Seville's earliest epochs. The Phoenician traditions are vague, and we
know little indeed of the Hispolo of the Greeks, a town which was
supposed to have stood on this ground. The Romans came here, and called
the town Julia Romula, and the remains of that age, if scanty, are
deeply interesting. Italica, five miles from the city, is a Roman
amphitheatre, with corridors, dens for the lions, and some defined
tiers of seats. At this great Roman station, Trajan, Hadrian, and
Theodosius were born. For other vestiges of the Roman rule, we must
visit the Museo Provincial, where there are capitals, statues, and
busts. The Pillars of Hercules in the Alaméda are other monuments of
this period of the history of Seville.
Vandals and Goths ravaged the Roman city. Then came Musâ, the Moor, who
besieged Seville, and captured it, afterwards marrying the widow of the
Gothic monarch. A succession of Moorish rulers governed the city for
several hundred years. One of the greatest was Motamid II., under whose
sway Seville became a prosperous and wealthy capital, with a vast
population.
The Christians took the city in 1248, and expelled thousands of the
Mohammedans. Under the Spanish kings, Seville remained, for a
considerable spell, a royal city; and one of the most renowned of its
Christian sovereigns was Pedro the Cruel, who, while democratic in some
respects, was, on the other hand, a truculent tyrant. In administration
he was jealous and energetic, and though called "The Cruel," he has also
been named "The Just." Pedro lived in the Alcázar, the old palace which
we shall presently visit.
The monuments of the Moors in Seville are numerous. In the Alcázar are
courts of resplendent beauty, gilded and coloured in hundreds of
fantastic designs; arcades with horseshoe arches and graceful columns,
marble floors, fountains, and richly decorated doorways. The Giralda,
which is seen from many open spaces in the city, is a magnificent
specimen of the minaret, dating from 1184; and this tower, and the
adjoining Court of the Oranges, are parts of an ancient mosque. The
lower portion of the Golden Tower, by the Guadalquivir, was built by the
Moors. Many of the churches are built in the Mudéjar, or late Moorish
style, and most of them have elegant minarets, arched windows, and
interior decorations of an Oriental character.
The power of Seville diminished under the domination of the Catholic
kings, until the discovery of America by Cristoforo Colombo (Columbus),
who sailed from the city on his bold expedition, and was welcomed with
fervour upon his triumphal return. We think of the explorer setting
forth for a second voyage, with vessels equipped at the cost of Isabella
the Catholic, who profited so liberally by the conquest of the New
World, and we picture him in the days of neglect, when he suffered the
lot of those who put their trust in the promises of princes. It was
Columbus who made the Seville of the fifteenth century. The commercial
importance of the city, after the expulsion of the Moors, was
re-established through the great trade opened with America.
The fortunes of Seville at this period were bound up with those of the
revered Queen Isabel. Shakespeare styled her "queen of earthly queens,"
and Sir Francis Bacon praised her. She was tall, fair, and of most
amiable bearing, and she possessed many of the qualities of one born to
command. Unfortunately for Seville, the young queen was under the
domination of Cardinal Mendoza, and of Torquemada. It was Torquemada who
urged her to purify Spain from her heresy by means of torture and the
flame. Let it be said that Isabel did not comply willingly, and that she
strove more than once to check the cruelties of the Holy Office. The
first to suffer from the Inquisition in Seville were the Jews; then
followed a long and bitter persecution of heretics of the Protestant
faith, and a reign of terror among men of learning.
The Chapel of the Alcázar was built in the time of Isabel, and her
bedroom is still to be seen.
Charles V. loved the retirement of the Alcázar, and his marriage with
Isabella of Portugal was celebrated in the gorgeous Hall of the
Ambassadors. He made several additions to the palace, and directed the
planning of the exquisite gardens. Philip V. lived here for a time, and
he also caused alterations, and added to the curious mixture of
buildings within the walls of the Moorish palace.
There are so few signs of commercialism in the city that we gain an
impression that Seville only lives to amuse itself, and to entertain its
host of visitors. There are, however, industries of many kinds, and a
considerable export trade in various ores, in olive oil, fruit, wine,
and wool. The population is over one-hundred-and-fifty thousand. There
are several factories, and many craftsmen working in their homes.
The illustrious natives are numerous. Velazquez, the greatest painter of
Spain, if not of the world, was born here in 1599. Murillo was a
Sevillian, and so were the artists Pacheco, Herrera, and Roelas, and the
sculptor, Montañez. Lope de Rueda, one of the earliest Spanish
dramatists, lived here. Cervantes spent a part of his life in Seville,
and described the characters of the Macarena Quarter in his shorter
tales.
The house of the gifted Dean Pacheco, in Seville, was the resort of many
artists and notable men. This painter and cleric is chiefly remembered
as the teacher of Velazquez. He wrote discourses on the art of painting,
and trained a number of the Sevillian artists. The art of Murillo was
influenced by Juan del Castillo, who also taught Alonso Cano. Castillo
was born in Seville.
Francisco Herrera, born in 1622, studied in Rome, and upon his return to
Spain painted many pictures in Madrid. The Cordovan painter, Juan Valdés
Leal, lived for many years in Seville, and worked with Murillo to
establish an academy of painting in the city. There are many specimens
of his art in Seville. Juan de las Roelas was a Sevillian by birth
(1558-1625) and his "Santiago destroying the Moors" is in the chapter of
the cathedral, while many of the churches contain his pictures.
The Provincial Museum has an instructive collection of paintings of the
Andalusian School as well as the works of many artists of other
traditions. Murillo is represented by several paintings. There are some
fine examples of the art of Zurbaran, a sombre and realistic artist
whose work conveys the mediæval spirit of Spain, and is esteemed by many
students as more sincere than the art of Murillo. His finest pictures
are, perhaps, "San Hugo visiting the Monks," "The Virgin of Las Cuevas,"
and "St Bruno conversing with Urban II."
In the Museo is a portrait by El Greco, supposed erroneously to be the
painter himself. This is often appraised as the chief treasure of the
collection. Among the most admirable of the Spanish primitive painters
is Alejo Fernandez, whose work is to be seen in the cathedral, in the
churches of Seville and Triana. Fernandez is scarcely known out of
Spain, but art students will delight in his work, and everyone should
see the beautiful "Madonna and Child" in the Church of Santa Ana in
Triana, and the large altarpiece in San Julian.
The sculpture of Montañez merits very careful attention. His figure of
"St Bruno" stands in the Museo Provincial, and "St Dominic" is in the
south transept. "The Virgin and Child" and "John the Baptist" are in
this collection. In the sacristy of the cathedral is Montañez' "Statue
of the Virgin." This artist died in 1649, after a busy life. He carved
many images for the Church, and founded a school of wood-carving. Among
his pupils was the gifted Alonso Cano. The single figures by Montañez
are considered finer art than his groups. Most of his effigies are
lavishly coloured.
The cathedral is a magnificent building, the largest in Spain, and
greater than St Paul's in London. Gautier said that "Notre Dame de Paris
might walk erect in the middle nave." There are seven naves with
monstrous columns, the loftiness of the interior conveying a sense of
vastness which has been often described by travellers. More than a
hundred years were spent in the building of this great church, and
several architects planned the various parts during that period. Ruiz
and Rodriguez designed the greater portion, and the last of the
architects was Juan Gil de Houtañon, who planned the cathedral of
Salamanca. The chief front is finely decorated, and has three portals,
with statue groups and reliefs. There is so much of beauty and interest
in the interior that I can only write briefly of a few of the most
notable objects. The stained windows number over seventy, and they are
chiefly by Aleman, a German, and by Flemish artists of the sixteenth
century. The choir altar has pictures, and a handsome plateresque
screen. There are splendidly carved stalls, and a notable lectern. The
sacristy is near the chief façade, with a high dome, several chapels,
and some interesting statues. The retablo is by Roldan, a follower of
Montañez.
Murillo's "Vision of the Holy Child" is in the Capella del Bautisterio.
In the Royal Chapel, which is interesting Renaissance work, richly
ornamented, there are the tomb of Alfonso the Wise, and an old figure of
the Virgin. Pedro Campaña's altarpiece, in the Capilla del Mariscal,
should be seen. In the south transept is the noted "La Gamba," a
painting by Luis de Vargas. The ornate Sala Capitular has the
"Conception," by Murillo, and a painting by Pablo de Céspedes, who was a
sculptor, poet, and painter, born at Cordova, and made a canon of the
cathedral in that city. Céspedes was a fine portrait painter, and has
been described as "one of the best colourists of Spain."
The Sacristy de las Calices of the Capilla de Nuestra Senora de las
Dolores contains Goya's well-known painting of Saints Justa and Rufina,
the potter-girls who were martyred by the Romans. Here also will be seen
a picture by Zurbaran; "The Trinity," by El Greco, the crucifix carved
by Montañez, and a "Guardian Angel," by Murillo. The Capilla de Santiago
has paintings by the early artists Valdés Leal and Juan de las Roelas.
Close to the cathedral is the semi-Moorish Alcázar, with its strangely
mingled styles of architecture. The buildings are in part a fortress,
while within the walls are portions of a palace of the sultans and a
residence of Christian kings. The rich frontage of Pedro's palace is
composite, and probably only the gate is purely Moorish. In the Court of
the Maidens there is much gorgeous decoration. As in the Alhambra, we
see the characteristic gallery with delicate columns, and arches with
ornamental inscriptions. The Hall of the Ambassadors is the pride of the
Alcázar. Here again we shall notice several orders of architecture, but
the effect is impressive. The portals are sumptuous, and the whole place
and decorations suggest the opulence and might of the early Catholic
kings.
I like the old gardens of the Alcázar, with their tiled walks, their
clustering roses, their alcoves and arbours, and quaint fountains, all
enclosed by an ancient wall. Here sultans dreamed, and kings retired
from the cares of government, to breathe the scented air of evening.
Quiet reigns in these flowery courts, only the voices of birds are heard
among the orange-trees and tangled roses.
There are many beautifully adorned chambers in this palace of delight.
Alfonso, Pedro, Isabel, Charles, and Philip all reconstructed or added
to the wonderful pile first erected by Yusuf. The old buildings once
stretched to the river, the Golden Tower forming one of the defences.
Before the Moors came to Seville, a Roman prætorium stood on this
ground, and it was in 1181 that the Morisco architects began to plan the
Alcázar. Much of the present building is of Mudéjar, or late Moorish,
origin. The details that should be studied are the pillared windows, the
marble columns, the fine stalactite frieze, the arches, the azulejos of
dazzling colour, the choice decoration of the doors, the marble
pavements, and the half-orange domes--all representative of the art of
the Mudéjares.
We must now inspect some more of the monuments of Seville. King Pedro's
Church, Omnium Sanctorium, is an example of mixed Christian and
Mohammedan architecture, with a minaret and three portals. The
Ayuntamiento is an exceedingly flamboyant building in the Plaza de la
Constitucion, with two façades, one of them fronting the Plaza de San
Fernando. The older and finer front was designed by Riaño.
The Archbishop's Palace, which dates from the seventeenth century, is
not a good example of the plateresque style. The only picture in Seville
by Velazquez, a much restored canvas, is in the palace. The Lonja
(Exchange) was built by Philip II., and finished about 1598. It is a
square, imposing structure, but scarcely beautiful in form or
decoration. A splendid doorway, very luxuriantly decorated, is that of
the Palace of San Telmo, where there are very lovely gardens.
The modern life of Seville concentrates in the two principal plazas, in
the Calle de las Sierpes, and in the Park of Maria Luisa. Very pleasant
are the palm-shaded squares and the walks by the Guadalquivir. In the
tortuous white alleys you come unexpectedly upon charming wrought-iron
gates, through which you catch glimpses of cheerful patios. Some of
these lanes are so narrow that a pannier-mule almost bars your road. And
above this fair city the sun shines almost perpetually, while the
smokeless air has a wonderful clarity.
CORDOVA
Cordova, like Seville and Granada, is a memorial of the Moors. It is a
city that sleeps, living in the memory of its past.
Its history since the last of the sultans in Spain is comparatively
uneventful, its glorious days were before the expulsion of the Morisco
inhabitants, when the city was a seat of learning, a great centre of art
and industry, and the place of residence of illustrious caliphs.
The somnolence of Cordova is like an eternal siesta. You wander in
ancient streets, with houses guarded from the ardent rays of the sun,
and marvel how the people live, for there is no outward sign, as in
Seville, of commercial activity.
Yet the inhabitants who saunter in the Paseo del Gran Capitan, under the
orange-trees, and flock to the bullfights, do not appear so "dull and
ill-provided," as O'Shea found them in 1868. There is even an air of
prosperity among the residents, despite the long centuries of slumber.
Nor does the aspect of the city convey an impression of neglect. The
houses are white and clean, the streets brighter than the thoroughfares
of sombre Toledo, and the charming courtyards inviting and pleasant,
with clustering roses and spreading palms. There is colour everywhere,
Cordova is a painter's paradise.
In summer the heat is extreme. The glare of the whitened houses reflects
the brilliant sapphire of the sky, and becomes painful to the eyes; the
city is in a plain, exposed to every ray of the Andalusian sun. To
escape the enervating heat of summer, the wealthier inhabitants migrate
to the uplands and the beautiful sierras, at whose base the city lies.
The country around Cordova is fertile. Olives, vines, and many
fruit-trees flourished in the valley of the Guadalquivir, and on the
foothills, and there are large tracts of pasture-land. Vegetables are
grown in profusion. Before the time of the Moors, Cordova had repute for
its succulent artichokes. On the grassy plains the Moorish settlers led
great flocks of cattle, and here grazed the splendid horses of Arab
breed, which were long famous throughout Spain.
[Illustration: CORDOVA, 1836.
THE PRISON OF THE INQUISITION.]
But the immediate surroundings of the city are almost treeless. Here
and there a slope is clothed with olive-trees, and the broad _paseos_
are shaded by young trees, newly planted; but the Spanish peasant,
dreading the harbourage that woods afford to birds, ruthlessly fells and
stubs up trees. For league upon league stretches a monotonous tract of
grass, watered by sluggish yellow streams, upon whose banks grows the
cold grey cactus.
Most English travellers reach Cordova by rail from Madrid or Seville.
The journey from Madrid is by way of Alcazar and Linares, passing the
wine-growing districts of Manzanares and Valdepeña, and crossing the
waste territory of La Mancha, in which Don Quixote roamed in quest of
knightly adventure. From Seville the rail journey occupies about four
hours, and the line runs through a fairly cultivated track of Andalusia,
following the Guadalquivir for the greater part of its course.
To the north of Cordova, some leagues away, stretch the grey-blue
heights of the Sierra Morena, whence wild winds sweep the plain in
winter. Between this range and the Sierra Nevada there are fertile
districts, watered by the Genil and other streams. At Cordova the
Guadalquivir is a wide, somewhat turgid stream, washing the southern
side of the town, around which it sweeps in a mighty circle. The rushing
water is spanned by a great bridge of many arches, whose gateway, the
_Puerta del Puente_, a Doric triumphal arch, erected by Philip II. on
the site of the Moorish _Bâb al-Kantara_, gives entrance to the city.
The bridge, with its sixteen arches, is Moorish, and stands on Roman
foundations. This is one of the best points from which to view the city.
The great mosque is seen well from here, and the city stretching away
from the water's edge, white-gleaming in the blaze of the sun, is
beautiful and strangely suggestive. The rugged heights of the Sierra de
Cordoba rise in the far distance; the water of the river tumbles and
eddies in its wide bed. A little way up the stream are the Moorish mills
that have stood unchanged through the centuries. This is the spot to
learn the peace of sleeping Cordova. The history of Cordova dates back
to the pre-Christian era: Corduba was the most important of the ancient
Iberian cities. It was made a Roman settlement about 200 B.C., and later
the city was extended, and under the name of Colonia Patricia was made
the capital of Southern Spain. Always the history of the city has been a
record of struggle and the shedding of blood. There was a great
massacre of the people in the time of Cæsar, through their allegiance to
Pompey.
Cordova has been ruled by many masters. After the Romans, the city came
into the possession of Goths, and from them it was captured by the
Moors. Roderick the Goth was defeated by Tarik in 711, on the Guadelete
River, and the valiant Mughith, one of Tarik's commanders, was sent to
Cordova with a force of horsemen. In a heavy hail shower, Mughith rode
into Cordova, taking the natives by surprise, and capturing the town
without resistance.
Ruled later by the caliphs of Damascus, Cordova became the centre of the
Moorish dominion in Spain. In the tenth century, the city was in the
height of its splendour and renown. For three centuries the Omeyyads
held sway, and these rulers, descendants of the sovereign family of
Damascus, vied with one another in enlarging and adorning the city. The
three caliphs of the name of Abderahman were distinguished for their
courage in their administrative capacity, and their love of the arts,
and of learning. The last of the trio of great rulers, though brave, was
described as "the mildest and most enlightened sovereign that ever
ruled a country." Abderahman III. was, in every sense, a potent
monarch. None of the caliphs who succeeded him equalled this wise and
tactful Moor. Intrigues, factions, and treachery marked the reigns of
his successors.
For a time Almanzor, the unconquerable minister, saved Cordova. The
career of this man is witness to the romance which meets us so often in
Spain; beginning his life as a professional letter-writer, he ended as
sole ruler of an empire. Almanzor died in 1002, and from this time
Cordova's history is a monotonous record of revolt and disorder. Hisham
III. was imprisoned in the great vault of the mosque, and the rule of
the Omeyyads was at an end. Caliph after caliph was set up. Arabs,
Moors, and Spaniards fought for the city. Once for four days Cordova was
turned into a shamble, when "the Berber butchers" ransacked the city,
slaying the people, and burning its splendid buildings. Az-Zahra, the
summer palace, with all its exquisite treasures of art, was left a heap
of charred ruins.
Afterwards Yusuf, the Berber, founded the dynasty of the Almoravides.
But his rule was brief.
In 1235 Cordova fell. Fernando had pledged himself to recover Spain for
the Christians. The king advanced into Andalusia, with a mighty army of
fervent crusaders, and the splendid city of the Moors was seized by the
warriors of the Cross. A host of the Morisco natives quitted the city
for Africa; many were killed, and a proportion remained as "reconciled"
Spanish subjects. Fernando's victory was a triumph for Catholicism; but
it brought about the slow decay of Cordova. The population dwindled, the
arts and crafts were neglected, the fields untilled. Learning was
discountenanced, libraries of precious volumes burned; and in their zeal
for cleansing Cordova from all traces of the Moslem, the reformers even
destroyed the baths.
To read of the Cordova of the Moors is like reading a chapter of
Oriental romance. But the story is not legendary. This marvellous city,
equal in grandeur to Baghdad, was a great beacon-light of culture for
three hundred years. Its mosques, its schools, and its hospitals were
famous throughout the world. Sages, poets, artists found here every
scope and assistance for the development of their philosophy and their
art. There were no ignorant natives, and no class living in penury and
squalor. The Moors were almost perfect masters of the art of
civilisation. They esteemed education; they taught tolerance; they
inculcated a love of beauty in daily life, and lived cleanly, and on the
whole, sanely.
The life was jocund, but sober, for the Moors abstained from wine. "The
City of Cities," "The Bride of Andalus," are the names bestowed on the
beautiful city of Cordova by the Moorish writers of that age.
In the twelfth century Abu Mohammed wrote of Cordova as "the Cupola of
Islam, the convocation of scholars, the court of the sultans of the
family of Omeyyah, and the residence of the most illustrious tribes of
Yemen. Students from all parts of the world flocked thither at all times
to learn the sciences of which Cordova was the most noble repository,
and to derive knowledge from the mouths of the doctors and ulemas who
flourished in its cultured life. Cordova was 'to Andalus what the head
is to the body.'"
The city once boasted of fifty thousand resplendent palaces, and a
hundred thousand inferior houses. Its mosques numbered seven hundred,
and the cleanly Moors built nine hundred public baths. The city
stretched for ten miles along the banks of the Guadalquivir, flanked
with walls, battlements, and towers, and approached by guarded gates.
Throughout the world men spoke in veneration of its four great
wonders--the immense and gorgeous mosque, the bridge over the
Guadalquivir, the suburb city of Az-Zahra, and the sciences which were
studied in the colleges.
Abderahman III. built a palace a few miles from the city, called
Medinat-az-Zahra. It was named after the beautiful Zahra, one of the
sultan's mistresses. A figure of Zahra was carved over the chief gateway
of this fairy city. Medinat-az-Zahra was a town rather than a royal
residence. There was a splendid mosque upon the site; the suburb had
colleges, baths and marts.
Forty years were spent in building this retreat for the caliph and his
favourite. Upon the decoration of its buildings Abderahman spent large
sums of money. El Makkari, the Arab historian, states that the columns
of the buildings came from the east, and that the marble walls of the
palace were shining with gold. The caliph even proposed to remove the
dark background of hills, but instead the slopes were planted with
fruit-trees.