28 ANDREW J. SHIPMAN MEMORIAL 



was established here under Alfonso VI remained until 1561, 

 when Philip II transferred the capital to Madrid. The 

 great Archbishops of Toledo are known all over the world. 

 The names of Cardinal Gonzalez de Mendoza, the friend of 

 Columbus, and of Cardinal Ximenes de Cisneros, the great 

 patron of learning, are among the brightest in history. The 

 cathedral itself is one of the most imposing Gothic monuments 

 of Europe; it is 400 feet long and 195 feet wide, covering 

 about the same area as the Cathedral of Cologne, and its 

 stained glass windows are the finest of their time. The only 

 defect which jars upon the exquisite harmony of its per- 

 fectly executed Gothic architecture is the aperture pierced 

 through to the roof over the ambulatory behind the high altar 

 by Narciso Tome in 1732 — a fricassee de marbre as a disgusted 

 Frenchman called it. It is called the trasparente or skylight 

 by the Spaniards, and amid the chaos of angels and clouds 

 which adorn it in full rococo fashion, is the Archangel 

 Raphael kicking his feet in the air and holding a large golden 

 fish in his hand. 



The capilla moyor or high altar, as in all Spanish cathe- 

 drals, is separated from the choir and enclosed by a beautiful 

 reja or iron screen, a monument of the art of the blacksmith, 

 with all the beauty and tracery of delicate sculpture. Behind 

 the altar is the retahlo, or wooden reredos, made of larchwood 

 gilded and painted in the richest Gothic style, erected under 

 Cardinal Ximenez. Its five stories or stages represent scenes 

 from the New Testament, the figures being life size and larger. 

 The choir, which is in the centre of the cathedral, and its 

 choir stalls are magnificent specimens of carved walnut. The 

 54 medallions represent scenes in the conquest of Granada 

 and the expulsion of the Moors from Spain. The marble 

 outside of the choir is studded with bas-reliefs of the Old 

 Testament. 



The most peculiar thing about the cathedral — ^that which 

 differentiates it from other cathedrals in and out of Spain 

 — is the Mozarabic Chapel in the southwest angle, below the 

 great tower. The rite of Spain originally seems to have been 

 the Gothic rite, not the Roman, or as it is also known, the 

 rite of St. James. The Goths and Visigoths of Spain, when 

 converted to Christianity, seem to have used this rite alto- 

 gether. However, on the rise of Arianism, the Gothic races 



