The mosque was begun by Abd-el-Rhaman, in the eighth century, and successively added to during the four centuries following. It covers a very large superficial area, upwards of one hundred and sixty thousand square feet, and surpasses, in this respect, most European buildings. Its chief defects are the want of height, which does not exceed thirty feet, and the monotony of the aisles, which are nearly all precisely alike. At Toledo there are several Moorish buildings of merit, the principal one of which is the mosque called, at present, the church of “Cristo de la Luz.” It is similar to the sanctuary of Cordova in general aspect, but is a marvel of intricate and minute workmanship. The whole area which it occupies does not exceed four hundred superficial feet, but the proportions are so nicely balanced that it appears much larger. There are four columns carrying horseshoe arches, above which comes a second arcade, and each division is roofed in by a vault of intersecting ribs. These vaults are formed of wood, overlaid with plaster, and have no pretension to scientific construction. Indeed, in none of the Arabian buildings in Spain do we find anything of the kind attempted, the decorative features being always the most prominent. In the tower of Seville a species of vault was formed by thickening the walls gradually as they rose from the ground until they met; this, however, was nothing more than extensive corbelling, and, consequently, very inferior to Roman and Byzantine methods. The Alcázar, at Seville, and the Palace of the Alhambra, at Granada, are the richest examples of Moorish architecture, and show in their design and ornament the most fertile expression of the brilliant imagination with which this warm-blooded people imbued all its creations. The Court of the Lions in the latter, a rectangular enclosure, surrounded by arcades, with projecting domed pavilions at the upper and lower ends, is generally held to be the finest production of the later period of the style. The same materials are used here as in the other buildings—plaster shaped in the most exquisite forms and coloured brilliantly, tiles ornamented with patterns and devices of the most elaborate character, and wooden ceilings carved and richly painted. All these are handled with such correct taste that their brilliancy never degenerates into gaudiness. A splendid fountain in the centre of the court, the lower bowl of which is supported upon the backs of lions, explains the name given to this celebrated structure.