GARDEN DESIGN IN SPAIN 



287 



It is admirably suited to the intense heat of Spain, and forms the ordinary 

 summer apartment where the family receive their friends. The most pic- 

 turesque are to be found in Andalusia and the South, especially at Cor- 

 dova and Seville. As a rule rectangular in plan, and entirely surrounded by at 

 least two stories of arcading,they are capable of a great variety of treatment. 

 We frequently find them 

 paved with marble and nearly 

 always a small fountain bubb- 

 ling up in the centre. As the 

 entrance to the Spanish house 

 is invariably by a broad pas- 

 sage leading from the street 

 to the fatio and divided from 

 the latter only by an open 

 wrought iron gate, the passer- 

 by has a delightful series of 

 glimpses from the hot and 

 dusty street into cool green 

 ■patios, with myrtles, pome- 

 granates, and jasmine trained 

 and planted in red clay pots 

 and forming a background to 

 a wealth of beautiful flowers. 

 In the words of Gautier "the 

 fatio is a delightful invention ; 



it affords greater coolness and more space than a room, — you can walk about 

 there, read, be alone, or mix with others. It is a neutral ground where 

 people meet and when as at Granada or Seville the -patio possesses a jet 

 of water or a fountain, nothing can be more delightful, especially in a country 

 where the thermometer often indicates a Senegambian heat." 



PATIO AT RONDA. 



