Dwight L. Elmendorf

“ BELL TOWER, CORDOVA CATHEDRAL
This tower is three hundred feet high, and was built on the foundations of the Moorish minaret. At the top is a figure of Saint Raphael with a weather vane.
In this country of contrasts there is no more striking contrast than that between the cruel Escorial and the romantic Alhambra. It is pleasant to turn south to Granada; for the greatest treat of all for a visitor in Spain awaits him there. Granada is picturesquely situated in a valley, on ground that rises toward the hill of the Alhambra. The view from the highest points is beautiful. ”

“ The streets are narrow and crooked. The houses are blind and forbidding on the outside, reserving their attractions for their inner courts. Everything about you is strange and curious, and full of historic significance. If you wish to get the history of Spain in condensed form, you will find it in Toledo.
The cathedral is the most important feature of the city, and one of the finest and most interesting in Europe. The religious life of Spain centered there for centuries. On that site a Christian temple stood in the sixth century. When the Moors came they made a mosque of it. ”

“ The private life of Seville is focused in the inner courts of the houses. This picture shows the beauty of one of these courts.
Granada is not especially attractive in itself. It is chiefly a city of the past. It is the Alhambra that draws the visitor there. This celebrated building is a dream of Moorish magnificence made real. It is impossible to do justice to its wondrous beauties in brief space. ”

“ It seems as if families vie with one another in making their homes attractive. The family life is in the inner court or patio. That is the summer parlor, and there in the midst of flowers, plants, and beautiful birds friendly parties gather in happy companionship. It is in Seville, it seems to me, that the life of the native Spaniard may be seen in its most attractive light. ”

“ The two things that command most interest in Madrid are the palace and the museum. The palace, which stands on high land on the site of the old Moorish Alcázar, was erected between 1738 and 1764, and is a most imposing structure, no matter from what side it is viewed. Some idea of its immensity may be gathered from the statement that it covers 26,900 square yards of ground and its sides are 500 feet long. Like many great structures in Spain, it is built of native granite. It is not easy to gain access to the interior of the palace. ”

“ CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE, SPAIN
SPAIN AND GIBRALTAR
Cathedral of Seville FOUR
There is a Spanish proverb that says, “Whom God favors he gives a house in Seville.” The privilege of living in that bright, gay city is considered by a Spaniard to be the height of happiness. Other cities are larger, wealthier, or more important politically than Seville; but none holds a higher place in the hearts of the Spanish people. When in the beginning of the fifteenth century the old cathedral was damaged by an earthquake, a meeting was held to discuss what should be done to restore it. ”

“ Groves now dot the landscape with patches of refreshing green, and the climate about Madrid is already improving. It is hoped that the bleak country, which now grows only a spare crop of corn, will become fertile and fruitful again when new forests have influenced a more regular rainfall and a steadier temperature. Scientific forestry can probably redeem the error that was committed centuries ago.
Madrid, though a modern city, has been from the beginning a center of art and literature. Velasquez went there from Seville to spend the greater part of his life. ”

“ This, the key to the Mediterranean, is one of the most important coast fortresses in the world. It has been in possession of Great Britain since 1704.
And when we reach Gibraltar the change of scene and life is abrupt and almost startling. If we go to Gibraltar by the road from Spain, we cross a narrow strip called Neutral Ground. It is arbitrarily fixed territory between Spanish and British ground. It is so low that it can hardly be seen from a distance. The effect is to make Gibraltar seem like an island. ”

“ Through Barcelona passes almost one-fourth of the entire foreign commerce of Spain. This city is the most important commercial and industrial town in Spain, and has a population of 530,000.
The two most notable sights in Seville are the Alcázar, which was the palace of the Moorish kings and afterward the home of Spanish rulers, and the cathedral, which is one of the finest, largest, and most beautiful Gothic churches to be found anywhere. ”

“ Gibraltar is over 1,400 feet high and is composed of limestone. Under its present conditions of fortification it is declared to be impregnable. It looks it. At the foot of the great rock is a town of 30,000 inhabitants, of whom 6,500 are soldiers, composing the British garrison. In this town is to be found a cosmopolitan mixture of men, and the character of it shifts from time to time according to conditions of traffic through the straits. ”

“ But many of the cities and towns of Spain attract chiefly as interesting and picturesque survivals. They breathe the atmosphere of a former age. We feel the influence of it wherever we turn. Spain is not much traveled by tourists. ”

“ They think only of the birds that nest among the branches and feed in grain fields; they forget that trees are both useful and beautiful in themselves, giving shade and moisture and beautifying the scenery. ”

“ Sometimes in the absence of the royal family permission may be obtained, and those who have the privilege of being admitted find there many relics of historic value, a priceless collection of tapestry, a number of most interesting old works of art, and a library containing many volumes of unique worth. ”

“ Only 117 years were consumed in the erection of this wondrous structure, which is a short time as old cathedrals go. After St. Peter’s at Rome and the Mezquita at Cordova, it is the largest church in the world. It is 414 feet long, 271 feet wide, and 100 feet high to the top of the nave. The immense pillars, as you look down the church between them, seem to diminish in the distance to the thickness of reeds. Many another cathedral could stand inside the nave of this one.
There are numerous churches in the city; most of the older ones are built on the foundations of mosques. ”

“ He commanded the center. The wings were led by King Witiza’s sons, who, hoping to recover the country that Rodrigo had taken from their father, joined the Moors, and pressed with them into battle. Rodrigo was surrounded and cut down. The Moors marched northward, taking city after city in the name of Mohammed, till all Spain was theirs. The last of the Gothic kings had fallen.
From that day to this Toledo has never regained her position as the capital of Spain. In the royal palace Tarik found twenty-five crowns of the old Gothic kings, golden and richly jeweled ”

“ This immense building was constructed at the great cost of over $3,000,000, by Philip II of Spain. It was the result of a vow made by the king to build a monastery to Saint Lawrence.
MADRID, THE CAPITAL OF SPAIN
Madrid was made the capital by Philip II in 1560. It was not by nature attractive. The winter winds are cruel, and the summer heat is intense. The country roundabout is bleak, and for years after it became the capital it remained a city of small buildings and unimposing appearance. But the court being there, it was the center of all political and religious activities. ”

“ The object of The Mentor Association is to enable people to acquire useful knowledge without effort, so that they may come easily and agreeably to know the world’s great men and women, the great achievements and the permanently interesting things in art, literature, science, history, nature and travel. ”

“ It cost three and one-quarter million dollars, and covers 500,000 square feet. It is 700 feet long, 580 feet wide, and is divided into sixteen courts. The great towers at the corners rise 200 feet. The main cupola or tower above the church, in the center, is 320 feet in height. When we add that there are 86 staircases, 89 fountains, 15 cloisters, 1,200 doors, 2,600 windows, and miles of corridors, we sum up in a measure the astounding dimensions of this wonderful structure.
PALACIO DE GENERALIFE, GRANADA
The Palace of the Generalife was the summer residence of the Moorish kings. ”