  he  rode  out  was  followed  by  thirty 
knights,  and  he  held  three  thousand  lances  in  his 
pay.  His  interference  brought  about  a  marriage 
between  his  king  and  Isabella  of  Portugal,  who 
became  his  bitterest  enemy,  and  whose  ascendancy 
over  her  husband  was  the  cause  of  his  ruin.  He 
was  executed  on  an  accusation  of  high  treason  in 
the  square  at  Valladolid,  his  last  words  being, 
"  And  this  is  the  reward  of  faithful  devoted  service 
to  my  king."     In    his    lifetime  he  had   prepared 


ARANJUEZ  AND   TOLEDO.  185 

"beautiful  bronze  tombs  for  himself  and  his  wife, 
but  when  he  was  disgraced  his  relentless  master 
had  them  broken  up,  and  they  were  made  into  the 
two  pulpits  which  still  stand  at  the  entrance  of 
the  Capilla  Mayor.  The  existing  tombs,  of  ala- 
baster, are  due  to  the  filial  piety  of  his  daughter 
Maria. 

Close  by  is  the  entrance  of  the  Capilla  de  los 
Reyes  Nueves,  built  by  order  of  Juan  II.,  and 
containing  a  statue  of  its  founder  (buried  at  Mira- 
fiores;,  and  the  tombs  of  Henrique  II.  (1379),  anc^ 
his  queen  Juana  (1380);  their  son  Juan  I.  (1390),. 
with  his  wife  Leonora  (1382) ;  Henrique  III.  (1407), 
and  his  wife  Catalina  de  Lancastre  (14 19),  daughter 
of  John  of  Gaunt. 

The  Sacristia  Mayor,  entered  near  this,  is  sur- 
rounded by  beautiful  pictures  of  Juan  de  Borgofia, 
in  the  style  of  Perugino.  Below  these  hang  a 
most  interesting  series  of  authentic  portraits  of 
the  archbishops.  They  include  Mendoza  and 
Ximenes,  by  Borgofia ;  Carranza,  the  confessor 
of  Charles  V.,  who  urged  the  dying  emperor  to 
faith  in  the  Crucified  as  the  only  Saviour,  and 
was  consequently  imprisoned — as  "  infected  with 
Lutheran  opinions  " — for  eleven  years  in  the  castl 
of  St.  Angelo,  where  he  died  in  a  dungeon ;  and 


1 84  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

Sandoval  (by  Luiz  Tristan),  who  urged  Philip  IV. 
to  the  expulsion  of  the  Moors  from  Spain. 

At  the  western  end  of  the  church  is  a  Gothic 
tabernacle  with  a  beautiful  relief  of  San  Ildefonso 
receiving  a  chasuble  from  the  Virgin,  who  is 
supposed  to  have  presented  it  in  person  as  he  was 
praying  on  this  spot.  An  inscription  formerly 
attested  the  miracle  in  these  words  : — 

"  Quando  la  Reina  del  cielo 
Puso  los  pies  en  el  suelo 
En  esta  piedra  los  puso 
De  besarla  tened  uso 
Para  masvuestro  consuelo." 

The  Virgin  is  also  said  to  have  attended  mass  in 
this  cathedral,  occupying  the  seat  of  San  Ildefonso 
(never  used  since)  who  had  written  a  treatise  in 
defence  of  her  perpetual  virginity ;  and  it  is  to  this 
story  of  an  honour  paid  to  one  of  its  archbishops 
that  Toledo  owes  the  primacy  of  Spain. 

The  image  which  now  occupies  the  place  of 
honour  in  the  shrine,  so  delighted  the  Virgin  when 
she  came  to  inspect  the  likeness,  that  she  declared 
it  her  very  image,  embraced  it  tenderly,  and  con- 
ferred upon  it  the  gift  of  miracles.  Yet,  after  all, 
this  is  not  the  most  important  idol  in  the  place. 
"Maestra  Sefiora  de  Toledo,"  herself  one  of  the 


ARANJUEZ  AXD   TOLEDO.  185 

most  hideous  of  all  the  black  dolls  poor  St.  Luke  is 
held  responsible  for,  resides  in  the  Sacristy,  and 
possesses  a  wardrobe  and  collection  of  jewels  of 
unparalleled  richness.  When  we  saw  her,  she  was 
dressed  in  silver  tissue,  entirely  covered  with  small 
pearls  ;  but  her  clothes  are  changed  at  each  great 
feast-day. 

No  one  should  leave  the  cathedral  without 
visiting  the  Mosarabic  chapel,  a  large  separate 
building  entered  near  the  great  western  door.  Its 
history  is  this.  At  the  Moorish  invasion,  the 
Toledans  defended  themselves  gallantly,  and,  when 
they  yielded,  obtained  the  best  conditions  they 
could.  Chief  amongst  the  terms  they  insisted 
upon  was  that  they  should  preserve  five  churches, 
in  which  there  should  be  free  liberty  of  worship 
for  those  who  remained  faithful  to  Christianity. 
Thus,  through  the  four  hundred  years  of  the 
Moorish  rule,  the  faith  was  kept  alive  in  Toledo, 
and  the  faithful  bore  the  name  of  Mos-Arabes — 
"  mixed  with  the  Arabs."  In  the  reign  of 
Alonzo  VI.,  when  Toledo  returned  to  the  Christian 
rule,  the  papal  legate,  Richard,  desired  that  the 
Mosarabic  should  be  laid  aside  for  the  Gregorian 
ritual,  and  his  wishes  were  upheld  by  the  king, 
and  the  queen  Dona  Costanza,  who  preferred  the 


1 86  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

rites  of  Rome.  The  Toledan  clergy  were  furious, 
and  the  people  became  so  excited,  that  a  revolution 
was  imminent.  Alarmed  at  this  turn  of  affairs, 
and  fearing  to  push  matters  to  an  extremity,  the 
king-  then  proposed  as  a  compromise,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  day,  that  the  dispute  should  be 
decided  by  a  single  combat,  each  party  choosing 
a  champion,  and  that  so  God  should  show  which 
ritual  was  most  acceptable  to  Him.  The  fight 
took  place  in  the  vega,  and  the  Mosarabic 
champion,  Don  Ruiz  de  la  Matanza,  was  the 
victor.  The  populace  rent  the  air  with  their 
applause,  and  believed  that  all  was  settled.  But 
the  court  was  enraged,  and  some  little  time  after, 
Alonzo,  conveniently  discovering  that  the  means 
of  proof  chosen  had  been  impious  and  cruel, 
proposed  another  trial.  This  time,  after  a  general 
fast,  and  prayers  in  all  the  churches,  copies  of  the 
Roman  and  of  the  Toledan  rituals  were  to  be 
placed  together  in  a  lighted  bonfire,  and  that 
which  remained  unscathed  would  be  the  one 
approved  by  God. 

A  pile  of  faggots  was  lighted  in  the  Zocodover, 
in  the  presence  of  an  immense  concourse,  and  the 
two  breviaries  were  placed  upon  it,  each  party 
praying  fervently  for  the  liturgy  they  preferred. 


ARANJUEZ  AND  TOLEDO.  187 

But  it  was  a  stormy  day,  and  before  the  flames 
could  reach  it,  the  Roman  prayer-book  was  taken 
up  by  the  wind  and  blown  intact  and  unsinged 
out  of  the  fire,  while  the  Mosarabic  breviary 
remained  unconsumed  in  the  midst  of  the  flames. 
Both  parties  shouted  that  the  victory  was  theirs, 
but  the  Mosarabians  carried  the  day,  and  their 
liturgy,  described  by  Dr.  Neale  as  "  the  connecting 
link  of  the  eastern  and  western  rites,"  was  pre- 
served in  Toledo.  When  Ximenes  became  arch- 
bishop, it  was  beginning  to  fall  into  desuetude, 
and  to  preserve  so  interesting  a  relic  of  faith  in 
troublous  times,  he  instituted,  in  15 12,  an  order  of 
priests  especially  charged  with  the  performance 
of  the  Mosarabic  office,  and  built  the  chapel  which 
we  see.  Its  walls  are  covered  with  frescoes  by 
Juan  de  Borgofia,  of  victories  over  the  infidels,  and 
of  the  taking  of  Oran. 

The  splendid  collection  of  church  vestments  is 
well  worth  examining.  Nothing  can  describe  their 
magnificence,  or  the  degree  of  high-art  to  which 
they  shew  that  needlework  can  be  carried. 

The  grand  time  to  visit  the  cathedral  is  the 
festival  of  Corpus,  when  the  whole  of  its  exterior 
is  hung  with  glorious  tapestries  of  the  time  of 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella. 


1 88  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

The  existing  remains  in  Toledo  are  of  three 
kinds,  viz.,  first,  the  Moorish  mosque,  the  Moorish 
houses,  and  the  fragments  of  Moorish  work  em- 
bedded in  the  cathedral  and  churches ;  second,  the 
Jewish  synagogues ;  third,  the  Christian  art. 

The  Moorish  mosque,  now  called  the  church  of 
El  Christo  de  la  Luz,  is  of  intense  interest.  It 
stands  behind  the  Puerta  del  Sol,  and  might 
easily  be  overlooked,  as  its  walls,  covered  with 
beautiful  Moorish  arches,  are  enclosed  in  a  court- 
yard. It  was  in  existence  when  Alonzo  VI.  entered 
Toledo,  May  25,  1083.  Built  into  this  and  other 
Arabian  buildings  of  Toledo  are  fragments  of 
Gothic  constructions,  such  as  capitals  and  por- 
tions of  columns,  showing  that  they  belonged  to 
Christian  edifices  anterior  to  the  Moorish  conquest. 
The  plan  adopted  by  the  Moors  is  almost  analogous 
to  that  of  the  Christian  basilicas,  their  mosques 
being  divided  into  naves,  and  generally  ending 
in  an  apse.  The  arches  which  support  the  roof 
of  the  naves  are  either  round  or  horseshoe,  and 
double  arches  are  employed  in  the  ornamentation 
of  the  walls.  The  shafts  of  the  columns  which 
sustain  the  arcades  of  these  buildings  are  either 
of  marble  or  of  brick  and  mortar,  but  always  thick 
and  heavy.     The  octagonal  form  observed  in  some 


ARANJUEZ  AXD   TOLEDO.  189 

of  them  is  a  feature  of  the  period.  The  arabesques 
and  carvings  with  which  the  Moors  ornamented 
their  work  in  Toledo  are  almost  always  coarse 
adaptations  from  the  ornaments  which  they  had 
seen  in  passing  through  places  which  had  sub- 
mitted to  their  yoke.  Their  capitals  follow  the 
Greek  forms,  more  or  less  modified,  according  to 
the  caprice  of  the  builders,  but  Byzantine  ornament 
is  the  kind  which  was  most  popular  with  them. 

There  is  something  especially  striking  in  the 
low  vaulted  nave  of  El  Christo  de  la  Luz,  which 
is  like  a  miniature  fragment  from  the  mosque  at 
Cordova.  Over  the  altar  hangs  a  ghastly  crucifix 
with  long  real  hair,  which  recalls  a  curious  Spanish 
legend,  telling  that  as  the  Cid  rode  by  after  the 
conquest  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  his  faithful 
steed  Bavieca  dropped  upon  its  knees  before  this 
mosque.  Bavieca  needed  no  guidance  and  never 
did  wrong,  so  when  she  knelt  all  knew  that  some 
holy  relic  must  be  concealed  upon  that  spot.  The 
wall  was  pulled  down,  and,  as  the  stones  fell,  a 
stream  of  light  poured  forth,  and  a  crucifix  was 
disclosed,  where  it  had  been  immured  for  safety 
before  the  invasion,  the  lamp  which  was  then  lighted 
still  miraculously  burning — El  Christo  de  la  Luz. 

Near  this   church   is   the   splendid    hospital   of 


i9o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

Santa  Cruz,  now  a  military  school.  Cardinal 
Mendoza  left  his  fortune  to  Isabella  to  be  em- 
ployed for  charitable  purposes,  and  this  is  one  of 
the  noble  foundations  she  raised  in  fulfilment  of 
what  she  felt  would  be  his  wishes.  Its  patios  and 
staircase  are  as  beautiful  in  detail  as  in  design. 

Ouite  on  the  other  side  of  the  town  are  the  two 
marvellous  old  Jewish  synagogues,  now  called 
El  Transito  and  Santa  Maria  Blanca.  Both  are 
of  the  greatest  interest,  as  having  been  built  by 
the  Jews  during  the  dominion  of  the  Moors,  under 
whose  tolerant  rule  they  enjoyed  perfect  freedom 
and  liberty  of  conscience.  Both  buildings  are 
almost  like  mosques,  and  it  is  supposed  that 
Moorish  workmen  were  employed  in  them.  Santa 
Maria  Blanca,  which  stands  back  in  a  little  court, 
and  is  newly  whitewashed,  was  indeed  a  Jewish 
sanctuary,  being  ceiled  with  cedar  of  Lebanon,  and 
the  ground  on  which  it  stood  covered  with  the 
sacred  dust  of  Palestine. 

El  Transito  is  much  more  magnificent.  It  was 
built  by  Samuel  Levi,  a  Jew  who  was  the  treasurer 
and  faithful  servant  of  Pedro  the  Cruel,  but  whose 
master,  coveting  his  wealth,  tortured  him  and  put 
him  to  death,  and  then  confiscated  all  his  posses- 
sions. 


ARANJUEZ  AND  TOLEDO.  191 

When  the  Christians  recovered  Toledo,  the  star 
of  the  Jews  set,  and  each  Jewish  head  was  taxed 
at  thirty  pieces  of  silver — "  the  price  of  Him  whom 
they  of  the  children  of  Israel  did  value."  But 
they  were  allowed  to  retain  their  synagogues 
through  a  curious  plea.  The  Jews  of  Toledo 
affirmed  that  they  had  not  consented  to  the  death 
of  the  Saviour !  When  Jesus  Christ  was  brought 
to  judgment,  they  said,  the  council  of  Jews,  of 
which  Caiaphas  was  the  president,  sent  to  take 
the  votes  of  the  tribes  as  to  whether  He  should 
be  released  or  put  to  death.  One  tribe  voted  for 
his  acquittal,  and  from  them  the  Jews  of  Toledo 
were  descended.  This  tribe,  then,  was  guiltless  of 
the  blood  of  Jesus,  and  did  not  merit  the  execra- 
tions poured  upon  their  brethren.  The  original 
answer  of  the  Toledan  Jews,  with  a  Latin  transla- 
tion of  the  Hebrew  text,  is  preserved  in  the  archives 
of  the  Vatican. 

In  1389  the  oppression  of  the  Jews  began  by 
their  being  bereaved  of  their  market,  which  was 
near  the  cathedral,  by  Archbishop  Tenorio,  who 
built  the  present  cloister  on  its  site.  In  1454 
Santa  Maria  Blanca  was  taken  away  from  the 
Jews,  on  the  instigation  of  San  Vicente  Ferrer. 
This    saint    was    a    great    mixture.       Cruel    and 


192  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

vindictive  beyond  words  in  his  persecution  of 
heretics,  he  was  saint-like  in  the  practice  of  his 
own  life.  He  refused  all  Church  dignities  ;  daily 
he  read  and  meditated  upon  the  Scriptures,  es- 
pecially upon  the  Passion  of  our  Lord.  In  his 
treatise  on  the  "  Spiritual  Life,"  he  exhorted  men 
to  turn  to  God  constantly  in  prayer,  for  "study 
would  drain  the  heart  and  intellect  unless  men 
constantly  turned  to  place  themselves  at  the  foot 
of  the  cross  of  Christ,  when  the  thought  of  his 
sacred  wounds  would  give  fresh  power  and  new 
light  to  their  souls." 

In  1490,  the  Toledans,  in  order  to  have  a  plea 
for  a  further  spoliation  of  the  Jews,  gave  out  that 
they  had  stolen  Juan  Passamonte,  a  boy  of  Guardia, 
and  crucified  him,  putting  his  heart  into  a  hostia, 
as  a  charm  against  the  Inquisition.  This  story 
is  commemorated  in  a  fresco  near  the  beautiful 
cloister  gate  called  "El  Nino  Perdido,"  and  is, 
like  the  similar  story  of  St.  Hugh  of  Lincoln,  a 
favourite  theme  with  poets  and  painters.  In  1492 
every  unbaptized  Jew  was  forced  to  quit  Spain  by 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  and  170,000  were  cruelly 
expelled,  preferring  banishment  and  the  loss  of 
everything  to  abandoning  their  faith.  The  expul- 
sion of  the  Jews  was  the  ruin  of  Toledo.      It  is 


ARANJUEZ  AND  TOLEDO.  193 

strange  how,    throughout   these   persecutions,  the 
teaching  of  St.  Bernard  was  overlooked,  who  said, 
"  Take  heed  what  you  do  to  the  Jews,  for  whoso- 
ever touches  them  is  like  one  who  touches  the  apple 
of  the  eye  of  Jesus,  for  they  are  His  flesh  and  blood." 
Not  far  from  the   synagogues   is  the  church  of 
San  Tome,  containing  a  picture  by  the  rare  artist 
El    Greco    (Domenico   Theotocupuli — 1577-1625). 
It  represents  the  burial  of  the  Conde   de  Orgaz, 
in   1392,  by  St.  Stephen  and  St.  Augustine,  who 
are  believed  to  have  come  in  person  to  bury  him, 
because  he  had  spent  all  his  wealth  in  adorning 
their  churches.     Near  this,  almost  on  the  edge  of 
the  steep  cliff  which  overhangs  the  Tagus,  is  the 
Franciscan   convent   of  San  Juan   de   los   Reyes, 
with  its  beautiful  church,  built  by  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  in  memory  of  their  victory  at  Toro.      It 
will    at    once    attract   attention,    not    only    from 
its   Gothic  architecture,  but   from  its  being  hung 
all  over  with   the   links   of  the   chains   of  Chris- 
tian   captives    rescued    at    the    conquest    of  the 
Moors.     The  entrance,  built  by  Alonzo  de  Covar- 
rubias   for   Philip   II.,    is   surmounted   by  an   ex- 
quisitely-sculptured cross.      The  cloisters,  though 
of  late   Gothic,   are   amongst  the   most   beautiful 
in  Europe.      Latterly  nature  has  added  much  to 

O 


i94  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

their  charm,  and  jessamine  and  honeysuckle  form 
natural  crowns  around  its  saint-statues.  Here 
Cardinal  Ximenes  entered  upon  his  noviciate  as  a 
Franciscan  monk,  and  hoped  to  flee  from  the  world 
in  which  he  was  destined  to  play  so  conspicuous  a 
part. 

Close  to  the  church  are  the  Cyclopean  ruins  of 
the  palace  built  by  King  Wamba  in  674,  and 
inhabited  by  Roderick.  From  its  window  he  is 
said  to  have  beheld  the  beautiful  daughter  of 
Count  Julian,  who  had  been  intrusted  to  his  care, 
while  she  was  bathing  in  the  river,  and  to  have 
become  possessed  with  the  fatal  passion  which  led 
to  the  invasion  of  the  Moors,  and  the  destruction 
of  his  kingdom. 

In  the  hollow  is  the  grand  gate-defended  bridge 
of  San  Martino,  connected  with  which  is  a  curious 
anecdote  of  wifely  devotion.  The  architect  of  the 
original  bridge  on  this  site  discovered  too  late 
that  his  work  was  not  strong  enough,  and  would 
give  way  when  the  scaffolds  were  removed.  To 
his  wife  alone  he  communicated  his  misery;  she 
set  fire  to  the  scaffolds,  burnt  down  the  whole 
work,  and  saved  her  husband's  reputation. 

Beyond  the  bridge  the  river  leaves  its  rocky 
gorge  and  winds  through  the  plain.     Here  is  the 


ARANJUEZ  AND   TOLEDO.  195 

small  ancient  basilica  called  El  Christo  de  la 
Vega,  with  its  richly-decorated  apse  and  solemn 
Rembrandt-like  interior,  in  which  the  principal 
ray  of  light  falls  upon  the  figure  on  the  crucifix 
which  gives  a  name  to  the  sanctuary.  The  figure, 
which  is  of  life  size,  has  its  head  bent,  its  hair 
falling  over  the  shoulders,  one  hand  only  nailed 
to  the  cross,  and  the  other  extended  as  if  in  the 
act  of  taking  an  oath.  Its  story  tells  that  a  young 
country  girl  made  her  lover  promise  to  marry  her 
and  sign  a  paper  swearing  that  he  would  do  so 
before  this  crucifix, — that  afterwards  the  lover  was 
faithless  and  denied  his  troth,  when  the  maiden, 
deserted  and  weeping,  betook  herself  to  the 
chapel,  and  prayed,  and  laid  the  paper  he  had 
signed  before  the  altar,  imploring  help  from  her 
Redeemer ;  —  then,  in  the  solemn  stillness,  the 
Crucified  detached  one  hand  from  the  cross,  and 
stretching  it  out,  exclaimed,  "  Io  soy  testigo," — I 
am  the  witness  ! 

A  recent  Spanish  author,  Gustavo  Becquer,  says 
truly :  "  Outside  the  place  which  guards  their 
memory,  far  from  the  precincts  which  preserve 
their  traces,  and  where  it  appears  as  if  we  still 
breathed  the  atmosphere  of  old  tales  told  in  the 
evening,  traditions  lose  their  poetic  mystery,  their 


196  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

inexplicable  hold  upon  the  soul.  Far  off  one 
questions,  one  analises,  one  doubts ;  but  here, 
faith,  like  a  secret  revelation,  illuminates  the  spirit, 
and  makes  one  believe." 

Good  walkers  should  ascend,  to  the  left,  beyond 
the  bridge  of  St.  Martino.  Passing  the  rude  stone 
cross  on  the  edge  of  the  hill,  they  will  find  them- 
selves at  once  in  one  of  the  wildest  scenes  imagin- 
able, and  may  follow  a  path  which  winds  through 
a  gorge,  and  then  along  declivities  so  arid  that 
scarcely  anything  grows  there  except  asphodel 
and  cistus,  flowers  which  are  careless  about  water 
and  love  a  dry  sandy  soil.  Rosemary  too  flourishes 
in  the  clefts,  a  herb  which  Spanish  peasants  think 
it  impossible  to  estimate  too  highly.  Once,  they 
say,  it  was  a  poor  common  plant  of  the  field,  but 
upon  it  the  Virgin,  on  a  washing-day,  hung  out 
to  dry  the  baby-clothes  of  the  infant  Jesus,  and 
thenceforth  it  became  for  ever  green  and  fragrant 
and  full  of  virtues.  The  fact  is  commemorated  in 
one  of  the  popular  songs,  which  are  so  endless  in 
themselves,  and  so  endlessly  in  the  mouths  of  the 
people  as  they  work  : — 

"  Lavando  estaba  la  Virgen, 
Y  tendiendo  en  el  romero ; 
Los  parajitos  cantaban ; 
Adoremus  el  misterio." 


ARANJUEZ  AND   TOLEDO.  197 

Since  the  death  of  the  Saviour,  too,  it  is  believed 
that  the  rosemary  has  put  forth  fresh  flowers  every 
Friday,  the  day  of  his  suffering,  "  as  if  to  embalm 
his  holy  body." 

As  the  path  winds  higher  amongst  the  rocks,  we 
come  in  sight  of  a  hermitage  and  its  little  chapel 
of  the  Virgin.  Hither,  on  the  night  of  her  great 
festival  on  the  1st  of  May,  long  processions  toil  up, 
chanting  as  they  go,  and  all  the  little  ways  are  lit 
up  by  blazing  branches,  making  a  winding  path  of 
fire  in  the  darkness.  Beyond  the  chapel  is  the 
ghastly  and  desolate  gorge  called  the  Degollada, 
from  a  woman  who  had  her  throat  cut  there,  and 
truly  it  seems  a  fitting  place  for  such  a  deed,  which 
might  easily  be  concealed  here;  and  as  the 
environs  of  Toledo  are  a  stronghold  of  brigands, 
it  requires  something  of  an  effort  to  mount  the  last 
and  most  desolate  ascent  which  ends  at  the  Castle 
of  Cervantes.  Yet  no  views  give  one  such  an  idea 
of  the  solemn  desolation  of  Toledo  as  these,  whence 
the  tawny  river  is  seen  winding  for  miles  between 
jagged  cliffs,  crowned  on  the  other  side  with  build- 
ings so  weird,  so  uniformly  old,  and  so  hopelessly 
decayed,  that  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  one  is 
still  walking  in  the  nineteenth  century.  So,  in 
spite    of  brigands,  it   is   well   to   linger   here   till 


r98  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

sunset,  when  all  the  poor'  and  pitiful  detail  is  lost, 
and  only  the  stupendous  outline  remains,  engraven 
upon  a  flaming  sky.  "Then,"  to  quote  Becquer 
again,  "  the  lofty  and  black  needles  of  the  towers 
of  Toledo,  between  whose  arched  windows  fall  some 
last  rays  of  light,  stand  out  against  the  floating 
groups  of  golden  clouds,  like  a  legion  of  phantoms, 
who,  from  the  height  of  their  seven  hills,  look 
down  upon  the  plain  with  their  eyes  of  fire." 

In  the  valley  beyond  the  bridge  of  Alcantara  is 
another  ruin,  called  the  "  Palace  of  Galiana." 
This  legendary  princess  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  daughter  of  King  Golafre,  who  loved  her  pas- 
sionately and  built  her  a  palace,  compared  with 
which  all  the  glories  of  the  Arabian  Nights 
paled  into  insignificance.  Hither  endless  lovers 
came  courting,  and  annoyed  the  princess  dread- 
fully, but  the  most  hideous  and  wearisome  was 
Bradamant,  a  gigantic  Moorish  chieftain,  who 
made  an  underground  passage  from  his  stronghold 
at  Guadalajara  to  Toledo,  that  he  might  visit  her 
every  day.  At  length  Charlemagne  the  Great 
came  hither  to  assist  Golafre  against  Abderrhaman, 
the  Sultan  of  Cordova,  and  being  lodged  in  the 
palace  and  falling  in  love  with  Galiana,  he  slew 
Bradamant    and    presented    her  with    his    head. 


ARANJUEZ  AND   TOLEDO.  199 

The  princess  was  so  charmed  with  the  gift  that 
she  became  enamoured  of  the  giver,  accepted  his 
hand,  accompanied  him  to  France,  and  was 
crowned  triumphantly.  Such  is  the  legend.  The 
palace,  which  never  was  a  palace,  and  which 
certainly  never  was  inhabited  by  Galiana,  is 
reduced  to  a  few  crumbling  walls.  Near  it,  in 
strange  contrast,  runs  the  railway,  and  it  is  the 
last  building  seen  on  leaving  Toledo. 


XI. 

MADRID  AND  THE  ESCORIAL. 

T  T  is  because  Charles  V.  suffered  so  much  from 
the  gout,  that  Madrid  was  chosen  as  the 
capital  of  Spain.  He  found  relief  from  its  sharp 
air,  and  it  was  thenceforth  adopted  as  the  home 
of  royalty.  No  situation  can  possibly  be  more 
odious  to  ordinary  mortals.  Though  situated 
2,400  feet  above  the  sea,  it  has  none  of  the 
advantages  and  all  the  disadvantages  of  a  high 
position.  The  climate  is  burningly  hot  in  summer 
and  piercingly  cold  in  winter. 

"  El  aire  de  Madrid  e  tan  sotil 

Que  mata  a  un  hombre,  y  no  apaga  a  un  candil."* 

All  around,  the  country  is  utterly  barren  and  hideous. 
Not  a  tree,  not  a  drop  of  water,  not  a  green  plant, 

*  "  The  air  of  Madrid  is  so  subtle.     It  kills  a  man,  and  does  not  put 
out  a  candle." 


MADRID  AND  THE  ESCORIAL.  201 

not  even  a  blade  of  grass,  not  a  vestige  of  colour 
of  any  kind,  but  only  roads  deep  in  dust,  and  a 
district  covered  with  brown  sand,  or  dull  grey 
rock.  After  the  time  of  Philip  II.,  the  kings  of 
Spain  found  out  how  great  a  mistake  had  led  to 
the  desertion  of  the  old  royal  cities  of  Valladolid, 
Toledo,  Seville,  and  Granada  for  this  desert,  and 
Philip  III.  wished  to  move  back  the  capital  to  Valla- 
dolid, Charles  III.  to  Seville,  but  it  was  then  too 
late,  partly  because  the  building  of  the  Escorial 
had  added  such  a  heavy  link  to  the  chain  which 
bound  the  capital  to  Madrid — which  is  neither  a 
"  ciudad,"  nor  a  cathedral-town,  but  "  the  largest 
village  in  Spain." 

"  Quien  te  quiere,  no  te  sabe  ; 
Quien  te  sabe,  no  te  quiere,"* 

is  a  very  true  proverb  regarding  the  present  royal 
city,  yet  the  self-glorious  Spaniards  still  call 
theirs  "the  only  court,"  and  believe  that  the 
world  is  silent  in  awe  before  its  splendour. 

"  Donde  esta  Madrid  calle  el  mundo  ?  " 

and  another  proverb  says  that  it  is  but  one  step 
from  Madrid  to  heaven  : — 

"Desde  Madrid  al  cielo.'" 


*    "  He  who  wishes  for  you,  does  not  know  you  ; 
He  who  knows  you,  does  not  wish  for  you." 


202  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

There  was  a  small  town  on  this  site  before  the 
time  of  Charles  V.,  and  its  narrow  streets  are 
interesting  and  abound  in  historical  recollections. 
The  Plaza  San  Domingo  marks  the  site  of  a 
conventual  church  where  Pedro  the  Cruel  was 
buried,  and  his  tomb,  removed  when  the  church 
was  pulled  down,  may  be  seen  in  the  architectural 
museum.  In  the  tower  of  the  Casa  de  Lujanes 
and  in  the  adjoining  house  which  has  a  curious 
doorway,  Francis  I.  was  imprisoned.  The  house 
called  Las  Vistillas  was  that  where  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  resided  when  at  Madrid,  and  from 
its  balcony  Cardinal  Ximenes  answered  the  nobles 
who  demanded  by  what  authority  he  had  assumed 
the  regency,  by  shewing  them  his  soldiers  in  the 
court  beneath.  The  Plaza  Mayor,  still  antiquated 
and  picturesque,  was  the  scene  of  many  Autos  da 
F6.  "  Many  Jews  are  burnt  here,"  wrote  Madame 
de  Villars,  ambassadress  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II., 
to  Madame  de  Coulanges,  "  and  there  are  other 
tortures  for  heretics  and  atheists,  which  are 
horrible  to  think  of."  The  Court  looked  down 
upon  these  scenes  from  the  windows  of  a  house 
still  remaining,  and  worth  visiting  on  account  of 
its  fine  staircase  lined  with  rich  blue  azulejos. 
From  these  windows  also  Charles  I.   of  England 


MADRID  AND  THE  ESCORIAL.  203 

saw  a  bull-fight,  given  in  his  honour  by  Philip  IV., 
when  he  was  courting  the  Infanta  Maria.  At 
that  time  there  was  no  regular  Plaza  de  Toros, 
and  bull-fights  were  always  given  here,  and  were 
the  cause  of  far  greater  loss  of  human  life  than 
those  which  exist  at  present,  as  the  greater 
proportion  of  the  bull-fighters  were  not  profes- 
sional, but  young  noblemen  of  the  court,  who 
hoped  to  make  themselves  more  acceptable  by 
exhibiting  wild  feats  of  rash  daring  under  the 
eyes  of  their  mistresses.  Vivid  descriptions  of 
these  bull-fights  are  given  in  the  exceedingly  rare 
but  important  letters  of  the  Comtesse  d'Aulnois,  a 
French  lady  of  rank,  who  visited  the  court  of  Spain 
during  the  reign  of  Philip  IV.  "  The  Plaza 
Mayor,"  says  Madame  d'Aulnois,  "  is  larger,  I 
think,  than  the  Place  Royale  at  Paris.  It  is  rather 
long  than  wide,  surrounded  by  porticoes,  upon 
which  the  houses  are  built,  and  are  always  alike, 
five  stories  high,  with  a  range  of  balconies  in  each, 
upon  which  you  enter  by  large  glass  doors.  The 
balcony  of  the  king  stands  more  forward  than 
the  others,  is  larger,  and  covered  with  gilding. 
It  occupies  the  centre  of  one  side,  and  is  surmounted 
by  a  canopy.  Opposite  are  the  balconies  of  the 
ambassadors,  the  Councils  of  Castile  and  Arragon, 


204  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

the  Inquisition,  Italy,  Flanders,  and  the  Indies. 
The  offices  of  War,  the  Crusades,  and  Finance  are 
to  the  right  of  the  king ;  one  may  recognise  them 
by  the  arms  which  are  displayed  on  their  crimson 
velvet  hangings,  embroidered  with  gold.  Lastly, 
the  town  council,  the  judges,  the  grands,  and 
other  nobles,  are  placed  according  to  their  rank, 
and  at  the  expense  of  the  king,  or  of  the  town, 
who  hire  the  balconies  from  different  private 
persons  who  live  there. 

"  There  is  given  on  behalf  of  the  king,  to  all 
those  I  have  mentioned,  a  collation  in  appropriate 
baskets,  and  with  this  collation,  which  consists 
of  fruits,  sweetmeats,  and  iced-waters, — gloves, 
ribbons,  fans,  pastils,  silk  stockings,  and  garters 
are  offered  to  the  ladies ;  so  that  these  festivals 
always  cost  more  than  a  hundred  thousand  crowns, 
an  expense  which  is  defrayed  from  the  fines 
appropriated  to  the  king  or  to  the  town.  This 
is  a  fund  which  no  one  would  venture  to  touch, 
even  to  save  the  kingdom  from  the  greatest 
danger;  if  they  did  so,  a  sedition  would  be  the 
result :  so  great  is  the  delight  which  the  people 
take  in  pleasures  of  this  kind. 

"I  assure  you,  that  the  countless  crowd  of 
people  (for  every  place  is  filled,  the  roofs  of  the 


MADRID  AND   THE  ESCORIAL.  205 

houses  like  the  rest),  the  balconies  with  their 
gay  hangings,  the  number  of  beautiful  ladies,  the 
magnificent  Court,  the  guards,  and  in  short,  the 
whole  square,  present  one   of  the  most   beautiful 

sights  I  have  ever  seen. 

****** 

"  When  there  are  in  the  town  horses  which  have 
served  and  are  skilful  in  a  bull-fight,  even  without 
any  knowledge  of  their  owner,  they  are  borrowed 
from  him,  equally  if  he  does  not  wish  to  sell 
them,  or  if  there  are  no  means  to  buy  them  with, 
and  they  are  never  refused.  If  the  horse  is 
unfortunately  killed,  and  a  proposal  is  made  to 
pay  for  it,  it  is  not  allowed,  and  it  would  be 
shewing  a  want  of  Spanish  generosity  to  receive 
money  in  such  a  case.  It  is  nevertheless  sufficiently 
disagreeable  to  have  a  horse,  which  you  may  have 
taken  great  pains  to  bring  up,  and  which  any 
adventurer  may  kill  in  the  most  unconcerned  way. 
This  kind  of  combat  is  considered  so  perilous,  that 
indulgences  are  open  in  many  of  the  churches  on 
those  days,  on  account  of  the  slaughter  which 
takes  place.  Many  Popes  have  wished  entirely 
to  do  away  with  such  barbarous  spectacles,  but 
the  Spaniards  have  been  so  urgent  with  the  court 
of  Rome  to   leave   them   untouched,   that   it   has 


206  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

given  in  to  their  wishes,  and  up  to  this  time  they 

have  been  tolerated. 

****** 

"  The  fetes  are  beautiful,  great,  and  magnificent ; 
it  is  a  very  noble  and  costly  spectacle ;  it  is 
impossible  to  depict  them  fairly,  and  one  cannot 
imagine  them  without  seeing  them.  But  I  confess 
that  all  this  gives  me  no  pleasure,  when  I  think 
that  a  man  whose  safety  may  be  dear  to  you,  has 
the  rashness  to  expose  himself  to  a  furious  bull, 
and  that  for  love  of  you  (for  this  is  generally  the 
motive),  you  may  see  him  return  bleeding  and 
half-dead.  Can  one  approve  any  of  these  customs  ? 
And  suppose  even  that  one  has  no  special  interest 
in  them,  can  one  wish  to  be  present  at  these  fetes, 
which  nearly  always  cost  the  lives  of  many 
persons  ?  For  my  part  I  am  astonished  that  in  a 
kingdom,  whose  kings  bear  the  name  of  Catholic, 
such  a  barbarous  amusement  should  be  allowed. 
I  know  it  is  of  great  antiquity,  as  it  dates  from  the 
Moors,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  it  ought  to  be  quite 
abolished,  as  well  as  many  other  customs  derived 

from  these  Infidels. 

****** 

"A  cavalier  of  merit  was  in  love  with  a  fair 
young  girl,  who  was  only  a  jeweller's  daughter ; 


MADRID  AND   THE  ESCORIAL.  207 

but  she  was  perfectly  beautiful  and  a  great  heiress. 
This  young  nobleman  having  learnt  that  some  of 
the  fiercest  bulls  of  the  mountains  had  been  taken, 
and  thinking  that  he  would  derive  great  honour 
from  their  conquest,  resolved  to  fight  with  them, 
and  asked  his  mistress's  permission.  She,  horrified 
at  the  very  idea  of  such  a  proposition,  fainted 
away,  and  forbade  him,  using  the  whole  force  of 
her  influence  over  him  to  prevent  his  risking  his 
life.  In  spite  of  this  prohibition,  he  thought  he 
could  not  give  her  a  higher  proof  of  his  love, 
and  secretly  prepared  everything  which  he  re- 
quired. But  notwithstanding  the  care  which  he 
took  to  conceal  his  design  from  his  mistress,  she 
discovered  it,  and  left  no  stone  unturned  to  change 
his  resolution.  At  last  the  day  of  the  fete  arrived, 
and  he  conjured  her  to  be  there  ;  assuring  her  that 
her  very  presence  would  be  sufficient  to  make  him 
a  conqueror,  and  to  acquire  for  him  a  glory  which 
would  render  him  more  worthy  of  her.  'Your 
love,'  she  said  to  him,  'is  more  ambitious  than 
tender,  and  mine  is  more  tender  than  ambitious. 
Go  where  glory  calls  you.  You  wish  that  I  should 
be  present,  you  wish  to  fight  before  me ;  yes,  I 
will  accede  to  your  wish,  and  perhaps  my  presence 
will  cause  you  more  trouble  than  encouragement.' 


2o8  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

"  At  last  he  quitted  her,  and  went  to  the  Plaza 
Mayor,  where  all  the  world  was  already  assembled. 
But  he  had  scarcely  begun  to  defend  himself 
against  a  fierce  bull  that  had  attacked  him,  when 
a  young  peasant  threw  a  dart  at  the  terrible  beast, 
which  pierced  it,  causing  great  agony.  It  in- 
stantly left  the  young  nobleman  who  was  engaged 
with  it,  and  rushed  bellowing  against  the  person 
who  had  struck  it.  The  young  man  aghast  tried 
to  escape,  when  the  cap  which  covered  his  head 
fell  off,  and  the  most  beautiful  long  hair  in  the 
world  floated  over  his  shoulders,  and  revealed  that 
it  was  a  girl  of  sixteen.  So  petrified  was  she 
with  terror,  that  she  was  unable  either  to  run  or 
escape  the  bull,  which  gave  her  a  terrible  wound 
in  the  side,  at  the  very  moment  when  her  lover, 
who  was  the  tocador,  and  who  recognised  her, 
came  to  her  assistance.  O  God !  what  was  his 
anguish,  at  seeing  his  dear  mistress  in  this  terrible 
state  !  He  became  beside  himself,  life  was  value- 
less to  him,  and  more  frantic  than  the  bull  itself, 
he  performed  incredible  feats.  He  was  mortally 
wounded  in  several  places  .  .  .  That  was  indeed  a 
day  when  people  considered  the  fete  delightful."  ^ 

The  Plaza  Mayor,  now  no  longer  used  for  bull- 
fights, is   occupied  by  an   open   garden,   through 


;S§3!f-    ; 


STATUE   OF    PHILIP    IV.,    MADKID. 


P.   2oX 


MADRID  AND   THE  ESCORIAL.  ?og 

which,    in   pleasant   contrast  to    London   squares, 
people   are   allowed    to    circulate   freely.      In    its 
centre  is  the  grand  equestrian  statue  of  Philip  III., 
cast    by  John   of  Bologna   from    a   drawing    by 
Pantoja.       A    still    grander     statue     is     that    of 
Philip    IV.,   where   the    bronze    mane   and    scarf 
literally  float  on  the  air,  and  which  is  historically 
interesting  from  the  important  persons  employed 
in   its   design ;  Velazquez   supplied  the  drawings, 
it   was    cast    in   Florence    by   Pedro    Tacca,    and 
Galileo  shewed  how  the  great  weight  of  the  horse 
could  be  sustained  in  its  prancing  position.     This 
statue,    moved   from    the    gardens    of   the    Buen 
Retiro,  now  ornaments   the   centre   of  the   Plaza 
del  Oriente,  one  side  of  which  is  occupied  by  the 
palace.     This  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  magnifi- 
cent royal   residences  in   the   world,  imposing   in 
itself,  and  striking  from  its  position  at  the  end  of 
the  finest  part  of  the  town,  on  the  edge  of  a  steep 
bank.     The  nearer  detail  of  the  surroundings  is 
wretched,  rugged  slopes  and  ragged  shrubberies, 
walks  and  gardens  alike  hopelessly  neglected,  but, 
beyond  these,  it  looks  upon  the  snow-capped  range 
of  the   icy    Guadarrama.      Below,    in   the  hollow, 
dribbles  the   Manzanares,   which   can  scarcely  be 
called  a  river,  and  which  has  been  compared  by 

P 


2io  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

Tirso   de   Molina  to   that   dreariest   of    things,    a 
university  town  during  the  long  vacation. 

"Como  Alcala  y  Salamanca, 
Teneis  y  no  sois  Colegio, 
Vacaciones  en  Verano 

Y  curso  solo  en  Inviemo." 

In  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  the  Court  used  to 
amuse  themselves  by  driving  up  and  down  in  the 
dry  bed  of  the  river,  and  Madame  de  Villars  gives 
Madame  de  Coulanges  an  amusing  account  of  the 
scenes  which  took  place  there.  She  also  mentions, 
apropos  of  the  enormous  bridge  which  there  crosses 
nothing  at  all,  that  a  wit  of  the  time  suggested 
to  Philip  IV.,  that  he  had  better  buy  a  river,  or 
sell  his  bridge. 

The  royal  family  of  Spain  of  the  house  of  Austria, 
of  which  we  read  so  much  in  memoirs  of  the  period, 
which  was  such  a  strange  chaos  of  beauty  and  ugli- 
ness both  mental  and  physical,  need  not  remain 
even  personally  strangers  to  any  one.  In  the  Royal 
Gallery,  where  many  delightful  and  profitable  morn- 
ings may  be  spent,  Titian,  Pantojo,  Coello,  and 
Velazquez,  have  handed  down  to  us  their  living 
forms  so  vividly  that  we  may  still  walk  and  live 
amongst  them.  The  family  procession  begins 
with  Charles  V.,  first  standing  with  his  favourite 


MADRID  AND  THE  ESCORIAL.  211 

dog ;  again,  as  an  old  man,  with  a  grizzled  beard, 
upon  his  war-horse.  Here  also  (hung  too  high)  is 
the  portrait  of  his  beautiful  queen  Isabella  of  Por- 
tugal, which  he  carried  with  him  to  San  Yuste ; 
and  near  it  is  Titian's  strange  picture  of  the  Apo- 
theosis of  Charles  V.  and  Philip  II.,  in  which  they, 
kings  on  earth,  kneel  as  suppliants  before  the 
throne  of  the  Redeemer.  This  was  the  last  object 
which  met  the  dying  eyes  of  the  Emperor ;  and,  by 
his  own  desire,  was  long  hung  over  his  grave.  In 
connection  with  his  portraits  we  should  look  at 
those  of  his  daughter,  Juana  of  Austria,  who,  as 
widow  of  a  Prince  of  Portugal,  was  Regent  of 
Spain  during  the  absence  of  Philip  II.  in  England  ; 
of  Catherine,  Queen  of  Portugal,  sister  of  the 
Emperor ;  and  of  Mary  of  Portugal,  the  unnatural 
daughter  of  his  other  sister,  Queen  Eleanor. 

Philip  II.  is  portrayed  for  us,  in  several  distinct 
stages  of  his  life  ;  and  it  is  most  interesting  to  trace 
from  youth  to  age  the  progress  of  the  handsome 
features  that  never  smiled  except  when  he  heard  of 
the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  when  he  laughed 
outright.  Three  of  his  four  wives  may  be  seen  with 
him ;  Mary  of  Portugal,  Mary  of  England,  and 
Isabella  of  France,  the  daughter  of  Catherine  de 
Medicis.      The  grand  portrait  of  the  ugly  Mary 


2i2  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

Tudor,  by  Antonio  More,  is  especially  valuable,  as 
being  that  sent  over  to  shew  her  bridegroom  what 
she  was  like  before  their  marriage,  and  it  is  won- 
derful that,  after  gazing  upon  her  sour  features,  he 
should  have  decisively  thrown  over  a  charming 
princess  of  Portugal  to  marry  her.  Near  the  queen, 
is  the  portrait  of  Antonio  Perez,  the  cruelly  perse- 
cuted minister  of  Philip  II.  Then  come  his  children, 
—Don  Carlos,  whose  birth  cost  the  first  Mary  her 
life,  and  whose  own  sad  life  is  supposed  to  have 
been  closed  by  his  father's  cruelty ;  and  Clara  Eu- 
genia Isabella,  the  beautiful  daughter  of  his  third 
wife,  whom  her  father  spoke  of  as  his  "  mirror " 
and  "the  light  of  his  soul,"  and  to  whom  he  be- 
queathed the  Netherlands.  Then  Philip  III.  and 
his  wife  Isabella  ride  by  on  their  magnificent  horses. 
Then  begin  the  endless  portraits  of  Philip  IV.,  with 
those  of  his  first  wife  Isabella,  daughter  of  Henry  IV. 
of  France,  and  their  little  son  Balthazar,  who  died 
before  he  was  grown  up,  represented  with  a  gun 
at  six  years  old,  and  again  riding  splendidly  on  his 
little  pony ;  of  the  minister  Duke  of  Olivares  ;  of 
Don  Ferdinand  of  Austria,  the  king's  handsome 
brother,  with  his  beautiful  dog ;  of  the  second 
Queen  Mariana,  who  never  could  help  laughing,  in 
spite  of  the  stiff  solemnity  of  the  Spanish  court, 


MADRID  AND   THE  ESCORIAL.  213 

and  who  looks  as  if  she  must  herself  have  provoked 
laughter  by  her  extraordinary  coiffure  and  costume 
as  a  bride ;  of  her  little  daughter  M aria  Marghe- 
rita,  a  charming  child,  in  the  most  enormous  of 
hooped  petticoats,  repeated  again  and  again,  at 
prayers,  in  full  costume,  and  playing  with  "  Las 
Meninas,"  her  maids  of  honour,  while  her  father 
and  mother,  looking  in  at  the  door,  are  reflected  in 
the  opposite  mirror.  Here  also  is  Charles  II.,  the 
last  lineal  descendant  of  Charles  V.,  and  his 
charming  wife  Marie  Louise  d'Orleans,  of  whom  he 
was  so  enamoured,  that  he  exclaimed  on  seeing  her 
dance,  "  My  queen,  my  queen,  thou  art  the  most 
perfect  in  all  creation." 

Upon  the  other  treasures  of  the  Madrid  gallery  it 
is  impossible  to  dwell  here.  They  cannot  be 
studied  enough,  from  the  rich  colouring  of  Raphael, 
Titian,  and  Pordenone,  to  the  cold  skies  and 
almost  too  truth-telling  figures  of  Velazquez. 
Never  was  there  a  more  delightful  collection, 
though  there  never  was  one  worse  arranged,  or  in 
which  it  is  more  difficult,  almost  impossible,  to  find 
what  you  want. 

The  interest  in  the  royal  portraits  must  be  carried 
on  to  the  Armeria  at  the  other  side  of  the  town, 
where,  in  a  great  hall,  stand,  as  if  marshalled  in 


2i4  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

battle  array,  a  grand  troop  of  suits  of  armour, 
which  include  many  of  those  in  which  the  kings 
were  painted.  Perhaps  the  most  interesting 
armour  here  is  the  suit  worn  by  Isabella  at  the 
siege  of  Granada;  the  most  interesting  individual 
specimen,  the  weird  Norse-like  helmet  of  Jaime  el 
Conquistador.  Charles  V.  is  again  brought  home 
to  us  in  his  camp  bed,  and  his  portantina,  brought 
from  San  Yuste.  In  the  suits  of  armour  which 
belonged  to  him,  the  figure  of  the  Virgin  is  always 
engraved  upon  the  breast,  that  of  St.  Barbara,  his 
patron  saint,  upon  the  back. 

In  the  Academia  are  preserved  three  splendid 
Murillos  taken  from  the  Caridad  at  Seville  by  the 
French,  and  never  sent  back  there  when  Waterloo 
restored  them  to  Spain.  The  finest  represents  St. 
Elizabeth  of  Hungary  (Santa  Isabel  in  Spanish) 
caring  for  her  lepers,  the  others  tell  the  story  of  the 
fall  of  snow  which  led  to  the  foundation  of  Sta. 
Maria  Maggiore  at  Rome.  Here  also  may  be  studied 
the  extraordinary  pictures  of  Goya  (ob.  1828)  king's 
painter  to  Charles  IV.,  and  justly  called  the  Rabe- 
lais of  painting ;  they  are  wonderful  representa- 
tions of  Spanish  life,  or  of  wild  dreams  of  witchcraft, 
effected  by  scratches,  plunges,  lunges  of  pen  and 
pencil,  with  dabs,  splashes,  and  blots  of  colour. 


MADRID  AND   THE  ESCORIAL.  215 

Modern  Madrid  has  deserted  the  gardens  of  the 
Buen    Retiro,    in   which    the    Austrian    court    so 
delighted,  and  goes  to  amuse  itself  on  the  prome- 
nade of  El   Prado,  which  is  something   like  the 
Champs  Elysees,  though  a  bad  imitation.     Here, 
the  dusty  road   between  the  avenues  is  rendered 
supportable   by   perfect   volumes   of  water    being 
squirted  over  it,  and  the  trees  are  enabled  to  grow 
by  having  little  ponds  dug  round  their  stems.     It 
is  quite  worth  while  to  go  here  late  in  the  after- 
noon.     The   costumes   of    the   nurses    are    really 
gorgeous,   brilliant    scarlet,    orange,    and    purple, 
slashed   with   broad   stripes   of  black  velvet,  and 
forming  perfect  rays  of  colour  as  they  dart  in  and 
out   after   their   children   under   the   acacia   trees. 
Here  groups  sit  on  the  stone  seats  discussing  the 
last  pictures  in  La  Carcajada,  a  capital  newspaper 
of  political  caricatures ;  and  young  legislators  of 
from  eighteen  to  twenty,  got  up  excessively  smart, 
consider  that  they  are  the  only  power  which  has  a 
right  to  direct  the  affairs  of  the  world.      At   the 
gay   little   wooden   stalls   all   varieties   of  cooling 
drinks — "  Bebidas  "—are  sold,  the  prince  of  which 
is  "Horchata   de   Chufas,"   a   kind   of  snow-milk 
flavoured  with  the  juice  of  a  little  nut  which  comes 
from  Valencia.     "Confituras"  are  also  sold  here — 


2i6  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

a  great  favourite  being  that  known  as  "  Cabello  de 
Angel,"  or  "  Angel's  Hair."  Picturesque  groups  of 
peasants  gather  around  these  stalls,  not  Mayos 
and  Mayas  here,  but  "Manolos"  and  "Manolas," 
a  corruption  from  Manuel  and  Manuela.  Up  and 
down,  between  the  passers-by,  flit  the  water- 
carriers,  and  make  the  air  resound  with  their  sharp 
cry  of  "  agua,  agua,  quien  quiere  agua  ;  agua 
helado,  fresquita  como  la  nieve." 

The  upper  end  of  the  Prado  is  lined  on  one  side 
by  little  gardens.  This  is  the  aristocratic  part  of 
the  promenade,  where  society  must  always  go 
de  ngueur  as  far  as  a  certain  fountain,  and  where 
14 the  language  of  fans"  is  talked  to  an  amazing 
extent.  Descending  the  other  way,  one  comes  to 
Atocha,  a  monastery  with  a  church,  raised  into  a 
basilica  by  the  present  Pope  to  please  Queen 
Isabella  and  Don  Francesco  d'Assis.  These  "  Ca- 
tholic sovereigns "  always  came  once  a  week  to 
worship  a  hideous  idol-Madonna  (another  of  poor 
St.  Luke's);  and  on  March  izy  1854,  solemnly 
decorated  it  with  the  collar  of  the  Golden  Fleece. 
For  centuries  the  image  had  been  celebrated.  In 
1562,  when  the  whole  kingdom  was  in  suspense 
during  the  alarming  illness  of  Don  Carlos,  heir  of 
Philip   II.,    it   was   carried    to    his    sick-room    at 


MADRID  AND   THE  ESC 0 RIAL.  217 

Alcala,  and  shares  the  honour  of  his  cure  with  the 
dead  body  of  the  monk  Fray  Diego,  which  was 
dug  up  and  laid  upon  his  bed.  Ferdinand  VII. 
came  hither  especially  to  invoke  the  assistance  of 
the  Virgin  of  Atocha,  when  he  conspired  against 
his  father ;  and,  when  he  was  carried  off  by  the 
French,  he  transferred  the  ribbon  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  to  its  breast  from  his  own.  To 
this  church  also  came  the  Italian  king  Amadeo, 
straight  from  the  station,  to  look  upon  the  dead 
face  of  the  murdered  Prim. 

The  other  churches  of  Madrid  are  all  modern 
and  little  worth  seeing.  San  Isidro  Real,  however, 
may  be  visited,  as  containing  the  relics  of  the 
ploughman's  saint,  invoked  in  wet  weather  by  the 
peasant,  in  the  popular  couplet — 

"  San  Isidro  Labrador 
Quita  el  agua  y  pon  el  sol." 

San  Isidro  was  a  common  labourer  who  neglected 
his  work  to  make  meditations  upon  the  virtues  of 
San  Isidoro,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been 
considered  so  meritorious  above,  that  angels  were 
sent  down  to  do  his  work  for  him,  and  wolves  were 
unable  to  devour  his  oxen.  He  died  in  993,  and 
was   canonised   because  Philip  III.  was  cured  of 


2x8  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

some  trifling  illness  upon  touching  his  body. 
When  Queen  Isabel  came  to  pray  by  it,  one  of  her 
maids  of  honour,  pretending  to  kiss  his  toes,  bit 
one  of  them  off,  feeling  sure  that  her  health  would 
be  benefited  by  swallowing  so  great  a  relic ;  but 
she  instantly  became  dumb,  and  did  not  recover 
her  speech  till  she  was  able  to  vomit  forth  the 
delicious  morsel.  The  festa  of  San  Isidro  is 
greatly  observed  on  May  25th,  at  Madrid,  and 
the  pilgrimage  on  that  day  to  San  Isidro  del 
Campo  is  a  very  pretty  sight.  But,  on  the  whole, 
saint-worship  has  been  on  the  wane  here  for 
some  years  past,  and  Protestantism  making  great 
ground.  Large  shops  full  of  Bibles  are  no  un- 
common sight  now  in  the  streets  of  Madrid,  and 
have  a  great  sale.  It  is  interesting  to  remember 
that  when  the  first  Spanish  translation  of  the 
Bible  was  made  in  Spain  by  Francisco  de  Enzinas 
in  1543,  Charles  V.  did  not  oppose  it,  and  even 
promised  to  accept  its  dedication  to  himself,  if 
only  the  Church  would  approve  it.  The  Church, 
however,  was  furious,  and  it  was  condemned  to  be 
burnt,  and  its  author  was  cast  into  prison. 

For  the  last  few  years  "  society,"  in  the  generally 
accepted  sense,  has  almost  ceased  to  exist  at 
Madrid,    having    been    so    divided    by    political 


MADRID  AND   THE  ESCORIAL.  219 

estrangements.      Don    Carlos    has    many   friends, 
the  Prince  of  Asturias  ten  times   as   many,  "  the 
inoffensive  Italian,"  as  the  aristocratic  Spaniards 
contemptuously   but   pityingly  call   him,    scarcely 
any ;  indeed,  the  Italian  queen,  Vittoria,  has  only 
found  two  ladies  willing  to  take  office  in  her  court. 
Many   rules    of   ancient    etiquette    are    preserved 
which  are  curious.     Everything  in  Madrid  counts 
by  nine  days.      For  instance,  after  a  death  in   a 
family,  the  Novenario  must  take  place  :  the  widow 
and  daughters,  or  whoever  the  nearest  surviving 
relations  may  be,  are  expected  to  hold  the  Dnilo, 
that    is,    to    close     their    windows,    and    remain 
solemnly  seated  for  nine  days  in  their  reception 
rooms  to  receive  the  condolence  of  all  their  friends, 
who  visit   them   in   mourning ;    and   as   it   is   the 
correct  thing  for   all   the  friends  to  repeat   their 
visit  during  every  one  of  the  nine  days,  though  the 
first  two  or  three  times  they  are  all  very  solemn 
and  sad,  it  is  impossible  to  keep  up  the  strain,  and 
the  party  naturally  glide  into  a  degree  of  gossip 
and  chatter  which   is   a   desecration  alike  of  the 
occasion  and  of  the  feelings  of  those  who  have  to 
go  through  the  ordeal.     Widows,  however,  may  be 
thankful  to  escape  all  they  had  to  go  through  at 
Madrid    in    the    last    century,    when    they    were 


220  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

compelled  to  pass  the  whole  first  year  of  their 
mourning  in  a  chamber  entirely  hung  with  black, 
where  not  a  single  ray  of  the  sun  could  penetrate, 
seated  on  a  little  mattress  with  their  legs  always 
crossed.  When  this  year  was  over,  they  retired  to 
pass  the  second  year  in  a  chamber  hung  with  grey. 
They  could  have  neither  pictures,  nor  mirrors,  nor 
cabinets,  nor  any  ornamental  furniture,  during  the 
whole  of  their  widowhood.  They  were  never 
allowed  to  wear  jewels,  and  still  less,  colours. 
However  modest  they  might  be,  they  must  live  so 
retired  that  "  it  seemed  as  if  their  souls  were 
already  in  the  other  world  ;  "  and,  according  to  a 
writer  of  the  time,  this  great  constraint  was  partly 
occasioned  "because  some  ladies  who  were  very 
rich  and  especially  in  beautiful  furniture,  were 
often  induced  to  take  another  husband,  in  order  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  using  it  again  !  " 

In  the  Royal  Gallery,  poor  Mariana,  wife  of 
Philip  IV.,  the  laughing  queen,  whom  we  have 
seen  tricked  out  in  all  her  bridal  bravery,  is  intro- 
duced to  us  for  a  second  time  in  her  widow's 
dress.  It  consists  of  thick  black  stuff,  with  a  tunic 
of  fine  muslin  made  like  a  surplice,  descending 
below  the  knees  and  following  all  the  lines  of  the 
figure.     The  head  and  throat  are  covered  with  a 


MADRID  AND   THE  ESCORIAL.  221 

coif  of  white  muslin,  concealing  all  the  hair  like 
the  dress  of  a  nun.  Over  all  is  a  great  mantle  of 
black  taffetas  falling  to  the  feet. 

A  visit  to  Madrid  finds  its  natural  close  in  the 
Escorial,  where  the  kings  and  queens  of  whom  we 
have  seen  so  much,  have  found  a  ghastly  sepulchre. 
It  is  so  profoundly  curious  that  it  must  of  neces- 
sity be  visited,  though  it  is  so  utterly  dreary  and 
so  hopelessly  fatiguing  a  sight,  that  it  requires  the 
utmost  Christian  patience  to  endure  it.  Well  may 
Theophile  Gautier  exclaim,  that  whatever  the  other 
ills  and  trials  of  life  may  be,  one  may  console  one- 
self by  thinking  that  one  might  be  at  the  Escorial, 
and  that  one  is  not. 

The  Escorial  may  be  undergone  upon  the  road 
northwards,  or  may  form  a  separate  excursion  from 
Madrid.  The  station  of  the  name  lands  you  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill  on  which  this  colossus  of  granite 
is  placed.  It  is  generally  described  as  standing  in 
a  mountain  wilderness,  but  this  is  not  quite  true. 
You  ascend  through  woods  which  are  pleasant 
enough,  and  where  Charles  IV.,  wisely  declining 
to  inhabit  the  "  architectural  nightmare,"  built  a 
pretty  little  toy  palace  of  his  own.  But  behind 
the  Escorial  all  is  a  bleak  solitude,  blue  black  peaks, 
capped  with  snow,  and  furrowed   by  dry  torrent- 


222  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

beds,  or  sandy  deserts  sprinkled  over  with  boulders 
of  granite.  There  is  no  softening  feature.  The 
dismal  streets  of  granite  houses  which  surround 
the  huge  granite  palace  and  church  have  the  same 
lines  of  narrow  prison-like  windows,  the  same 
harsh  angular  forms  everywhere.  The  main  edifice 
was  thirty-one  years  in  building,  and  is  three 
quarters  of  a  mile  round,  but  each  wall  is  just  like 
the  other,  they  have  no  distinguishing  features 
whatever.  It  has  thirty-six  courts,  and  eleven 
thousand  windows,  in  compliment  to  the  virgins  of 
St.  Ursula,  but  they  are  all  the  same  size,  and  all 
exactly  alike.  The  architect,  Herrera,  was  tied 
down  to  the  most  hideous  of  plans,  that  of  a  grid- 
iron, because  it  was  the  emblem  of  St.  Laurence, 
upon  whose  day,  the  ioth  of  August,  the  building 
was  vowed  after  the  successful  siege  of  St.  Quentin. 
The  whole  is  justly  looked  upon  as  a  stone  image 
of  the  mind  of  its  founder,  Philip  II.  And  the 
interest  which  encircles  this  cruel  yet  religious, 
this  superstitious  yet  brave,  character,  lends  a 
charm  even  to  the  Escorial.  Except  the  extirpa- 
tion of  heretics,  it  was  the  one  object  of  his  earthly 
ambition.  The  seat  is  shewn — Silla  del  Rey — high 
among  the  grey  boulders  of  the  hillside,  whence 
he  used  to  watch  the  progress  of  the  huge  fantastic 


MADRID  AND   THE  ESCORIAL.  223 

plan,  as  court  after  court  was  added,  each  fresh 

wing  forming  another  bar  of  the  gridiron.     When 

it  was  finished,  he  deserted  his  capital,  and  made 

it  his  principal  residence,  devoting  himself  to  an 

eternal  penance  of  fasting  and  flagellation,  but  at 

"the   same  time   boasting    that   he   governed    two 

worlds  from  the  heights  of  his  mountain  solitude. 

Hither,  when  he  felt  the  approach  of  death,  during 

an    absence    at   Madrid,   he   insisted    upon   being 

brought,  borne  for  six  days  in  a  litter  upon  men's 

shoulders,  and  here,  during  his  last  hours,  he  was 

carried  round  all  the  halls,  to  take  a  final  survey  of 

the  work  of  his  life. 

The  main  entrance  is  so  featureless  as  almost  to 
pass  unnoticed.  It  leads  into  a  vast  gloomy  court- 
yard, at  the  end  of  which  are  huge  statues  of 
the  kings  of  Judah.  These  decorate  the  facade 
of  the  church.  Its  interior  is  bare  and  dismal, 
but  the  proportions  are  magnificent,  and  though 
the  effect  is  cold  and  oppressive,  it  is  not  without  a 
certain  solemnity  of  its  own.  In  high  open  chapels 
on  either  side  of  the  altar,  kneel  two  groups  of 
figures  in  gilt  robes.  On  the  left  are  Charles  V., 
his  queen,  his  daughter,  and  his  two  sisters  ;  on  the 
right  are  Philip  II.,  three  of  his  wives  (the  un- 
loved Mary  of  England  being  omitted),  and  Don 


224  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

Carlos.  Down  a  long  flight  of  steps  you  are  led 
by  torchlight  to  the  Panteon,  an  octagonal  chamber 
surrounded  by  twenty-six  sepulchres  of  kings  or 
mothers  of  kings,  arranged  one  above  another  like 
berths  in  a  ship.  Charles  V.  occupies  a  place  in  the 
upper  story.  Brantome  declares  that  the  Inquisi- 
tion proposed  that  his  body  should  be  burnt  for 
having  given  ear  to  heretical  opinions.  It  remains, 
though  curiosity,  not  heresy,  has  twice  caused  the 
coffin  to  be  opened  ;  the  last  time  in  187 1,  during 
the  visit  of  the  Emperor  of  Brazil,  when  hundreds 
of  people  flocked  forth  from  Madrid  to  look  upon 
the  awful  face  of  the  mighty  dead,  which  was  entire 
even  to  the  hair  and  eyebrows,  though  perfectly 
black.  Philip  II.  fills  the  niche  below,  lying  in  the 
coffin  of  gilt  bronze  which  he  ordered  to  be  brought 
to  him  that  he  might  inspect  it  in  his  last  moments, 
and  for  which  he  ordered  a  white  satin  lining  and  a 
larger  supply  of  gilt  nails,  with  his  last  breath. 
Each  of  the  Austrian  kings  seems  to  have  loved  to 
pass  hours  here  in  meditation  over  his  future 
resting-place.  Philip  IV.  used  to  sit  in  his  niche 
in  his  lifetime  to  hear  mass  ;  Maria  Louisa  scratched 
her  name  upon  her  future  urn  with  a  pair  of  scissors. 
The  last  funeral  here  was  that  of  Ferdinand  VII., 
whose  coffin  was  too  big  for  the  royal  hearse,  and 


MADRID  AND   THE  ESCORIAL.  225 

had  to  be  brought  hither  in  a  common  coche  de 
colleras,  its  end  projecting  from  the  front  windows, 
the  attendant  monks  riding  round  it  on  mules,  and 
the  empty  hearse  following,  for  the  sake  of  decency. 
His  widow,  Christina,  though  the  mother  of  a 
sovereign,  will  never  be  buried  here,  even  if  the 
Bourbons  return  to  power,  as  Spanish  aristocratic 
feeling  would  not  allow  the  honour  to  a  queen  who 
has  formed  a  mesalliance  in  her  second  marriage. 
Isabella  II.  heard  midnight  mass  in  the  Panteon 
whenever  she  visited  the  Escorial. 

A  separate  chamber  has  the  dreadful  name  of 
El  Pudridero.  Here  lie  sixty  members  of  the 
royal  family,  including  Don  Carlos,  Don  John  of 
Austria,  and  the  many  queens-consort  who  were 
not  mothers  of  kings. 

Through  the  bare  cold  passages  of  the  convent 
one  may  reach  the  Coro,  which  contains  a  cele- 
brated crucifix  by  Benvenuto  Cellini.  The  stall  is 
still  shown  which  Philip  II.  occupied,  and  where  he 
was  kneeling  when  the  messenger  arrived  breath- 
less with  eager  haste  from  Don  John  of  Austria  to 
announce  the  victory  of  Lepanto,  but  could  obtain 
no  audience  till  the  monarch  had  finished  his  de- 
votions. From  hence  it  is  but  a  few  steps  to  the  low 
bare  rooms  which  the  bigot  king  occupied   as  a 

Q 


2z 6  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

dwelling.  They  are  full  of  interest.  The  furniture 
is  the  same,  the  pictures,  the  table,  the  chairs,  the 
high  stool  to  support  his  gouty  leg.  At  the  bureau 
which  still  exists  he  was  sitting  writing  when  Don 
Christoval  de  Moura  came  in  to  announce  the  total 
destruction  of  the  Spanish  Armada,  the  scheme  on 
which  he  had  wasted  a  hundred  million  ducats  and 
eighteen  years  of  his  life.  Not  a  muscle  of  his 
face  moved.  He  only  said,  "I  thank  God  for 
having  given  me  the  means  of  bearing  such  a  loss 
without  embarrassment,  and  power  to  fit  out  another 
fleet  of  equal  size.  A  stream  can  afford  to  waste 
some  water,  when  its  source  is  not  dried  up." 

The  inner  room  opens  into  the  church  by  a 
shutter.  At  this  opening  the  ghastly  figure  of 
the  king  was  seen  present  at  the  public  mass 
during  his  illness,  following  the  prayers  with 
an  agonized  fervour  of  devotion.  Here  also  he 
sate  on  the  morning  of  the  13th  of  September, 
1598,  and,  having  summoned  his  children,  Philip 
and  Clara  Eugenia  Isabella  (so  well  known  to  us 
from  their  pictures)  to  embrace  him,  received  ex- 
treme unction,  and,  even  after  the  power  of  speech 
had  departed,  remained  with  his  hands  grasping 
the  crucifix  which  his  father  Charles  V.  held  when 
he  was  dying,  and  with  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the 


MADRID  AND  THE  ESCORIAL.  227 

altar  of  the  church,  till  those  eyes  were  closed  in 
death. 

All  the  other  sights  of  the  Escorial  are  of  little 
importance  compared  with  those  which  are  con- 
nected with  Philip  II.  One  set  of  apartments 
was  prettily  decorated  with  inlaid  woodwork  by 
Charles  IV.  The  endless  corridors  were  once 
filled  with  fine  pictures,  now  removed  to  Madrid. 
Only  three  of  any  consequence  remain.  In  the 
chapter-house  is  a  Velazquez  of  Jacob  receiving 
from  his  elder  sons  the  coat  of  Joseph;  in  the 
Refectory  is  a  grand  Last  Supper  of  Titian ;  and 
in  the  Ante-Sacristia  is  a  fine  historical  scene  by 
Coello,  representing  the  half-witted  Charles  II., 
with  his  court,  upon  their  knees  before  the  mira- 
culous wafer,  which  bled  at  Gorcum,  when 
trampled  upon  by  Zwinglian  heretics.  Every 
Spanish  sovereign  is  expected  to  make  some  offer- 
ing to  St.  Laurence  and  the  Escorial ;  that  of 
Isabella  II.  was  a  gorgeous  golden  shrine  for  this 
very  wafer,  preserved  behind  the  picture.  The 
library  contains  several  interesting  pictures  of 
kings,  and  some  fine  illuminated  manuscripts. 
All  the  books  are  arranged  with  their  backs  to 
the  wall. 

Upon  the  south  and  east  sides  of  the  building 


228  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

are  so-called  gardens — broad  terraces  with  trim 
box  edges,  but  on  the  whole  possessing  more 
architecture  than  vegetation.  Here,  from  the 
angle  of  the  terrace  wall,  one  may  best  examine 
one  of  the  external  curiosities  of  the  building,  a 
glittering  plaque  of  gold  an  inch  thick  and  a  yard 
square,  which  Philip  II.  built  into  the  wall  when 
the  building  was  nearly  complete,  as  a  bravado  to 
the  world  which  expected  it  to  become  his  ruin. 
Fortunately  for  its  preservation  it  is  near  the  top 

r 

of  the  pyramid  above  the  dome,  where  it  glitters 
inaccessible,  and  reflects  all  the  rays  of  the  sun. 


XII. 

SEGOVIA  AND  AVILA. 

AviLA,  May  4. 

T  N  a  central  situation  in  all  the  principal  Spanish 
-*-  towns  is  an  office  ("  Administracion")  where 
you  can  not  only  take  your  railway  ticket,  but 
also  tickets  for  a  diligence  to  any  town  off  the 
main  line,  from  the  station  with  which  it  is 
connected ;  and  at  the  same  time  you  can  register 
your  luggage  through  to  your  final  destination. 
Here,  in  spite  of  many  warnings  from  Madrid 
friends  that  we  should  be  either  blocked  out  by 
the  snow,  or  carried  off  by  the  Carlists,  we  took 
our  tickets  for  Segovia,  and  joined  its  diligence 
at  the  Vilalba  station,  an  hour's  journey  from 
Madrid  on  the  Northern  Railway. 

We  had  been  quite  unprepared  for  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  Guadarrama  mountains  which  we  had 
to  cross,  and   which   are   certainly  more   striking 


23o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

than  even  the  Sierra  Nevada.  The  ascent  begins 
soon  after  leaving  Vilalba,  and  is  truly  alpine, 
the  road  soon  passing  from  the  region  of  pines 
into  that  of  snow,  throug'h  which  it  had  been  cut, 
but  which  rose  on  either  side  in  high  walls,  far 
above  the  top  of  the  diligence,  and,  near  the 
summit,  to  a  height  of  fifteen  feet.  The  descent 
was  somewhat  perilous,  especially  when  we  had  to 
meet  some  heavily  laden  timber  waggons  in  the 
narrow  passage ;  but  we  reached  the  plains  in 
safety,  and,  after  traversing  many  miles  of  dismal 
country,  saw  Segovia  rising  against  a  faint  pink 
sky,  crowning  a  hill  steep  in  itself,  but  from  a 
distance  scarcely  seeming  to  rise  above  the  level 
of  the  high  surrounding  uplands,  from  which  it  is 
separated  by  deep  ravines.  It  is  an  especially 
Spanish  scene,  as  you  look  upon  the  crowded  town 
with  its  churches,  towers,  and  red-roofed  houses, 
piled  one  upon  another,  from  a  foreground  of  deso- 
late moorland,  where  foaming  mountain  brooks 
dance  and  sparkle,  through  the  pale  grey  rocks 
and  burnt  grass.  Some  old  Romanesque  churches 
occupy  a  rising  ground  to  the  right,  and,  as  you 
turn  the  corner  below  them,  you  see  the  huge 
Roman  aqueduct  of  Trajan  striding  across  the 
hollow,    and   uniting   the   town   with    a   populous 


SEGOVIA  AND  A  VIZ  A.  231 

suburb  by  its  two  tiers  of  arches.  Beneath  these 
you  enter  the  main  street  of  the  city, — which  winds 
up  the  hill  beneath  double  gateways,  and  is  full  of 
interest  from  the  beautiful  ajimez  windows  which 
vary  the  surface  of  its  mediaeval  houses, — into  the 
principal  square,  all  aflame  with  colour  and  costume, 
upon  which  the  cathedral  and  the  dark  brown 
balconies  of  the  wonderful  old  houses  look  grimly 
down. 

If  the  reader  will  share  our  first  walk  in  Segovia, 
he  will  descend  with  us  to  the  aqueduct,  which, 
like  so  many  high  bridges,  the  poor  cheated  Devil 
is  said  to  have  built  in  exchange  for  the  soul  of  a 
fair  Segoviana,  who  outwitted  him  by  finding  one 
stone  missing  in  the  work  when  she  came  to 
examine  it.  Turning  to  the  left  from  hence,  we 
are  in  the  gorge,  not  bare,  like  that  of  Toledo,  but 
bright  with  the  fresh  foliage  of  April.  Here, 
nestling  under  the  turfy  slopes,  are  the  Dominican 
convent  and  beautiful  church  of  Santa  Cruz,  whose 
simple  gothic  nave  is  entered  by.  a  rich  flamboyant 
portal  well-deserving  of  attention  ;  while  the 
"  Tanto-Monta  "  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  with 
all  their  badges  and  devices,  is  formed  into  a 
graceful  frieze  under  the  roof. 

Descending  a  steep  path  below  the  convent  and 


232  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

crossing  a  bridge,  we  enter  a  pretty  alameda  filled 
with  willows  and  poplars,  where  the  rushing  river 
Eresma  is  perfectly  lined  by  washerwomen,  whose 
red  and  yellow  dresses,  gay  as  so  many  tulips,  are 
reflected  in  its  waters.  While  we  are  looking  at 
them,  one  begins  to  sing,  and  the  strain  is  taken 
up  the  whole  way  down  the  river  bank,  till  the 
air  rings  with  their  choruses.  It  is  now  a  verse  from 
the  Noche  Buena,  which  tells  how  when  the  Virgin 
rested  under  an  olive-tree  during  her  flight  into 
Egypt,  the  very  leaves  turned  round  to  look  at  the 
newly -born  one  : — 

"  La  Virgen  quiso  sentarse 
A  la  sombra  de  un  olivo 

Y  las  hojas  se  volvieron 
A  ver  al  recien  nacido." 

Now  a  song  more  poetical  in  idea  than  in  rhythm, 
which  narrates  how  the  Virgin  laid  aside  her  blue 
robe  to  wear  mourning  for  her  son  : — 

"  La  Virgen  se  subio  al  cielo 

Y  dejo  su  manto  azul, 
Que  cambio  por  uno  negro 
Para  el  luto  de  Jesus." 

At  the  end  of  the  Alameda  rises  the  great 
Geronymite  monastery  of  El  Parral,  built  in  1494 
by  the  Marquis  de  Villena,  in  commemoration  of 


SEGOVIA  AND  A  VILA.  233 

a  duel  on  its  site,  in  which  he  overcame  three 
antagonists  at  once.  The  building  was  gutted 
in  the  early  Carlist  wars,  and  has  been  closed 
since,  but  Don  Ramon,  the  kindly  old  President 
of  the  Archaeological  Society,  who  spends  much 
of  his  time  there,  invited  us  to  pass  the  afternoon 
with  him,  and  under  his  guidance  we  saw  its 
numerous  cloisters,  its  refectory  with  a  richly 
wrought  pulpit  for  the  reader,  its  beautiful  plate- 
resque  halls  and  staircase,  its  sacristia  full  of 
colour  and  picturesqueness,  and,  above  all,  its 
glorious  church,  abandoned  and  neglected,  but 
still  one  of  the  most  remarkable  ecclesiastical 
buildings  in  Spain.  It  is  entered  from  the  west 
under  the  coro  of  1494,  which  is  like  a  wide  gallery, 
with  a  beautiful  Gothic  rail  of  black  marble. 
The  carved  stalls  have  been  pulled  down  and 
carried  off  to  San  Francisco  at  Madrid,  and  many 
of  the  altars  are  removed,  but  the  principal 
retablo  remains,  and  is  a  grand  work  of  Diego 
de  Urbian  in  1526.  On  either  side  of  it  stand 
the  lofty  plateresque  monuments  of  the  founder 
and  his  wife,  and  near  the  side  door  is  the  exquisite 
Gothic  tomb  of  Dona  Juana,  daughter  of  King 
Ramiro  of  Leon.  All  this  Don  Ramon  exhibited 
with  the  most  kindly  Spanish  courtesy,  illustrating 


234  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

it  with  a  picturesque  detail  of  legendary  lore. 
The  only  part  we  could  not  admire  was  the  room 
opening  out  of  the  cloister,  which  he  had  fitted 
up  as  a  Pantheon,  removing  to  it  all  the  monu- 
ments of  great  citizens  of  Segovia '  from  their 
rightful  resting-places  in  the  parish  churches. 

From  El  Parral,  Don  Ramon  took  us  by  a 
charming  field  walk  to  the  Vera  Cruz,  built  in  1 204, 
by  Honorius  II.,  in  imitation  of  the  church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre,  which  he  had  seen  at 
Jerusalem.  Around  it  rose  the  little  town  of 
Miraflores,  but  now  all  the  houses  have  dis- 
appeared, and  the  old  brown  octagonal  church, 
with  its  threefold  apse  and  tall  tower,  stands 
forlorn  and  desolate  on  the  barren  rocks.  In 
the  interior  is  a  raised  chapel,  occupying  the 
upper  story  of  what  seems  like  a  huge  central 
pillar,  and  is  supposed  to  indicate  the  site  of  the 
sepulchre.  Two  varieties  of  crosses  mark  its 
walls,  for  from  "Messieurs  les  Templiers,"  said 
Don  Ramon,  it  passed  to  "  les  Messieurs  de 
S.  Jean."  A  beautiful  reliquary  remains,  which 
once  contained  a  fragment  of  the  true  Cross 
brought  by  the  founder. 

Deeper  in  the  valley,  beyond  Vera  Cruz,  is  the 
great  convent  which  contains  the  tutelar  of  Segovia, 


SEGOVIA  AND  A  VILA.  235 

Nuestra  Senora  cie  Fuencisla.  From  the  abrupt 
cliff  above  it,  criminals  were  thrown  down,  and 
a  chapel  and  cypress  mark  the  spot  whence  Santa 
Maria  del  Salto,  a  converted  Jewess,  took  the 
fatal  leap  uninjured,  when  pushed  over  by  her 
former  co-religionists.  Close  by,  the  Eresma  is 
joined  by  the  mountain  -  brook  Clamores,  and 
from  the  narrow  path  which  overhangs  the  river 
is  the  most  striking  view  of  the  Alcazar,  the 
magnificent  castle  in  which  the  great  Isabella 
took  refuge,  and  whence  she  went  forth  to  be 
proclaimed  Queen  of  Castile.  Here,  in  a  great 
cave  in  the  rock,  live  many  poor  homeless  old 
men  and  women,  who  club  together  for  their 
miserable  subsistence,  and  sleep  like  wild  beasts 
in  this  open-mouthed  den.  The  smallest  charity 
draws  forth  a  shower  of  blessings,  such  as  "  God 
will  pay  your  worship,"  "  May  God  keep  you  and 
all  your  brothers,"  "  May  the  Blessed  Virgin  walk 
with  you  in  all  your  ways,"  and,  from  a  blind  man, 
"  May  Santa  Lucia  "  (the  patroness  of  eyes — she 
plucked  out  her  own  to  preserve  her  virginity) 
"  watch  over  the  eyes  of  your  worship." 

We  may  ascend  the  hill  by  the  Alcazar,  but, 
alas !  it  now  no  longer  contains  anything  to  visit, 
for  it  was  turned  into  a  military  college,  and  the 


2 36  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

students  set  fire  to  it  and  burnt  it  utterly  in  1862, 
in  the   hope  that    they  would   thereby  be   moved 
to    Madrid,    and,    what    is    worst    of    all,    got    off 
unpunished,  being  for  the  most  part  sons  of  high 
personages,  and,  in    Spain,   the   poor   only  suffer 
the  penalty  of  their  misdeeds.     It  is  now  a  mere 
shell    of  crumbling    wall,    but    most   picturesque. 
Constantly  repeated  in  its  decorations  is  the  "  Tanto 
Monta  "  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  which  is  some- 
times ascribed  to  the  jealousy  of  Ferdinand,  some- 
times to  their  mutual  affection.     Not  only  the  coin, 
but   all   their  furniture   and  books  were  stamped 
with  their  devices,  his  being  a  yoke  and  hers   a 
sheaf  of  arrows.     It  was  common  in  married  life, 
says  Oviedo,  for  each  party  to  take  a  device  whose 
initial  corresponded  with  that  of  the  name  of  the 
other,  as  was  the  case  with  the  "jugo"and  "fiechas." 
From  the  Alcazar,  glancing  at  the  noble  tower  of 
San  Esteban,  a  few  steps  bring  us  to  the  cathedral, 
which,  begun  in  1525,  is  the  last  of  the  fine  gothic 
cathedrals  of  Spain,  and  was  built  by  the  architects 
of  Salamanca,  of  which  it  is  partly  a  copy.      In 
simplicity    and     general     effect,    the     interior    is 
perhaps     unequalled     in     the    Peninsula.        Two 
cathedrals  existed  before  this,  and  from  the  last 
of  these,  which   stood   close   to   the   Alcazar,  the 


SEGOVIA   AND  AVILA.  237 

present  cloisters,  which  are  amazingly  lofty,  were 
moved  stone  for  stone.  It  was  before  the  altar 
of  the  cathedral  of  Segovia,  that  Isabella  the 
Catholic  (Dec.  13,  1474)  prostrated  herself,  after 
she  had  been  declared  Oueen  of  Castile,  and 
returning  thanks  to  the  Almighty  for  the  protection 
hitherto  afforded  her,  implored  Him  to  enlighten 
her  future  counsels,  that  she  might  discharge  the 
high  trust  reposed  in  her  with  equity  and  wisdom. 

The  last  day  of  our  all  too  short  week  at  Segovia, 
we  drove  out  six  miles  to  San  Ildefonso,  where 
Philip  V.,  in  the  last  century,  was  charmed  with 
a  mountain  grange  while  hunting,  and  built  the 
palace  of  La  Granja  at  a  height  of  3,840  feet,  just 
under  the  snowy  Guadarrama.  In  spite  of  the 
abuse  in  Ford  and  other  guide-books,  it  is  a  most 
truly  charming  place,  and  the  Alpine  freshness, 
which  lasts  throughout  the  summer,  and  an  excel- 
lent inn  ("  Europeo ")  with  a  French  cuisine  (oh, 
the  relief  from  the  oil  and  garlic  of  Spain !),  render 
it  additionally  attractive.  Long  avenues  lead  up 
to  a  grille  like  that  of  the  Place  du  Carrousel, 
whence  you  look  down  between  lines  of  buildings 
appropriated  to  the  ministers,  the  canons,  and  the 
offices  of  the  court,  to  the  palace  itself,  which  is 
an  old  French  chateau,  in  the  style  of  Rambouillet, 


2 38  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

transported  into  the  mountain-scenery  of  Spain. 
In  the  centre  is  the  church  where  Philip  V.  and 
his  queen  are  buried.  Their  apartments  contain 
little  of  importance,  but  are  hung  with  the  beautiful 
silk  embroidery  which  is  to  be  seen  in  all  the 
Spanish  palaces,  and  are  comfortable  and  attractive. 
Among  the  strange  historical  scenes  which  they 
have  witnessed  are  the  abdication  of  the  founder 
in  favour  of  his  son  Louis  I.,  and  his  resumption 
of  the  crown,  to  which  he  was  forced  by  his 
ambitious  wife,  on  that  son's  death.  Also  they 
contain  the  little  table  at  which  Christina  the 
Queen  Regent  was  sitting  when  the  three  Serjeants 
climbed  in  at  the  window,  and  forced  her  to  sign 
her  abdication. 

There  is  an  odd  but  picturesque  contrast  be- 
tween the  old  chateau,  with  its  pointed  roofs  and 
girouettes,  standing  in  trim  parterres  of  clipped 
yew  and  box,  and  the  grand  mountain  -  ranges 
behind,  where  the  snow,  perfectly  pure  and  un- 
broken towards  the  summits,  gradually  meets  and 
blends  with  the  dark  fir-woods.  The  intervening 
space  is  occupied  by  the  so-called  gardens,  no  culti- 
vated flowers,  but  exquisite  soft  sylvan  scenery,  long 
avenues  edged  with  holm-beech  and  shaded  by 
tall    oaks    and    elms,    and     endless    little    walks 


SEGOVIA   AND  A  VILA.  239 

winding  through  woods  carpeted  with  violets  and 
periwinkles — "Las  Lagrimas  de  Jesu  Christo,"  as 
the  Spaniards  poetically  call  them.  In  all  the 
openings  of  the  woods  are  statues,  and  fountains 
supplied  by  the  fresh  crystal  streams  which  are 
seen  in  the  distance  falling  in  natural  cascades 
from  the  high  mountains ;  and,  in  front  of  the 
palace,  is  a  great  artificial  waterfall,  one  sheet  of 
silver,  tumbling  through  the  green  woods,  over  a 
series  of  marble  declivities,  which  perhaps  will 
not  bear  detailed  criticism,  but  whose  general 
effect  is  one  of  great  sylvan  loveliness,  of  a  mixture 
of  art  and  nature  which  recalls  the  mythical  ages 
of  fauns  and  dryads,  and  the  backgrounds  of 
many  old  Italian  pictures.  Altogether,  La  Granja 
should  on  no  account  be  unvisited,  and  the  idler 
may  be  most  happily  idle  there. 

It  is  necessary  to  return  to  Vilalba  to  take 
tickets  for  Avila,  which  is  a  place  far  less  known 
than  it  deserves,  though  it  is  on  the  central  line  of 
railway.  As  Spanish  hotels  go,  the  little  inn  of 
the  "  Dos  de  Majo"  is  excellent,  and  is  kept  by  an 
Englishman  and  his  daughter.  On  all  sides  the 
town  is  surrounded  by  a  tawny  desert,  over  whose 
arid  plains  numbers  of  grey  boulders  are  scattered, 


24o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

like  flocks  of  sheep.  The  circuit  of  the  walls  is 
complete,  and  so  small,  that  most,  even  of  the 
mediaeval  buildings,  are  outside  it.  These  com- 
prise a  wonderful  collection  of  churches  of  the 
greatest  interest  to  the  archaeologist.  San  Vicente, 
founded  313,  contains  a  thirteenth  century  shrine 
of  that  saint,  who  was  not  the  famous  deacon  of 
Zaragoza,  but  another  of  the  same  name,  also 
martyred  under  Dacian,  because  he  stamped  upon 
an  altar  of  Jupiter  and  left  the  marks  of  his  feet 
there.  His  body  was  guarded  by  a  serpent,  which 
attacked  a  rich  Jew  who  came  to  mock  at  it,  and 
made  him  vow  to  build  this  church  if  he  escaped 
with  his  life.  Like  the  Bocca  della  Verita  at 
Rome,  the  hole  out  of  which  the  snake  came  was 
long  a  spot  for  adjuration,  he  who  took  the  oath 
putting  his  hand  into  it,  so  that  the  snake  (which 
did  attack  Bishop  Vilches  under  these  circum- 
stances in  1458)  might  bite  him  if  he  swore  falsely. 
Following  the  outside  of  the  walls  from  hence, 
we  reach  a  tiny  Romanesque  church  on  the  river 
side,  standing  in  a  little  weedy  enclosure  with 
three  stone  crosses.  It  is  always  closed  now,  and 
in  spite  of  the  disagreeable  extortionate  Cerberus 
who  guards  it,  the  keys  must  be  obtained,  for  the 
sake  of  seeing  the  beautiful  touching  monument  of 


SEGOVIA  AND  A  VILA.  241 

its  patron,  the  bishop  San  Segundo.  He  is  said  to 
have  pushed  a  Moor  over  the  battlements,  of  the 
neighbouring  tower  with  his  own  hands,  a  deed  of 
prowess  which  will  always  render  him  popular  as  a 
Spanish  saint,  but  which  does  not  seem  consistent 
with  the  expression  of  his  penitent  kneeling  figure 
rapt  in  an  ecstasy  of  prayer. 

Another  glorious  monument  is  that,  in  San 
Tomas,  of  Prince  Juan,  only  son  of  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella.  The  church  in  which  he  is  buried  was 
one  of  the  favourite  foundations  of  the  Catholic 
sovereigns,  who  frequently  resided  in  the  palace- 
convent  which  is  attached  to  it.  It  was  in  one  of 
the  rooms  which  may  still  be  seen  in  this  building, 
that  Isabella  was  induced  to  give  her  written 
sanction  to  the  proceedings  of  the  Inquisition. 
Here  also  she  devoted  herself  to  the  education  ot 
Prince  Juan,  heir  of  the  united  Spanish  monarchies. 
Ten  youths,  selected  from  the  sons  of  the  chief 
nobles,  were  brought  to  reside  with  him  in  the 
palace,  five  of  his  own  age  and  five  older,  that 
emulation  might  stimulate  him  to  greater  diligence 
in  his  studies  ;  and  a  mimic  council  was  formed  to 
deliberate  on  matters  of  government  and  public 
policy,  over  which  the  prince  presided,  in  order 
that  he  might  be  early  initiated  into  his  important 

R 


242  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

future  duties.     A  brilliant  scholar,  an  accomplished 
linguist    and    musician,   beautiful   in   person,    and 
endowed   with   the   most   amiable,    generous,  and 
winning  of  characters,  he  grew  up  the  delight  of 
his   parents,    and    the   idol   of   their    people.      In 
March,  1497,  being  then  in  his  twentieth  year,  he 
was  married  at  Burgos  to  Margaret,  daughter  of 
the  Emperor  Maximilian,  with  whom  he  had  every 
prospect  of  happiness.     As  soon  as  his  marriage 
festivities  were  concluded,  he  retired  with  his  bride 
to  Salamanca,  while  his  parents  proceeded  to  be 
present  at  another  marriage,  that  of  their  daughter 
Isabella   to   the  king  of  Portugal,  at  Valencia  de 
Alcantara.     While  there,  they  received  the  news 
of  the  alarming   illness  of  their  son.     Ferdinand 
hastened    with    all    possible    speed    to    his    side, 
leaving  Isabella  to  follow  by  slower  stages.    When 
he   arrived,  the   Prince  was  dying.     At   first   the 
unhappy  father  strove  to  cheer  him  with  hopes  he 
could    not    himself    feel,   but  Juan   checked  him, 
telling  him  that  he  could  not  be  deceived,  that  he 
was  prepared  to  leave  a  world  which  at  the  best 
was  filled  with  vanity  and  trouble,  and   that  his 
only  prayer  was  that  his  parents  might  be  able  to 
feel  the  same  resignation  which  he  himself  experi- 
enced.    He  died  October  4,   1497,  before  Isabella 


SEGOVIA  AND  AVILA.  245 

could  arrive.  Great  alarm  was  felt  as  to  the  effect 
which  the  terrible  tidings  might  have  upon  her,  but 
she  evinced  the  same  fortitude  which  sustained  her 
in  every  other  adversity,  and  the  young  Prince's 
tutor,  Peter  Martyr,  records  that  she  only  replied, 
to  the  fatal  intelligence  in  the  words  of  Scripture — 
"  The  Lord  hath  given,  the  Lord  hath  taken  away, 
blessed  be  His  name !  " 

The  exquisite  sleeping  figure  of  Prince  Juan,  the 
most  touching  of  sepulchral  effigies,  lies  with 
folded  hands,  and  features  smiling  in  death,  upon  a. 
marble  altar-tomb.  The  coro,  which  is  placed 
above  an  elliptical  arch  at  the  western  entrance, 
still  retains  the  two  splendidly  carved  stalls,  which 
his  parents  ever  afterwards  occupied  at  mass,  close 
to  the  gallery  rail,  that  they  might  look  down 
meanwhile  upon  the  image  of  their  child.  They 
were  dressed  in  sackcloth,  which  was  substituted 
in  this  great  calamity  for  the  white  serge  hitherto 
worn  as  royal  mourning  ;  and  Peter  Martyr  vividly 
describes  how,  as  they  sate,  the  eyes  of  one  would 
seek  those  of  the  other,  and  cause  a  fresh  outburst 
of  grief — though,  he  adds,  they  would  "  cease  to  be 
human,  and  would  have  been  harder  than  adamant, 
had  they  not  felt  what  they  had  lost." 

With  the  extraordinary  disregard  of  historical 


2  4-+  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

relics  which  prevails  in  Spain,  the  rough  boys  of 
the  town  were  allowed,  till  a  few  years  ago,  to 
come  into  this  deserted  church  at  will,  and  amuse 
themselves  by  breaking  off  and  selling  the  delicate 
ornaments  of  the  tomb.  It  is  wonderful  that  the 
figure  itself  should  remain  uninjured.  Now  it  is 
protected  by  a  coarse  deal  railing.  Near  that  of 
their  master,  in  a  side  chapel,  is  the  beautiful 
tomb  of  his  favourite  attendants,  Juan  Davila 
and  Juana  Velazquez.  The  cloisters,  courts,  and 
staircases,  rich  with  ball-flower  ornament,  remain, 
though  unused  and  neglected,  the  same  as  when 
they  witnessed  the  heart-broken  grief  of  their 
founders. 

The  other  churches  of  Avila  are  so  interesting 
that  one  seems  to  have  no  enthusiasm  left  for  the 
cathedral.  Yet  it  is  exceedingly  curious,  being 
more  than  half  a  fortress,  built  by  Garcia  de 
Estrella  in  1107.  Its  eastern  apse,  projecting  over 
the  city  wall,  is  machicolated  and  fortified  like 
a  castle.  In  its  high  tower  storks  build,  and  stand 
undisturbed  for  hours  on  the  top  of  its  pinnacles, 
as  if  they  were  petrified  there,  their  beautiful  white 
plumage  glittering  against  the  deep  blue  sky. 
The  interior  is  very  impressive,  with  tall  dark 
gothic  arches,  and  glorious  stained  windows.     The 


SEGOVIA  AND  A  VILA.  245 

retablo,  of  the  time  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  has 
pictures  by  Berreguete  and  Borgofia. 

The  streets  of  Avila  are  full  of  very  curious  old 
houses,  perfectly  unchanged  from  mediaeval  times. 
In  the  courtyard  of  one  of  them  are  several  of  the 
extraordinary  stone  pigs,  called  Toros  de  Guisando, 
which  are  believed  to  have  been  idols  of  the 
primitive  inhabitants.  A  few  houses  are  richly 
decorated  and  very  magnificent.  But  the  greater 
part,  even  of  the  oldest  and  noblest  families,  are  of 
most  simple  character.  The  general  arrangement 
is  the  same.  Over  the  entrance  is  a  huge  sculp- 
tured shield  of  arms,  generally  much  stained  by 
weather  and  gilded  by  lichen.  Above  it  projects  a 
stone  balcony  almost  always  occupied  by  some  of 
the  pet  quails,  which  make  the  air  resound  with 
their  strange  cry,  and  which  are  great  favourites 
all  over  the  north  of  Spain,  where  they  are  called 
reclamos,  being  taken  out  by  sportsmen,  when  their 
cry,  always  incessant,  attracts  others  of  the  same 
breed. 

The  principal  entrance  leads  into  a  vast  hall,  on 
either  side  of  which  are  large  doors  opening  into 
chambers  which  are  never  used  except  in  the  great 
events  of  a  human  life,  a  birth,  a  marriage,  or  a 
burial.     On  the  opposite  side  of  the  hall  is  another 


246  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

door  which  communicates  with  the  body  of  the 
house  (Cuerpo  de  casa),  and  facing  it  a  door  leading 
to  a  gallery  which  opens  upon  a  spacious  yard,  in 
which  are  the  bakehouse,  the  oven,  the  hay-lofts, 
in  short  all  the  domestic  offices,  with  a  separate 
entrance.  On  either  side  of  this  door,  in  the 
<c  Cuerpo  di  casa,"  are  two  great  chambers,  one 
being  the  kitchen  of  the  masters,  the  other  that  of 
the  servants.  In  the  first,  in  which  no  cooking 
takes  place,  and  which  might  more  properly  be 
called  a  dining-hall,  is  an  enormous  chimney, 
whose  opening  occupies  the  whole  face  of  one  wall. 
Here  in  winter  a  huge  fire  is  perpetually  burning, 
in  which  whole  trees  are  consumed.  On  either 
side  low  benches  covered  with  wool  cushions  are 
fixed  against  the  walls.  In  holes  made  in  the  walls, 
called  vasares,  are  symmetrically  arranged  large 
vases  full  of  water  ;  besides  these  are  displayed  on 
shelves  a  collection  of  bucares  (a  peculiar  drinking 
jug)  of  different  sizes  and  shapes.  In  the  tiled 
kitchen  of  the  servants  all  the  work  of  the  house  is 
done.  On  either  side  of  the  "  Cuerpo  di  casa  "  are 
the  doors  of  the  dwelling  rooms,  which  generally 
look  upon  a  garden  supplied  with  a  few  flowers,  a 
great  many  medicinal  herbs,  and  some  vegetables. 
These  inner  chambers  generally  have  glass  win- 


SEGOVIA  AND  A  VILA.  247 

dows,   whilst    the    rooms   which    look    upon    the 
streets  have  only  shutters. 

In  a  house  of  this  kind,  in  one  of  the  fashionable 
streets  in  Avila,  was  born,  March  28,  15 15,  Dona 
Teresa  de  Cepede,  who  was  destined  to  be  the 
most  extraordinary  woman  of  her  age  and  country, 
and  who  is  not  unnaturally  regarded  by  Roman 
Catholics  as  having  been  raised  up,  together  with 
St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  to  give  new  life  to  their 
religion,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  when  it  was 
suffering  so  much  from  the  inroads  of  Protestantism, 
Her  father,  Don  Alphonso  Sanchez  de  Cepede,  was 
a  man  of  most  virtuous  and  holy  life,  her  mother 
Dona  Beatrix  Ahumada,  was  also  pious,  but, 
quaintly  adds  her  historian,  "  was  too  much  given 
to  reading  romances."  The  tendencies  of  both 
were  repeated  in  their  daughter  Teresa,  who  was 
one  of  twelve  children.  In  her  earliest  childhood 
she  was  devoted  to  reading  the  lives  of  the  saints 
and  martyrs,  and  at  eight  years  old  escaped  from 
home,  and  was  captured  by  her  uncle,  setting  off 
with  her  little  brother  Rodrigo  to  the  land  of  the 
Moors,  in  the  hope  of  being  martyred  by  them. 
What  affected  these  children  most  in  their  reading, 
was  that  the  happiness  of  the  blessed  was  for  ever 
the   punishment   of  the    damned   for   ever. — "  For 


248  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

ever"  they  used  to  exclaim,  clasping  each  other's 
little  hands,  and  looking  in  each  other's  faces,  "for 
ever  !  "  Their  great  desire  was  to  become  hermits, 
and  they  tried  to  build  for  themselves  little  hermit- 
ages in  the  garden,  which  they  never  were  able  to 
finish. 

Upon  her  mother's  death,  when  she  was  twelve 
years  old,  Teresa  got  possession  of  her  library  of 
novels,  which  are  said  greatly  to  have  perverted 
her  mind,  and  filled  her  with  the  desire  of  admira- 
tion and  thought  of  her  personal  appearance.  Her 
father  became  so  alarmed  at  the  change  in  her, 
that  he  placed  her  for  a  time  in  the  Augustinian 
convent  at  Avila,  where  she  was  at  first  perfectly 
miserable,  but  became  reconciled  by  the  kindness 
and  protection  of  a  devout  nun,  who  never  ceased 
to  bring  before  her,  with  meaning  views,  the  text, 
"  Many  are  called,  but  few  chosen."  This  so 
worked  upon  her  vanity,  that  she  determined  to 
become  a  nun,  and,  though  her  father  absolutely 
refused  his  consent,  took  the  veil  in  the  Carmelite 
convent  of  Avila  in  her  twentieth  year. 

Here  for  twenty  years  her  mind  was  never  at 
rest.  "  On  one  side,"  she  writes,  "  I  was  called  as 
it  were  by  God,  on  the  other  I  was  tempted  by 
regrets  for  the  world.     I  wished  to  combine  my 


SEGOVIA   AND  A  VILA.  249 

aspirations  towards  heaven  with  my  earthly  sym- 
pathies, and  I  found  that  this  was  impossible ;  I 
fell — I  rose,  only  to  fall  again  ;  I  had  neither  the 
peaceful  satisfaction  of  a  soul  reconciled  with  God, 
nor  could  I  taste  the  pleasures  which  the  world 
offered  me.  ...  At  length  God  had  pity  upon  me. 
I  read  in  the  temptations  of  St.  Augustine  how  he 
was  tried  and  tempted,  and  how  at  length  he  con- 
quered." The  difficulties  of  Teresa  in  a  religious 
life  were  increased,  partly  by  her  ill-health,  and 
partly  by  the  lax  rules  of  the  convent,  which 
allowed  her  to  receive  constant  visits  from  secular 
and  worldly  persons.  Thus,  after  she  had  been 
persuaded  by  her  confessor,  no  longer  to  be  content 
with  vocal  devotion,  but  constantly  to  converse  with 
God  in  mental  prayer,  and  when  through  the  force 
of  prayer  her  character  became  changed,  it  was  the 
first  object  of  her  heart"  to  save  others  from  the 
dangers  to  which  she  had  been  herself  exposed  in  a 
religious  life,  and  to  bring  about  a  reform  of  the 
Carmelite  Order.  Assisted  by  the  inhabitants  of 
her  native  place,  she  founded  a  new  convent  at 
Avila,  which  she  dedicated  to  St.  Joseph,  and,  upon 
its  success,  proceeded  to  found  in  turn  seventeen 
convents  for  women  and  fifteen  for  men  in  different 
towns  of  Spain.     These  she  usually  began  to  build 


2 5o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

with  scarcely  any  funds  whatever.  It  is  narrated  of 
her  that  she  arrived  at  Toledo  to  found  a  convent 
with  only  four  ducats,  and  that,  when  people 
remonstrated,  she  said,  "  Teresa  and  four  ducats  can 
do  nothing,  but  God,  Teresa,  and  four  ducats  can 
do  anything."  Unhappily  the  mortifications  she 
imposed  upon  herself,  the  constant  state  of  self- 
meditation  in  which  she  lived,  and  the  flatteries  of 
the  priests  who  surrounded  her,  worked  her  mind 
into  a  state  of  religious  enthusiasm  which  bordered 
upon  insanity.  At  one  time  she  affirmed  that  an 
angel,  in  corporeal  form,  had  pierced  her  through 
the  bowels  with  a  tangible  dart  tipped  with  fire  to 
inflame  them  with  the  love  of  God.  At  another 
time,  while  repeating  the  hymn  "Veni  Creator 
Spiritus,"  she  believed  that  she  heard  a  voice  from 
heaven  announcing  to  her  that  she  should  no  more 
hold  conversation  with  men  but  with  angels.  She 
was  frequently  in  a  state  of  ecstasy,  in  which  her 
body  is  believed  to  have  been  lifted  from  the 
ground,  while  her  voice  held  communion  with 
invisible  spirits. 

Gradually,  however,  as  years  grew  upon  her, 
these  mystic  fancies  seem  to  have  cleared  away, 
leaving  her  with  the  simplicity  and  truth  of  a  mind 
purified   by  prayer.     She  used  to  say  that  "Our 


SEGOVIA  AND  A  VILA.  251 

Lord  is  a  great  lover  of  humility  because  He  is  the 
great  lover  of  truth,  and  humility  is  a  certain 
truth,  by  which  we  know  how  little  we  are,  and 
that  we  have  no  good  of  ourselves."  Speaking  of 
the  succours  she  received  from  the  world  in  her 
various  undertakings,  she  said,  "  I  perceive  clearly 
that  they  are  all  no  better  than  so  many  twigs  of 
dried  rosemary,  and  that  there  is  no  leaning  upon 
them  :  for  upon  the  least  weight  of  contradiction 
pressing  upon  them,  they  are  presently  broken. 
I  have  learned  this  by  experience,  that  the  true 
remedy  against  our  falling  is  to  lean  on  the  Cross, 
and  to  trust  only  in  Him  who  was  fastened  to  it." 

Teresa  lived  till  her  sixty-eighth  year.  As  her 
health  became  feebler  she  wrote,  "  It  seems  to  me 
there  is  no  reason  why  I  should  live  except  to 
suffer,  and  accordingly  this  is  what  I  ask  with 
most  earnestness  from  my  God.  Sometimes  I  say 
to  Him  with  my  whole  heart,  '  Lord,  either  to  die 
or  to  suffer,  I  ask  nothing  else  for  myself.'  It 
comforts  me  also  to  hear  the  clock  strike  ;  for  so 
methinks  I  draw  a  little  nearer  to  the  seeing  of 
God,  since  one  hour  more  of  my  life  is  passed." 
She  was  seized  with  her  last  illness  in  the  house  of 
the  Duchess  of  Alva,  but  was  moved  to  her  own 
convent  at  Avila,  where  she  died  October  4,  1582, 


252  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

her  last  words  being  those  of  the  Miserere,  "A 
broken  and  a  contrite  heart,  O  God,  thou  wilt  not 
despise." 

She  has  left  many  written  works — some  for  the 
guidance  of  her  nuns,  others  addressed  to  the 
whole  Catholic  Church.  The  great  object  of  them 
all  is  to  enforce  the  importance  and  power  of 
prayer,  both  active  and  passive.  Love — the  love 
of  God — was  the  mainspring  of  her  every  idea. 
Hell,  she  only  thought  of  as  the  place  where  there 
is  no  love."  Of  Satan  she  said,  "  Poor  wretch,  he 
cannot  love."  Among  her  many  passionate  out- 
pourings is  one 

"  To  Jesus  Christ,  Crucified. 

"  That  which  makes  me  love  Thee,  my  God,  is  not  the  heaven  which 
Thou  hast  promised  me  ;  nor  is  it  the  hell  full  of  terrors  which  makes 
me  desire  not  to  offend  Thee. 

"  That  which  influences  me  is  Thine  own  self,  O  God ;  that  which 
influences  me  is  the  sight  of  Thee  upon  the  cross,  nailed  and  insulted  ! 
That  which  influences  me  is  the  sight  of  the  wounds  in  Thy  body,  of 
the  pangs  of  Thy  death. 

"  Thy  love,  in  fact,  is  what  influences  me ;  and  to  such  a  degree  that 
I  could  love  Thee  all  the  same  if  there  were  no  heaven  ;  and  if  there 
were  no  hell  I  would  fear  Thee  no  less. 

"  Give  me  nothing  in  return  for  this  my  love  for  Thee  ;  for  were  I 
not  to  hope  what  I  am  longing  for  I  should  love  Thee  as  well  as  I  do 
now." 

Mrs.  Jameson  truly  observes  that  "what  was 
strong,  beautiful,  true,  and  earnest,  was  in  Teresa 


SEGOVIA  AND  A  VILA.  253 

herself;  what  was  morbid,  miserable,  and  mistaken 
was  the  result  of  the  influences  around  her." 

In  her  convent  at  Avila  the  nuns  never  now  sit  in 
the  stalls  during  mass,  but  only  upon  the  steps, 
because  they  believe  that  when  Teresa  was  present, 
the  stalls  were  occupied  by  angels.  In  the  adjoin- 
ing chapel  is  her  shrine,  occupying  the  spot  where 
Bishop  Yepez  relates  that  as  she  wras  about  to 
receive  the  communion  from  Bishop  Mendoza,  she 
was  lifted  from  the  ground  in  a  rapture,  higher 
than  the  gates,  through  which  (according  to  the 
custom  in  nunneries)  the  Sacrament  was  to  be 
given  to  her,  and  clinging  to  the  rails,  prayed, 
"  Lord,  suffer  not,  for  such  a  favour,  a  wicked 
woman  to  pass  for  virtuous,"  after  which  she  was 
permitted  to  descend.  In  the  garden  is  an  apple- 
tree,  planted  by  Teresa,  whose  fruit  is  supposed  to 
be  good  for  every  species  of  female  disorder. 


XIII. 

SALAMANCA,  VALLADOLID,  AND 
BURGOS. 

TT  is  a  long  tedious  journey  by  diligence  from 
-*-  Avila  to  Salamanca.  We  left  Avila  at  mid- 
night, guided  by  lanthorns  down  the  tortuous 
streets  from  the  hotel  to  the  place  where  the 
diligence  was  waiting  to  be  packed,  amid  much 
vociferation  of  greedy  porters,  and  whining  of  the 
innumerable  beggars,  who  are  quite  as  alert  by 
night  as  by  day,  if  there  is  a  chance  of  a  stranger 
falling  a  prey  to  them.  It  was  a  bitterly  cold 
night  (May  5th),  and  the  wind  poured  cruelly  in 
through  the  many  cracks  in  the  rackety  old 
berlina  as  we  traversed  the  hideous,  arid,  treeless 
plains,  which  even  the  pale  moonlight  failed  to 
beautify.  Day  broke,  and  hour  after  hour  passed 
wearily  on,  till  about  ten  A.M.  came  the  welcome 
sight  of  a  bright  yellow  cathedral  and  town  rising 


SALAMANCA.  255 

on  the  horizon,  and  we  soon  began  to  skirt  the 
blue  river  Tormes  which  flows  beneath  its  walls. 

Salamanca  once  possessed  twenty-five  colleges, 
twenty-five  churches,  twenty-five  convents,  twenty- 
five  professors,  and  twenty-five  arches  of  its 
bridge  ;  but  the  last  alone  remain  intact, — 
colleges,  churches,  convents,  and  professorships 
have  alike  fallen ;  their  destruction,  begun  by  the 
French,  having  been  finished  by  the  law,  which 
was  made  for  the  sake  of  plunder  under  Queen 
Isabella  II.,  that  no  corporate  body  could  hold  any 
property.  The  university,  which  boasted  above 
ten  thousand  students  in  the  fourteenth  century, 
has  now  little  more  than  one  thousand,  and  the 
splendid  collegiate  buildings,  palaces  worthy  of 
the  Corso  of  Rome  or  the  Grand  Canal  of  Venice, 
are  either  in  ruins  or  let  out  to  poor  families,  with 
the  exception  of  San  Bartolome,  which  is  turned 
into  the  house  of  the  civil  governor,  and  El 
Arzobisbo,  whose  beautiful  cinque-cento  buildings 
are  now  given  up  to  the  Irish  college.  This 
formerly  was  situated  in  another  part  of  the  town  : 
it  contains  only  nine  students  now,  but  the  original 
foundation  was  magnificent,  and  bore  witness  to 
the  anxiety  of  its  founder  Philip  II.  to  spite  his 
sister-in-law  Elizabeth  of  England.     Day  by  day 


256  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

Salamanca  becomes  more  entirely  a  city  of  ruins, 
and  presents  much  the  same  appearance  which 
Oxford  would  do  were  its  revenues  all  stolen  by 
the  Government,  and  Christ-Church,  Merton,  Mag- 
dalen, University,  &c.,  abandoned  to  the  rats  and 
owls.  The  few  students  who  remain  are  lodged  in 
private  houses  in  the  town,  and  go  up  for  their 
"  classes  "  to  the  building  of  the  University  proper, 
which  answers  to  that  called  "  the  Schools "  at 
Oxford,  and  has  a  gorgeous  plateresque  front  and 
a  curious  Convocation  House.  The  little  square 
behind  it,  surrounded  by  collegiate  buildings,  is 
much  like  one  of  our  college  "quads."  In  its 
centre  is  a  statue  of  the  ecclesiastical  poet  Fra 
Luiz  de  Leon,  who  is  numbered  with  Cervantes, 
Saarvedra,  and  Cardinal  Ximenes  amongst  the 
eminent  students  of  the  University.  The  Library 
contains  many  original  letters  of  his,  together  with 
a  splendid  collection  of  MSS.,  chiefly  brought  from 
confiscated  monasteries,  and  a  large  number  of 
printed  books  of  the  fifteenth  century.  A  volume 
of  the  Lord's  Prayer  in  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  languages,  ordered  by  the  first  Napoleon,  is 
exhibited  with  great  pride  by  the  librarian.  The 
Reading-room  is  used  by  natives  of  Salamanca  to 
a  degree  which  shames  the  more  populous  Oxford  ; 


SALAMANCA.  257 

a  clay  seldom  passes  without  as  many  as  ninety 
students  availing  themselves  of  it. 

The  university  buildings  face  the  cathedral, 
which  was  begun  in  15 13.  Its  florid  Gothic  is 
excessively  rich  in  detail,  but  wanting  in  general 
effect,  and  the  brilliant  yellow  colour  of  its  stone 
annuls  all  appearance  of  antiquity  :  the  interior, 
however,  would  be  exceedingly  magnificent,  if  it 
were  not  so  sadly  blocked  up  by  the  coro.  In 
one  of  the  chapels  the  Musarabic  ritual  has  been 
continued,  as  at  Toledo.  A  few  pictures  deserve 
notice,  especially  those  by  Luiz  de  Morales,  who 
here  merits  his  epithet  of  "  the  Spanish  Perugino," 
and  those  by  the  rare  master  Fernando  Gallegos, 
who  was  a  native  of  Salamanca,  where  he  died  in 
1550.  From  the  north  aisle  one  passes  into  a 
second  and  older  cathedral,  built  in  1102  by  the 
famous  Bishop  Geronimo,  the  confessor  of  the  Cid, 
who  fought  by  his  side  in  all  his  battles,  and 
supported  his  dead  body  in  its  final  ride  from 
Valencia  to  San  Pedro  de  Cerdeila.  He  is  buried 
here,  and  above  his  tomb  hung  for  five  hundred 
years  "El  Christo  de  las  Batallas,"  the  famous 
bronze  crucifix  of  the  Cid,  which  he  always  carried 
with  him.  This  has  now  disappeared,  and  is  not 
to  be  found  even  in  the  Relicario,  but  the  canons 

S 


25 8  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

know  of  the  hiding-place,  where,  in  this  age  of 
church-robbery,  it  has  been  secreted.  The  tomb  of 
Geronimo  was  opened  in  1606,  when  it  is  affirmed 
that  the  body  of  the  holy  warrior  smelt  truly 
delicious.  The  retablo,  which  follows  the  curved 
form  of  the  apse  in  the  old  cathedral,  contains  a 
number  of  paintings  interesting  from  the  poetical 
character  of  their  subjects.  In  that  on — "Angels 
came  and  ministered  to  Him  " — a  table-cloth  spread 
with  food  is  held  by  several  angels  before  the 
Saviour  in  the  wilderness,  while  others  kneeling 
present  fruit  and  a  cup  of  wine.  The  exterior  of 
this  church  is  half  a  fortress,  and  gave  it  the 
epithet  of  "  Fortis  Salamantina : "  the  vaulted 
lanthorn  has  a  low  crocketed  spire  and  a  scalloped 
stone  roof. 

From  the  cathedral,  San  Esteban  is  approached 
by  the  Calle  del  Colon,  a  memorial  of  Christopher 
Columbus  and  his  residence  in  the  neighbouring 
Dominican  convent,  whose  friars  under  Deza  the 
Inquisitor  upheld  him  and  his  scheme,  when  the 
doctors  of  the  university  found  it  to  be  "  vain, 
impracticable,  and  resting  on  grounds  too  weak 
to  merit  the  support  of  government."  In  gratitude 
for  the  hospitalities  he  received  from  the  Domini- 
cans, Columbus  used  the  first  virgin  gold  imported 


SALAMANCA.  259 

from  the  New  World  in  gilding  the  retablo  of 
their  church,  and  most  gorgeous  is  still  its  appear- 
ance, as  seen  from  under  the  dark  elliptical  arch  of 
the  coro,  through  which  the  church  is  entered  with 
such  effect,  leaving  the  view  unbroken  towards  the 
high-altar — as  at  El  Parral,  and  San  Tomas  of 
Avila.  •  The  western  exterior  is  a  labyrinth  of 
plateresque  gothic  decoration,  like  that  of  the 
university. 

In  the  little  convent  of  Las  Duenas  close  by,. 
Santa  Teresa  had  one  of  her  famous  visions,  when 
she  came  hither  to  found  the  convent  of  her  own 
Order  outside  the  gates.  In  this  and  all  the  other 
convents  of  Salamanca,  the  nuns  are  now  reduced 
to  a  state  of  absolute  starvation.  The  principal 
of  their  dowries,  which  according  to  rule  was  given 
by  their  parents  in  the  same  way  in  which  a 
marriage  portion  is  bestowed,  was  confiscated  by 
the  government  of  Isabella,  and  the  interest,  which 
they  were  promised  during  their  lives,  has  never 
been  paid  by  that  of  Amadeo.  It  has  been  neces- 
sary to  make  collections  at  the  church  doors  in 
order  to  supply  these  unfortunate  ladies  with  bread. 
While  the  nuns  have  been  left  to  starve,  the  con- 
ventual buildings  of  the  monks  have  for  the  most 
part  been  pulled  down,  to  the  destruction  of  many 


26o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

precious  architectural  memorials.  Even  the  splendid 
decorations  of  the  windows  and  staircases  have 
been  sold  for  the  value  of  the  material,  aristocratic 
families  refusing  to  purchase  them,  from  the  fear 
of  being  supposed  to  recognise,  even  in  the  most 
distant  way,  these  acts  of  vandalism.  Great  indeed 
is  the  fall  of  religious  bodies  in  Spain  ! — only  forty 
years  ago  the  Dominicans  of  Salamanca  had  relays 
of  mules  constantly  running  between  their  town 
and  Santander,  in  order  that  they  might  have  their 
fish  constantly  fresh  from  the  sea. 

The  Plaza  Mayor,  surrounded  by  arcaded  gal- 
leries, has  the  reputation  of  being  the  finest  square 
in  Spain,  but  is  surrounded  by  shops  such  as  the 
back  streets  of  Bermondsey  and  Whitechapel  would 
be  ashamed  of,  and  by  day  wears  a  most  forlorn 
and  deserted  appearance.     In  the  evening  all  the 
few    remaining    students    congregate    there    and 
enliven  it  a  little,  marching  up  and  down  proudly 
in   their   ragged  cloaks,  arm-in-arm,  and   puffing 
their  eternal  cigarritos.      There  is  no  place  where 
pride   in   rags   is   so    splendidly   exhibited    as    at 
Salamanca.  ]  Madame  d'Aulnois  narrates  that  one 
day  looking  out  of  a  window,  she  saw  a  woman 
selling  small  pieces  of  fresh   salmon  and   calling 
upon  all  the  passers-by  to  buy  of  her.      A  poor 


SALAMANCA.  261 

shoemaker  came  and  asked  for  a  pound  of  her 
salmon.  "  You  do  not  hesitate  about  the  price," 
she  said,  "because  you  think  it  is  cheap,  but  you 
are  mistaken,  it  costs  a  crown  the  pound."  The 
shoemaker,  insulted  at  her  doubting  him,  said  in  an 
angry  tone,  "  If  it  had  been  cheap,  one  pound 
would  have  been  enough  for  me,  but,  since  it  is 
dear,  I  wish  for  three  " — and  he  immediately  gave 
her  three  crowns  and  walked  away  twirling  his 
moustache  and  glowering  at  the  spectators, 
though  the  three  crowns  were  all  that  he  had  in 
the  world,  the  earnings  of  his  whole  week,  and 
the  next  day  he,  his  wife,  and  his  little  children 
would  fast  on  something  less  than  bread  and 
water.  This  was  in  1643  ;  but  Spain  never  changes, 
and  scenes  of  the  same  character  might  be 
witnessed  any  day  in  Salamanca.  It  is  the  want 
of  regard  for  this  Spanish  amour-propre  which 
makes  the  generality  of  English  travellers  so 
unpopular  in  Spain.  Theophile  Gautier  narrates 
that  an  Englishman  travelling  from  Seville  to 
Xeres,  not  understanding  that  a  distinction  of 
classes  was  unknown  at  such  times,  sent  his  driver 
to  dine  in  the  kitchen  of  the  inn  where  they  halted. 
The  driver,  who  in  his  heart  thought  that  he  would 
have   been   doing   great   honour    to   a  heretic   by 


262  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

sitting  at  the  same  table  with  him,  concealed  his 
indignation  at  the  time,  but  in  the  middle  of  the 
road,  three  or  four  leagues  from  Xeres,  in  a 
horrible  desert  full  of  bogs  and  brambles,  pushed 
the  Englishman  out  of  the  carriage,  and  cried  out, 
as  he  whipped  on  his  horse,  "  My  Lord,  you  did 
not  find  me  worthy  to  sit  at  your  table  ;  and  I, 
Don  Jose  Balbino  Bustamente  y  Orozco,  find  you 
too  bad  company  to  occupy  a  seat  in  my  carriage. 
Good  night." 

Travellers  in  early  spring  will  observe  the 
quantities  of  pet  lambs  in  the  streets  of  Salamanca, 
generally  decorated  with  bunches  of  red  worsted. 
By  a  curious  custom  a  general  slaughter  of  these 
takes  place  on  Good  Friday  upon  the  doorsteps — 
the  little  creatures  being  executed  by  their  own 
mistresses,  who  stab  them  in  the  throat. 

The  inn  at  Salamanca,  La  Burgalesca,  is  quite 
excellent,  and  is  kept  by  very  honest  deserving 
people,  so  that  in  the  dearth  of  good  inns  in  the 
Peninsula,  it  forms  a  great  attraction  to  the  place. 

A  woeful  drive  of  six  hours  across  a  barren 
wilderness  brought  us  from  Salamanca  to  Zamora. 
No  single  object  of  interest  varied  the  monotony 
of  the  way,  except  a  stork's  nest  on  a  low  campanile 


SALAMANCA.  263 

in  a  village  we  passed  through,  on  which  the 
mother  stood  imperturbably  feeding  her  young, 
while  the  heavy  diligence  rolled  by,  almost  within 
reach.  At  length,  beyond  the  Douro,  rose,  on  a 
steep  though  low  hillside,  the  houses  and  churches 
of  Zamora,  ending  on  the  left  in  the  cathedral, 
which  is  of  most  mosque-like  appearance,  and  we 
entered  the  town  by  a  long  low  gate-defended 
bridge  of  seventeen  pointed  arches. 

There  is  no  inn  in  Zamora,  and  it  is  almost 
impossible  to  obtain  any  food  there.  Nothing 
could  we  find  except  bon-bons  and  some  very  aged 
sponge-cakes,  so  that  before  evening  hunger  fairby 
drove  us  away.  There  is  not  much  to  see.  One 
long  narrow  street  winds  along  the  heights — 
passing  on  the  way  the  interesting  little  Ro- 
manesque church  of  La  Magdalena,  and  a  dusty 
alameda  planted  with  coronella — to  the  cathedral, 
which  is  of  the  twelfth  century,  with  a  curious 
dome,  much  like  that  of  the  old  cathedral  at 
Salamanca.  The  coro  contains  a  beautiful  carved 
lectern,  and  is  surrounded  with  magnificent  stall- 
work  decorated  by  figures  of  Old  Testament  saints, 
bearing  scrolls  with  legends  referring  to  our  Lord. 
There  are  some  interesting  tombs.  From  the  little 
platform   below  the  cathedral   is    a  striking  view 


264  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

upon  the  Douro  rushing  immediately  beneath  the 
rocks  upon  which  it  is  built,  and  then  over  the  wide 
desolate  Africa-like  plains  broken  only  by  boulders 
of  grey  rock.  We  sate  down  to  draw  upon  the 
steep  bank  above  the  river,  but  our  doing  so  in 
time  of  Carlist  alarms  excited  quite  a  commotion 
in  the  city,  and  we  were  soon  pounced  upon  by  a 
policeman  and  carried  off,  followed  by  a  mob  of 
people,  for  examination,  but  our  passports  proving 
satisfactory,  we  were  speedily  released. 

The  Carlist  troubles  were  now  at  their  climax, 
and  as  the  railway  to  the  Asturias  was  cut  in 
twenty-five  places,  we  were  reluctantly  compelled 
to  give  up  for  the  time  visiting  that  most  interest- 
ing corner  of  Spain,  and  also  the  cathedral  of 
Leon.  We  were  not  even  able  to  linger  at  Toro 
and  its  curious  colegiata,  but  hastened  on  to  the 
safer  Valladolid.  We  joined  the  main-line  of 
railway  at  Medina  del  Campo,  but  it  was  too  dark 
to  see  its  curious  walls.  Here  the  great  Isabella 
died,  November  26,  1504.  Hence,  on  the  day  of 
her  death,  Peter  Martyr  wrote  to  the  Archbishop 
of  Granada,  "  My  hand  falls  powerless  by  my  side 
for  very  sorrow.  The  world  has  lost  its  noblest 
ornament ;    a   loss   to   be   deplored    not   only   by 


VALLADOLID.  265 

Spain,  which  she  has  so  long  carried  forward  in 
the  career  of  glory,  but  by  every  nation  in 
Christendom  ;  for  she  was  the  mirror  of  every 
virtue,  the  shield  of  the  innocent,  and  an  avenging 
sword  to  the  wicked.  I  know  none  of  her  sex, 
in  ancient  or  modern  times,  who,  in  my  judgment, 
is  at  all  to  be  named  with  this  incomparable 
woman." 

It  was  midnight  when  we  reached  Valladolid  and 
were  guided  by  a  boy  through  the  long  dark 
alameda  of  the  Campo  Grande,  and  up  the  wide 
streets  to  our  inn. 

Valladolid,  which  was  the  capital  of  Castile  under 
Juan  II.,  and  one  of  the  most  flourishing  cities  of 
Spain  under  Charles  V.  and  Philip  II.,  has  been  a 
mere  wreck  of  its  former  self  since  the  French  in- 
vasion, in  which  many  of  its  most  important  build- 
ings were  destroyed.  Its  situation  is  dreary  in  the 
extreme,  in  a  barren  dusty  plain  quite  devoid  of 
natural  beauty.  Two  small  rivers,  the  Pisuerga 
and  the  Esqueva,  meet  under  its  walls  and  water 
its  flat  ugly  gardens.  The  great  Plaza  is  vast  and 
imposing;  the  cathedral,  the  work  of  Herrera  (1585), 
is  imposing  too,  and  grand  in  its  outlines,  but 
intensely  bare  and  cold.  Near  it  stands  the  beau- 
tiful   church   of    Santa    Maria   l'Antigua,   with   a 


266  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

picturesque  western  steeple  of  the  twelfth  century 
and  a  ruined  cloister,  and  there  are  several  other 
churches  where  the  architect  will  find  interesting 
bits.  All  travellers,  however,  should  visit  San  Pablo, 
a  Dominican  convent  rebuilt  in  1463  by  Cardinal 
Torquemada,  who  had  been  one  of  its  monks  and 
was  the  ferocious  confessor  of  Isabella  the  Catholic, 
from  whom  he  extorted  a  promise  that  she  would 
devote  herself  "  to  the  extirpation  of  heresy  for  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  exaltation  of  the  Catholic 
faith."  Under  his  influence  Autos  da  fi  frequently 
took  place  in  the  Plaza  Mayor  of  Valladolid,  at- 
tended by  the  Court  then,  as  bull-fights  have  been 
in  late  years,  and  in  which  the  victims  were  arrayed 
in  yellow  shirts  painted  with  flames  and  figures  of 
devils.  Torquemada,  however,  was  also  a  great 
patron  of  art  and  literature,  and  the  inscription 
"  Operibus  credite,"  in  reference  to  the  splendour  of 
the  buildings  which  he  founded  here,  was  repeated 
round  his  tomb.  This  monument  was  destroyed  by 
the  French,  but  the  facade  of  San  Pablo  is  still  a 
miracle  of  labyrinthine  gothic  tracery  quite  splen- 
did of  its  kind,  and  so  is  the  neighbouring  facade 
of  San  Gregorio,  founded  in  1488  by  Bishop  Alonzo 
of  Burgos.  Close  by  is  the  curious  old  house  in 
which  Philip  II.  was  born. 


VALLADOLID.  2C7 

The  Museo  must  be  visited,  for,  though  its  upper 
story  is  filled  with  atrocious  rubbish,  pictorial  art  in 
wood  is  nowhere  so  well  represented  as  in  the  col- 
lection of  figures  which  occupies  the  ground  floor. 
The  best  of  these  are  from  the  hands  of  the  violent 
Juan   de  Juni,  remarkable   for  his   knowledge   of 
anatomy  when  it  was  generally  unknown  in  Spain, 
or  from  those  of  the  gentle  Gregorio  Hernandez 
(1566— 1636),  who,  like  Fra  Angelico  and  Juanes, 
devoted   himself  to  religious  subjects,   and  never 
began   to   work    without   preparing   his   mind   by 
prayer.     At  the  end  of  the  principal  gallery,  which 
is  surrounded  by  the  beautiful  choir  stalls  of  San 
Benito,  are  the  splendid  bronze  effigies  of  the  Duke 
and  Duchess  of  Lerma,  by  Pompeio  Leoni,  removed 
from  San  Pablo. 

We  were  at  Valladolid  on  Ascension  Day,  upon 
which,  at  the  hour  of  mass,  all  the  leaves  upon  the 
trees  are  supposed  to  fold  themselves  one  upon 
the  other  in  the  form  of  the  Cross,  out  of  very 
devotion  and  reverence. 

Terribly  hot  in  the  height  of  summer,  we  found 
Valladolid  insupportably  cold  in  the  middle  of  May, 
and  were  glad  to  hurry  on  to  Burgos,  where,  how- 
ever, the  climate  was  even  more  Siberian. 


268  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

From  being  the  first  place  generally  visited  in 
Spain,  Burgos  has  been  greatly  overrated  by  most 
travellers.  It  is  not  a  picturesque  place,  and  its 
new  houses  and  white  quays  along  the  banks  of  the 
Arlanzon  have  the  look  of  a  very  inferior  Bordeaux. 
A  fine  old  gateway  is  jammed  in  between  insignifi- 
cant modern  buildings,  and  even  the  cathedral  is 
so  hemmed  in  that  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  any  good 
near  view  of  the  exterior.  As  Burgos  is  on  the 
high-road,  and  almost  all  foreigners  halt  there,  the 
innkeepers  are  more  extortionate  than  elsewhere, 
and  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  very  strict  bargain  on 
entering  the  hotels. 

We  spent  the  whole  of  our  first  day  at  Burgos  in 
an  excursion  to  the  tomb  of  the  Cid,  from  which 
travellers  are  strangely  dissuaded  by  Murray's 
hand-book,  but  which  is  exceedingly  curious  and 
interesting.  The  road  follows  a  long  alameda  by 
the  banks  of  the  Arlanzon  for  about  two  miles,  and 
then  ascends  a  hill  to  the  convent  of  Mirafiores, 
which  looks  at  a  distance  as  Eton  chapel  would 
look  if  placed  on  a  bare  wind-stricken  height.  The 
church  and  convent  were  completed  in  1488  by 
Isabella  the  Catholic  in  memory  of  her  father 
Juan  II.,  and  her  beloved  mother  Isabella,  to  whom 
she  was  so  tenderly  attached  that  she  insisted  on 


ARCO    DE   SANTA    MARIA,   HUKGOS. 


I',  .-lis 


BURGOS.  269 

making  it  a  condition  of  her  marriage  settlement 
that  her  husband  should  always  treat  her  mother 
with  proper  respect.  Their  gorgeous  alabaster 
monument  by  Gil  de  Siloe  stands  before  the  high 
altar,  and  is  perhaps  the  most  perfectly  glorious 
tomb  in  the  world.  On  one  side  is  another  beauti- 
ful monument  to  their  son  Alonzo,  whose  early 
death  conferred  the  crown  upon  Isabella.  The 
convent  is  almost  deserted  now,  only  three  monks 
remain,  tottering  with  old  age,  and  so  poor  that 
they  with  difficulty  find  any  soup  to  give  to  the  still 
more  wretched  beggars  who  hover  round  their 
gates. 

It  is  a  most  desolate  drive  from  hence  to  San 
Pedro  de  Cerdena,  the  beloved  home  of  the  Cid, 
whither  he  desired  that  he  might  be  taken  with  his 
last  breath.  There  is  no  road,  but  a  mere  track 
marked  by  stones  across  the  sweeping  platforms  of 
the  hill-tops,  covered  with  burnt  yellow  turf  which 
took  fine  effects  of  colour  in  the  shifting  lights  and 
shadows  of  a  showery  day.  More  and  more  deso- 
late does  the  country  become  :  not  a  tree,  not  even 
the  smallest  shrub  is  to  be  seen,  till  you  reach  the 
edge  of  a  hollow  in  the  hills,  where  the  vast 
monastery  of  San  Pedro  rises  in  a  grim  solitude, 
backed  by  jagged  purple  mountains  with  snow- 


27o  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

covered  tops.  As  a  first  or  a  last  view  in  Spain, 
nothing  can  be  more  characteristic  of  the  fallen 
grandeur  of  the  country  in  its  splendid  ruin. 

Over  the  gate  of  the  palace  convent  stands  the 
mutilated  figure  of  the  Cid  on  horseback  riding 
over  the  prostrate  Moors.  The  building  is  massive 
and  solemn  to  a  degree,  but  almost  entirely  de- 
serted. A  woman  and  a  filthy  priest  are  its  only 
inhabitants.  The  priest  herds  his  pigs  through  the 
greater  part  of  the  day,  and  in  the  early  morning 
he  says  mass  in  the  grand  conventual  church. 
"Have  you  any  congregation  ?"  we  asked.  "  Only 
the  woman,"  he  replied. 

Across  a  courtyard  overgrown  with  nettles,  the 
priest  led  us  to  the  tomb  of  the  Cid,  which  was 
erected  by  Alonzo  el  Sabio  in  1272.  It  occupies 
the  centre  of  a  chapel,  surrounded  by  the  shields 
of  his  friends  and  followers.  On  the  high  altar 
tomb  are  the  effigies  of  the  Cid  and  his  faithful 
wife  Ximena,  whom  on  his  death-bed  he  com- 
mended to  the  care  of  One  mightier  than  himself, 
with  the  oft-repeated  words,  "  God  has  promised." 
Around  his  tomb  rest  in  peace,  his  son,  his  two 
daughters,  Elvira,  Queen  of  Navarre,  and  Maria 
Sol,  Queen  of  Arragon,  with  their  husbands,  and 
his  principal  chieftains  ;  but  the  Cid's  own  body  has 


BURGOS.  271 

been  carried  off  to  Burgos,  where  it  is  preserved  in 
a  wooden  box  in  the  town-hall !  Around  the  tomb 
is  the  epitaph, — 

"  Belliger,  invictus,  famosus  marte  triumphis, 
Clauditur  hoc  tumulo  magnus  Didaci  Rodericus." 

The  Cid  is  so  well  known  by  his  appellation  ot 
the  sheikh  or  chieftain,  that  his  own  name  Rodrigo 
Ruy  Diaz  is  scarcely  remembered.  His  story  is, 
however,  better  preserved  than  that  of  any  other 
person  of  his  time,  his  deeds  of  war  which  made 
him  so  terrible  to  his  enemies,  and  his  many  deeds 
of  generosity  and  kindness  to  his  friends,  the  poor, 
and  the  Church,  having  been  handed  down  in  a 
hundred  ballads  and  mediaeval  romances.  With 
him,  almost  all  the  chroniclers  mention  his  faithful 
steed  Bavieca,  which  was  present  at  his  death-bed, 
and  wept  great  tears  over  his  dying  master.  Upon 
it,  the  dead  body  of  the  Cid  was  borne  hither  from 
Valencia,  held  upright  in  his  armour,  and  with  his 
good  sword  Tisona  fixed  firmly  in  his  hand,  with 
which,  says  the  legend,  he,  though  dead,  knocked 
down  a  Jew  who  audaciously  plucked  him  by  the 
beard.  Here,  near  his  master,  Bavieca  is  buried, 
under  a  mound  shaded  by  two  elm-trees,  according 
to  the  will  of  the  Cid,  who  wrote,  "When  ye 
bury  Bavieca,  dig  deep,  for  shameful  thing  it  were, 


z7 2  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN 

that  he  should  be  eaten  by  curs,  who  hath  trampled 
down  so  much  currish  flesh  of  Moors." 

It  was  his  hatred  of  the  Moors  which  first 
attracted  the  Cid  to  the  convent  of  San  Pedro, 
where,  in  872,  two  hundred  monks  were  massacred 
by  the  Moor  Zephe,  monks  from  whose  holy  bodies 
blood  always  issued  afresh  on  the  anniversary  of 
their  execution.  This  miracle  was  confirmed  as 
authentic  by  Pope  Sixtus  IV.  in  1473,  and,  though 
some  heretics  affirm  that  it  afterwards  ceased,  the 
priest  who  shows  the  convent  evidently  believes 
that  it  is  still  in  full  force,  and  marvels  that  his 
visitors  should  find  the  tomb  of  a  warrior  more 
interesting  than  the  gaudy  shrine  of  such  san- 
guineous martyrs. 

There  is  nothing  to  be  told  of  the  vast  cathedral 
of  Burgos,  which  has  not  been  already  narrated 
by  O'Shea  and  by  the  original  Ford.  It  is 
tremendous  in  size,  beautiful  in  parts,  but  never,  I 
think,  very  striking  as  a  whole.  Some  distance 
out  of  Burgos,  in  an  opposite  direction  from 
Miraflores,  near  the  green  avenues  of  the  Arlanzon, 
is  the  beautiful  convent  of  Las  Huelgas,  founded 
for  the  Cistercians  by  the  wife  of  Alonzo  VIII., 
Eleanor  of  England,  daughter  of  Henry  II.,  and 
sister  of  Richard   Cceur  de  Lion.      Through   the 


BURGOS.  273 

grille  which  divides  its  splendid  church,  you  look 
upon  the  choir,  whose  stalls,  during  service-time, 
are  occupied  by  picturesque  white  robed  Cistercian 
nuns — a  beautiful  picture  which  remains  stamped 
upon  the  mind  long  after  that  of  the  arches  and 
pillars  has  faded  away. 

The  railway  from  Burgos  to  the  Bidassoa  passes 
through   Vittoria   and    St.    Sebastian,   but   except 
the   latter,   which   generally   forms    an    excursion 
from  Biarritz,  offers  nothing  which  need  arrest  a 
traveller,  beyond  the  manners  and  proverbs  of  the 
Basque  population,  and  their  language,  which  an 
old  Basque  woman  assured  one  of  our  friends  was 
not  only  the  best,  but  by  far  the  oldest  language 
in  the  world — in  fact  it  was  that  which  Adam  and 
Eve  spoke  in  Paradise.     As  we  sped  along,  the 
banks  of  the  railway  were  constantly  occupied  by 
the  picturesque  Carlist  troops,  and,  at  many  of  the 
principal   stations,  Carlist  regiments  were   drawn 
up,  in  their  scarlet  Basque  caps  and  sashes,  but 
offered   us   no   annoyance.     We  arrived   safely  at 
Irun,    and    there   took   leave   of    Spain,   with   the 
feeling  that   great  and  frequent  as  had   been  the 
discomforts  of  our  travels  there,  in  the  afterglow 
only  the   rosy  tints   would   predominate   and   the 
annoyances  fade   into  shadow.     Here   also  I  will 

T 


274  WANDERINGS  IN  SPAIN. 

take  leave  of  my  reader,  with  the  expression  which 
a  Spanish  traveller  knows  better  than  any  other — 
with  which  every  passer-by  salutes  him,  with  which 
every  beggar  wishes  him  farewell — "  Vaya  Usted 
con  Dios." 


THE  END. 


VIRTUE    AND   CO.,    PRIMERS,    CITY    ROAD,    LONDON. 


33g  tt»e  same  &utf)or. 


WALKS     IN     ROME. 

Third  Edition.     2  Vols.     Crown  8vo.,  21;. 


PALL  MALL  GAZETTE. 

"  The  best  handbook  of  the  city  and  environs  of  Rome  ever  published.  .  .  . 
Cannot  be  too  much  commended." 

WESTMINSTER  REVIEW. 

"This  book  supplies  the  peculiar  sort  of  knowledge  which  the  traveller  in  Rome 
evidently  needs.  He  does  not  want  a  mere  guide  book  to  mark  the  localities,  or 
a  mere  compendious  history  to  recall  the  most  interesting  associations.  He  want 
a  sympathetic  and  well-informed  friend  who  has  himself  been  over  the  places 
described,  and  has  appreciated  them  with  the  same  mingled  sentiments  of  inquisi- 
tiveness,  reverence,  and  inexplicable  historical  longing  with  which  the  traveller 
of  taste  must  approach  a  city  of  such  vast  and  heterogeneous  attractions  as 
Rome." 

DAILY  NEWS. 

"This  book  is  likely  to  be  very  useful,  and  seems  to  be  correct  on  all  points. 
It  is  thoroughly  practical,  and  is  the  best  guide  that  yet  has  been  offered." 

SPECTATOR. 

"  Mr.  Hare's  book  fills  a  real  void,  and  gives  to  the  tourist  all  the  latest  disco- 
veries and  the  fullest  information  bearing  on  that  most  inexhaustible  of  subjects, 

the  city  of  Rome It  is  much  fuller  than  '  Murray,'  and  any  one  who 

chooses  may  now  know  how  Rome  really  looks  in  sun  or  shade." 

SCOTSMAN. 

"  Whoever  has  a  visit  to  Rome  in  contemplation  should  not  fail  to  read  Mr. 
Hare's  book  before  starting.  He  will  enter  upon  his  explorations  with  double 
into  rest  and  intelligence.  Whoever  is  already  familiar  with  the  city,  and  comes 
across  these  '  Walks,'  will  think  himself  transported  again  to  the  old  scenes." 

A  TL ANTIC  MONTHL  Y. 

"  The  real  richness  of  Rome  as  well  as  its  interest  are  known  only  to  those  who 
stay  a  long  time  there  ;  but  for  such  or  even  for  those  whose  visit  is  a  brief  one  we 
know  no  single  work  that  can  replace  this  of  Mr.  Hare.  Wc  heartily  recommend 
it  to  past  and  future  visitors  to  Rome  ;  they  will  find  it  a  condensed  library  of  in- 
formation about  the  Eternal  City." 

LIPPINCOTT'S  MAGAZINE. 

"  The  book  is  to  be  impressively  recommended  to  those  who  are  going  to  Rome 
as  a  cram  ;  to  those  who  are  not  going,  as  an  exquisite  tale;  and  to  those  who 
have  been  there,  as  a  memorizer." 


STRAHAN  &  CO.,  56,  LUDGATE  HILL,  LONDON. 


S&orfcs  bp  gllfati  ^TmnBSon,  B.&.1L, 


POET-LAUREATE. 


Poems.     Small  8vo,  9s. 

Maud,  and  other  Poems.     Small 

8vo,  5s. 

In  Memoriam.     Small  8vo,  6s. 
The  Princess.     Small  8vo,  5s. 
Idylls  of  the  King.    Small  8vo,  7s. 

Collected.     Small  8vo,  12s. 
Enoch  Arden,  &c.    Small  8vo,  6s. 
The  Holy  Grail,  and  other  Poems. 

Small  8vo,  7  s. 

Gareth  and  Lynette,  &c.     Small 

8vo,  5s. 

Selections.       Square     8vo,     cloth 

extra,  5s. ;  gilt  edges,  6s. 

Songs.  Square  8vo,  cloth  extra,  5s. 
Library  Edition  of  Mr.  Tennyson's 

Works,  in  Six  Post  8vo.  Vols.,  ios.  6d.  each. 

Pocket-volume    Edition.      Eleven 

Vols.,  i8mo,  in  neat  case,  50s.;  in  extra  binding,  55s. 

The  Window;    or,   the   Songs  of 

the  Wrens.    With  Music  by  A.  Sullivan.    4to,  cloth  gilt 
extra,  21s. 

STRAHAN  &  CO.,  56,  LUDGATE  HILL,  LONDON. 


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