13 



SEVILLA. 



SEVRES, DEUX. 



614 



bank of the river, extending southward, and planted with trees, 

 shrubs, and flowers. Another modern promenade is called El Paseo 

 de Christina. The great square, near the centre of the city, formerly 

 called the Plaza de San Francisco, but now the Plaza de la Consti- 

 tucion, is very picturesque, with its arcades and balconies. The Plaza 

 del Duque is the fashionable nocturnal promenade during the summer 

 months. There are other squares, and a large Plaza de Toros (bull- 

 arena), which in capable of accommodating about 14,000 spectators. 



All or nearly all the public edifices worthy of note in Sevilla stand 

 at the southern extremity, a short distance from the river, and within 

 sight of each other. Here are the Cathedral, the Giralda, the Alcazar, 

 the Lonja, and (outside the wall) the royal tobacco-manufactory. 



The Cathedral occupies the site of the grand mosque of the Moors. 

 It was commenced in 1349, and was opened for divine service in 

 151'.'. It is an imposing structure, of large size and grand propor- 

 tions. It is the largest and finest cathedral in Spain. It is an oblong 

 square, preserving the form of the original mosque ; the length is 'M'l 

 feet, the widih 26j feet The exterior exhibits various styles of 

 architecture. The walls are supported by masay buttresses. There 

 are 93 windows, Dome of which are painted, and the most beautiful in 

 Spain. The windows are profusely ornamented with mouldings and 

 tracery. The western facade remained in an unfinished state till 1827. 

 Four rows of enormous clustered columns, eight in each row, divide 

 the interior into a nave and six aisles. The roof of the nave is 134 

 feet above the pavement. The aisles are 33 feet lower, the two exterior 

 being railed ofi; and formed into chapels. The .choir is separated from 

 the body of the church by a richly-wrought reja, or grating of iron. 

 Over the entrances to the choir on each side are the two grand organs, 

 one of which is stated to contain 5300 pipes, and to have 110 stops, 

 being 50 more than the stops of the great organ at Haarlem. The 

 Retablo of the high altar is a magnificent carving in wood. It is 

 divided into 44 compartments. It was designed by Dancart in 1442, 

 and completed in 1550. '1 he carvings represent sacred subjects from 

 the Bible. Behind the high altar U the C'apilla Real, a large gloomy 

 chapel, containing the tomb of Fernando III., who took the city from 

 the Moors. The other chapels, in all about 26, contain many of the 

 finest works of the best masters of the Sevillian school, as Murillo, 

 Zurbnran, Roelas, Pacheco, Cano, Morale*, Vargas, Navarrete, and 

 others. 



The Giralda, a lofty square tower of Moorish architecture, which 

 originally funned part of the ancient mosque, serves now as a belfry 

 to the cathedral. It was built about 1196. It was originally only 

 250 feet high ; but in 1563 Fernando Ituiz, an architect, raised it 100 

 feet higher. On the top is statue of Faith, of gilt bronze, which, 

 though 14 feet high, and of the enormous weight of 3000 Iba., turns 

 on a pivot and act* as weathercock, thus giving its name Uiralda to 

 the tower, from the Spanish word ' girar,' to turn. The ascent to the 

 belfry U not by stairs, but by an inclined plane which goes round and 

 round, and is of easy ascent. This tower and the Court of the Orange- 

 Trees (Patio de los Naranjo*) are the only remains of the ancient 

 Moorish mosque, which in point of size and magnificence equalled that 

 of Cordova. Attached to the cathedral is a very valuable library called 

 the Bibliotecm Columbians, from the name of the founder Fernando 

 Columbus, the son of the great navigator, who bequeathed to it 

 upwards of 20,000 volumes. 



The edifice which after the cathedral most attracts the attention 

 of travellers is the Alcazar (Al-Kaur), or royal palace of the ancient 

 Moorish kings, which, though modernised by the Christian kings, still 

 preserves much of its original beauty. In its present state it is a 

 compound of tiothic and Moorish architecture. The principal hall, 

 called La Sala de los Kmbajadores (Hall of Ambassadors), is ai fine as 

 that iu the Alhambra. It is fifteen yards square, and three times that 

 height. The pavement is of marble, the ceiling is painted blue and 

 gold, and the panelling of the wainscots is formed of painted tiles. 

 The gardens which surround the palace are very beautiful. In one of 

 the rooms on the ground-floor are several statues, inscriptions, and 

 other remains of antiquity, which have been found on the site of the 

 ancient Italic*, the birthplace of Trajan and Hadrian, which is 

 contiguous to ScvilU. 



Sevilla contains other buildings remarkable either for their antiquity 

 or architecture. La Torre del Oro (the Tower of Gold) is so called 

 because th ships laden with the precious metals at the time of 

 the discovery of America, deposited their cargoes there. La Lonja, or 

 Exchange, is a magnificent building, erected by Philip II. in 1523, over 

 which are the archives of the colonies. The Casa de Pilatos, or palace 

 belonging to the dukes of Alcala ; the archbishop's palace ; the town- 

 hall ; the theatre; the naval college; the cannon-foundry; the 

 prisons; the barracks; 11 hospitals; and the tobacco-manufactory, 

 an immense building 600 feet in length by nearly 500 feet in breadth, 

 inclosing twenty courts, and employing about 3000 persons, chiefly 

 females, are among the chief edifices of Sevilla. The aqueduct called 

 the Canos da Cannona, was originally constructed by the Roman*, and 

 afterwards repaired by the Moors : it conveys water from Alcala. 



Sevilla is said to have at one time contained 140 churches and 

 wralthy convent*. It now contains about 30 parish churches, of 

 which some are remarkable for their architecture. Many of the con- 

 ventual buildings still remain, and have been converted to secular 

 uses. In that of La Merced have been collected the pictures and 



oioo. mv. VOL. IT. 



other works of art which have been removed from the other sup- 

 pressed monasteries. 



Sevilla has a university, founded iu 1502 ; an academy of painting, 

 sculpture, and architecture ; a literaiy and scientific institution, 

 named the LyceX and several other establishments for the diffusion 

 of knowledge and education. The trade, which was very considerable, 

 greatly declined at the separation of the Spanish colonies from the 

 mother country ; but it has since somewhat revived. Oil, wine, corn, 

 hemp, flax, liquorice, but above all lemons and oranges, are annually 

 exported in great quantities by the Guadalquivir. There is also au 

 active fishery on the river. The imports are hides and flax from the 

 Baltic, iron from the Asturiaa, and colonial produce from Cuba. The 

 silk manufacture is of some importance. The other manufactures are 

 woollen and linen goods, hats, soap, earthenware, leather, nitre, and 

 ironmongery. 



Steam-boats ply daily between Sevilla and Cadiz. 



Sevilla, under the Romans, became a colony with the title of 

 Colonia Julia Romula. It was afterwards held by the Goths till 712, 

 when it was taken by the Moors, who made it a Kalifate, or kingdom. 

 In 124" the city was besieged by Fernando III., king of Castilla, and 

 taken, after fifteen mouths, Nov. 23, 1248. From tbat period Sevilla 

 formed part of the dominions of the king of Castiila,' till the whole of 

 Spain became one kingdom. 



(Ford, Handbook of Spain ; Townsend, Journey in Spain, and other 

 volumes of more recent travels. There are three good histories of 

 Sevilla Morgado, Hittoria de Serilla, Sev., 1587, fol. ; Rodrigo Caro, 

 Antiyuedadef y Principado de Sevilla, 1634, foL; Ortiz y 2uui<n, 

 Annies Ederiaiticot de la Ciudad de Sevilla.) 



SEVRES, DEUX, a department of France, bounded N. by Maine- 

 et-Loire, E. by the department of Vienne, S.E. by that of Charente, 

 S.W. by that of Charente-InKrieure, and W. by that of Vende>. Its 

 greatest length from north to south is 79 miles ; from east to west 

 about 41 miles. The area of the department is estimated at 231 (i'5 

 square miles. The population in 1841 was 310,203; in 1851 it wna 

 323,615, giving 139'7 inhabitants to a square mile, or 34'SS below the 

 average per square mile for the whole of France. The department 

 was formed out of Upper Poitou, and is named from two rivers which 

 traverse it. 



The department U traversed by a chain of low granitic hills, which 

 extends from the central group of Auvergue to the mouth of the 

 Loire, bearing in part of its course the name of the Heights of 

 Gatine. These hilU enter the department from the department of 

 Vienne on the south-east side, and extend into the department of 

 Vendee on the west aide ; they separate the basin of the Loire from 

 the basins of the' Cbarente, Sevre-Niortaise, and Lay. The average 

 height of these hills is about 450 feet So much of the department 

 as lies north-west of a line drawn from Fontenay in the department of 

 Vendt'e eastward to St-Maixent, and from thence northward, by 

 Parthenay and Thouars, is occupied by the primary and lower 

 secondary formations. The east and south of the department arc 

 occupied by the oolitic formations. Iron is found at various parts, 

 and coal on the Yendean border. Marble, antimony, freestone for 

 building, and mill-stones are dug. There are some mineral-waters, 

 but none of great repute. 



The portion of the deportment which belongs to the basin of the 

 Loire is drained by the Sevre-Nantaise, the Thouet, and the Dive, 

 which last skirts the eastern border. The Sevre-Nantaise rises iu the 

 GAtine Hills, west of Parthenay, and, flowing north-west through this 

 department and that of Vendee, throws itself into the Loire opposite 

 the city of Nantes. It is not navigable. The Dive is navigable for a 

 short distance. The Thouet receives the Cebron, the Thourt, tho 

 Argenton, and some other streams. The rest of the department is 

 drained by the Boutonne and one or two other feeders of the Charente, 

 and by the Sovre-Niortaise and its feeders the Mignon, the Autise, and 

 the Vendee. The Sicre-Ntortaiie rises north of the town of Melle, 

 near the source of the Bdronne, a feeder of the Boutonne, and runs 

 in a very tortuous course, and in a general western direction, past the 

 town of Niort, from which it takes its distinctive name. From its 

 junction with the Mignon to its mouth, iu the Pertuis Breton, it 

 divides the department of Vendee from Charente-Inferieure. It is 

 navigable for barges up to Niort; but in its lower course vessels of 

 100 tons go up with the tide to Marans [CHAREHTE-INFERIEURE] ; and 

 by a canal vessels of even 300 tons can reach that town. The river 

 Sows in its lower course through an alluvial and marshy soil, in which 

 it divides into several arms, many of which unite at Marans. The 

 marshes in this part of its basin have been extensively drained and 

 formed into polders. The Mignon ia navigable for 7 miles above its 

 junction with the Scvre-Niortaise. There are many ponds and 

 marshes in the Giltiue Hills. 



The department is crossed by 9 imperial, 9 departmental, 5 military, 

 and a great number of communal roads. It has no railways, but the 

 Paris-Bordeaux line between Poitiers and RuUec runs close upon the 

 eastern boundary. 



The temperature in the northern part of the department is colder 

 than in the southern. In the southern part the winters are mild. 

 The south-eastern part is considered the healthiest ; in the north 

 fevers and inflammation of the lungs are common ; and the inhabitants 

 of the marshy parts are affected by skin diseases. 



