SPAIN. $&& 



Without a turret for a view of the sea. The population has been reck» 

 oned at 60,000 inhabitants, many of whom are foreigners. The cathe- 

 dral has been already 50 years building, and the roof is not yet finish- 

 ed. The environs are beautifully rural. 



Cordova is now an inconsiderable place ; the streets are crooked 

 and dirty, and but few of the public or private buildings conspicuous 

 for their architecture. The palaces of the inquisition and of the bi- 

 shop are extensive and well situated. The cathedral was formerly 

 a mosque divided into seventeen aisles by rows of columns of various 

 marbles, and is very rich in plate ; four of the silver candlesticks cost 

 85/. a piece. The revenue of the see amounts to 3500/. per annum, 

 but as the bishops cannot devise by will, all they die possessed of 

 escheats to the king. 



Seville, the Julia of the Romans, is, next to Madrid, the largest city 

 in Spain, but is greatly decayed both in riches and population. The 

 number of inhabitants, however, is still estimated at 80,000. ' The 

 shape is circular, and the walls seem of Moorish construction ; its 

 circumference is five miles and a half. The suburb of Triana is as 

 large as many towns, and remarkable for its gloomy Gothic castle, 

 where, in 1481, the inquisition was first established in Spain. Its 

 manufactures in wool and silk, which formerly amounted to 16,000, 

 are now reduced to 400 ; and its great office of commerce to Spanish 

 Americans removed to Cadiz. The cathedral of Seville is a fine Go- 

 thic building, with a curious steeple or tower, having a moveable figure 

 of a woman at the top, called La Giralda, which turns round with the 

 wind, and which is referred to in Don Quixote. This steeple is reck- 

 oned one of the greatest curiosities in Spain, and is higher than St, 

 Paul's in London ; but the cathedral, in Mr. Swinburne's opinion, is 

 by no means equal to York-minster for lightness, elegance, or Gothic 

 delicacy. The first clock made in the kingdom was set up in this ca- 

 thedral, in the year 1400, in the presence of king Henry III. The 

 prospect of the country round this city, beheld from the steeple of the 

 cathedral, is extremely delightful. 



Barcelona, formerly Barcino, said to be founded by Hamilcar Sar- 

 casms a large circular trading city, containing 15,000 houses, situat- 

 ed on the Mediterranean, facing Minorca, and is said to be the hand- 

 somest place in Spain ; the houses are lofty and plain, and the streets 

 well lighted and paved. The citadel is strong, and the place and inha- 

 bitants famous for the siege they sustained, in 1714, against a formida- 

 ble army, when deserted both by England and the emperor, for whom 

 they had taken up arms. The number of inhabitants is supposed to be 

 about 111,000, and they supply Spain with most of the clothing and 

 arms for the troops. A singular custom prevails among them : on 

 the 1st of November, the eve of All Souls, they run about from house 

 to house to eat chesnuts, believing that for every chesnut they swal- 

 low, with proper faith and unction, they shall deliver a soul out of pur- 

 gatory. 



Valencia is a large and almost circular city, with lofty walls* The 

 streets are crooked and narrow, and not paved ; the houses ill built; 

 and filthy, and most of the churches tawdry. Priests, nuns, and friars, 

 of every dress, swarm in this city, whose inhabitants are computed at 

 100,000. Its archbishopric is one of the best in Spain; its revenue 

 amounting to about 170,000 dollars a year. 



Carthagena is a large city, but has few good streets, and fewer re- 

 markable buildings, The port is very complete, formed by nature in 



Vol. I, 3 Y 



