Toledo, the Type of the Spanish City—Its Architectural Monuments—The Intermingling of Arab and Christian Art—Granada—The Alhambra—Cordova—The Great Mosque—Seville, the City of Pleasure—The Special Character of the Streets—The CafÉs and Shops—The Typical Andalusian—The Parks—The Sevillanas—Spanish Courtship—The Houses of Seville—The Patios—The Home-life of the Sevillians—Spanish Hospitality. Toledo has kept, perhaps, more than any city in Spain its mediÆval aspect, combining in its buildings of so many civilizations that here remain together; churches, convents, mosques, Gothic walls and ornaments, Moorish houses and steep passages—everywhere the Moorish design is evident—and a great Christian cathedral—much of what is most typical of the genuine Spanish civilization. A great town, set on its rough and elevated rock of granite in the midst of the blue Sierra, closely ringed by the deep brown water of the Tajo, it is like no other city in the world. The national character, strong and aloof, passionate and brilliant, and the nation’s history, are here epitomized before you. And coming to the city, as the stranger does, from Madrid, blatant, noisy, and modern, you will feel transplanted back into an older world. Your first impression is of something extraordinarily austere. You seem to have passed into silence and an almost painful absence of life. Bridge of Alcantara and the AlcÁzar, Toledo Toledo has remained as the Moors built it, a tortuous network of cobbled alleys, as was most fitting in a city built upon rock, scorched by sun in summer, and in winter swept with icy winds. The tall houses, rising in straight There is the same absence of bustling modern life in the streets. In the Calle del Comercio there are shops, but the wares are simple, having an old-world air; only specially interesting is that of Alvarez, the best maker of damascene. Even in the Zocodover, the centre of the city’s business, all is sedate. You will see the water-carriers driving their mules up the steep streets from the vega, a peasant whose beast is laden with bright-coloured fruits and vegetables, or a group of goats that supply the milk for the city. Yet often the streets seem deserted. Only the companies of beggar children, who clamour Romance lives in Toledo. How many scenes and how many figures famous in Spain’s history are recalled to our memory here. In no other city are there the same number of architectural monuments. It is the chief centre of the two great elements of Spanish civilization, the Christian and the Arab, which makes it the place where the native art can best be studied. Its cathedral and churches are furnished with the most perfect examples of the industrial arts that have been produced in the Peninsula. El Greco, who adopted Toledo as his home, expresses in his pictures, which are one of the great possessions of the city, the Toledan spirit, which is the spirit of Spain. The churches are the museums and picture-galleries of the city; each one has its special appeal—its precious mosaics, its ironwork, its glass windows, its cloisters, its tombs, its beautiful carvings, or its pictures. Its architecture shows a curious mingling of Arab, Gothic, and Renaissance work. Christian and Moor overlap in many buildings, while in others the art of each emerges isolated and independent. In the great cathedral, the perfection of Gothic in Spain, we see nothing of the Moor, while in the mosque of Bel-el-pardon, now called El Cristo de la Luz, and in the ancient mosque in the Calle de las Tornarias, which has never been converted to Christian uses, and retains its original character almost unimpaired, we can with difficulty trace the Christian. But in other buildings—the Sinagoga del TrÁnsito, for instance—we find the Moorish traditions persisting with the Christian. And it is this intermingling and In Cordova, and even in Granada, you are less sharply conscious of the Moorish influence. A street in Cordova, looking towards the Mosque Time, the tamer of proud cities, has shadowed Granada, and to visit it is to understand the desolation of conquest. The big hotels, placed so incongruously near to the Alhambra, the clamorous guides, the beggars—all the disagreeable conditions of a show city that trades on its past are here. But there is one possession that conquest has left to Granada. It is to see the Alhambra that everyone comes to the city, which is but a setting to this Moorish jewel. And in the wooded garden, which lies around the citadel, where nightingales sing, and flowers embroider the grass, and the sound of running water is always heard, Granada, The first impression you gather from the almost bewildering beauty is how any building so seemingly fragile can be so strong. More than five centuries have passed since the Alhambra was built. The repeated earthquakes which did so much damage to Granada, and laid in ruin the Renaissance palace of Charles V., have been powerless to destroy this most delicate of architectural structures. To-day the Alhambra is kept as a show-place, rejuvenated by the restorer. Cordova suffers from the memory of a past greatness which she cannot now support. Gautier describes the city as le squelette blanchÉ et calcinÉ. Cordova is a city in sleep; it rests in a quiet and beautiful dream. Here the Eastern spirit of acceptance echoes with an unsilenced voice. And this is why the sensitive stranger will find such perfect satisfaction in the white city’s sleeping peace. Cordova was the town that I most loved in Spain. But the tourist goes to Cordova in haste to visit the mosque. “Mezquita? Mezquita?” Each Cordovese you encounter will surmise your desire and direct you without question. They know that this The great mosque is a “wonder of the world,” the one perfectly satisfying building left in the city of the Khalif, the Cordova that was known as “the Bride of Andalusia.” This Church of the Divine Wisdom is the most complete expression in building that the Moors have left in Spain, more even than the Alhambra. It is one of the buildings that sum up the genius of a people, the experience of a race, and the teaching of a school. In the Outer Court of Oranges, where the water of the fountains and the leafy shade of the orange-trees give delicious coolness from the blazing heart of the sun, you will find the untiring charm and dreamy peace of Oriental repose. You will see the women of Cordova gathered around the great almÎda fountain with their red-brown pitchers to fill. You will hear them chattering, telling the news of the day. Now and then Puerta Del PerdÓn (Gate of Pardon) the Mosque, Cordova And when you go into the mosque itself, you will pass out of the colonnades of orange-trees into colonnades of stone. Before you, around you, everywhere, a forest of columns; and the canopy of curves above you, formed by the double rows of crossed fantastic arches, The Queen’s Chamber, Alhambra, Granada But words cannot describe this wonderful temple. The Moorish houses of prayer will bring you a sense of joy: there is nothing of the mystic suggestion of a Gothic cathedral—that of Seville, for instance; your spirit is freed, not awed. The mosque was to the Moor this world as well as the next. Here is the message of a race who understood the fulness of living so well that they knew how to be joyously at home with their God; and you realize more fully this lesson that the The stranger will now be ready to understand the special atmosphere of Seville, for it is this frank acceptance of joy as the gold thread of life which gives the southern city its charm. It is not shadowed with memory like sleeping Cordova, nor is it overburdened with heroic monuments like Toledo; there are no ruins such as give sadness to Granada; it is still a living city whose blood is pulsing with the joy of life lived in the sunshine. The buildings for which the city is famous all have this aspect of joy—the Moorish Tower of Gold; the AlcÁzar, with its flower-crowded gardens; the Giralda Tower, which is so old, and yet in its glittering whiteness looks so new. There is a joyousness in these buildings that I have never seen in the buildings of any other city. Then, Seville is alive commercially, and from its wharves among the orange-trees which line the banks of its rivers vessels Seville has no rival among the cities of Spain. The old saying is still true: “To him whom God loves He gives a home in Seville.” In Seville you are happy without seeking to be so, and when the stranger has learnt this he has learnt the secret of the Sevillanos. Seville has the aspect of a city given up to a holiday humour; and if I wished to describe the special quality of her happy people, I should say that they understood perfectly the difficult art of loafing. You must be happy to loaf successfully; that is why Northern people find it so difficult. But not even the Venetians loaf as well as the Sevillanos. Go to the Calle de las Sierpes, that narrow, animated street, the centre of Seville’s joyous life; it is different from other streets; its gay shops, with the double row of irregular, close-drawn windows that make a sinuous line of light—certainly it is like a serpent. All day and far into the night people saunter up and down its In the cafÉs you will have an opportunity of studying the typical Andalusian. He wears a short coat and very tight trousers of a light colour, and a felt hat with a broad, flat brim. He is always clean-shaven, and his hair is cut very short. These men are often handsome, and have a striking expression of strength; the faces, dignified and always humorous, often resemble a comic actor. They are an affectionate and friendly company, and their conversation echoes with a deafening buzz. Notice the way in which they smoke their cigarettes, and at intervals drink their refrescos or sip from their small glasses of aguardiente. Their enjoyment is Inside the shops, which have doors wide open to the street, groups of women sit to buy fans and mantillas. Making purchases is a delightful game, in which all Spanish women excel. They smile, and chatter, and use their fans, bargaining with delicious grace, while the salesman, cigarette in hand, shrugs his shoulders and gesticulates. “But the mantilla is dear, seÑor.” He throws out his hands in protest. “No, seÑorita; I am giving it away at ten pesetas.” “Is the quality good?” and she raises her eyebrows in bewitching incredulity. “As good as God’s blessing.” And with mutual smiles and salutations the purchase is made. Court of Lions, Alhambra, Granada It is in the Paseo de las Delicias—the name will tell you of the beauty of this park, with its orange-groves, hedges of blue aloes, The Sevillanas smile and chatter together; this play of love is a part of the accustomed homage which is their due. There is a fascination about Spanish women not easy to define. Many of them are not beautiful, but they are always graceful, and they all walk beautifully. Then, most of them have the soft, expressive eyes which the East has bequeathed to Spain. There is a quality and certain finish about them which is unique; each one looks as if she understood that she was a woman, and was very glad that this was so. Perhaps this is why they are so attractive; this is the reason, too, why the old women are so A group of workers in a “patio” at Seville Much of what is characteristic of the home life of the Sevillians may be gathered from the arrangement of their houses. They are all—the houses of the poor as well as those of the rich citizens—built around the patio, or shaded court, where palms, myrtles, pomegranates, and jasmines grow, and the singing of caged birds mingles with the sound of the playing fountains. Into this patio all the windows of the house open and the rooms lead. The doors are of open ironwork—no two doors are alike—and often, even in the small houses, the grating is of exquisite workmanship. One door, which also has an open reja, or grating, leads into the street. It is in these patios that the Sevillians spend their lives, and this throwing open of their homes to the gaze of all who pass in the streets is exactly characteristic of this simple, The Andalusian’s leisure is a perpetual source of delight. What impresses the serious foreigner, who is so fortunate as to become an inmate of a Sevillian home, is the mirth and courtesy of the family, who all seem to enjoy endless leisure. Spanish households have a pleasantness quite their own. The men are never preoccupied with business; smoking cigarettes, they will pass hours chattering to the women of the family, who spend the greater part of the day working their beautiful embroideries. Few books are read, and talking is the chief occupation. In their home life there is a love of visiting and a love of receiving visitors. Tertulias, or parties, are frequent. But a Spanish party differs materially from an English, in so far as there are no refreshments—if we except the glasses of pure water and plate of azucarillos to sweeten the water, which are placed upon a side-table. This is an instance of the sobriety of the Sevillians. The guests dance and sing and talk incessantly, and are perfectly satisfied to enjoy themselves without eating. The Spaniards are good hosts; the exquisite politeness which is natural to them, even to those of the very lowest classes, causes them to lay themselves out to “My house is yours, seÑoras; make whatsoever use of it you will,” was her answer to my request. And during the hours that my friend was at work she put aside her occupations—she was a planchadora, and was ironing with her assistants on our entrance—and gave herself up solely to help and entertain us. A refresco was brought to us; calientes, the twisted doughnuts which are made in every Andalusian house, were fried for us. Nor would she consent to receive the payment which we, with our foreign stupidity, offered to her on our departure. No, the kindly, cheery But it is during the days of festival at Easter and the Feria that the fine hospitality of the Sevillians is seen at its best. The houses are filled to overflowing, and hospitality is taxed to a degree that only the most perfect courtesy and good-nature could endure. Every corner is received with a chorus of welcome, and embraced like a brother. Beds are surrendered, even sofas are given up, and as fresh strangers arrive, unable to gain accommodation in the crowded inns, mattresses, pillows, and rugs are brought out of cupboards, and beds are made upon the floor. All the members of the family, and even the tired servants, who are always joyously ready to help, sit up, because there is literally nowhere for them to sleep. The difficulty of obtaining provisions in these seasons of festivity is very great: the butcher cannot provide meat; even bread is hard to buy. But the seÑora of the house is never troubled; she tells you her woes, and then |