[Illustration: FIG. 144.--TOWN HALL, LOUVAIN.] +TOWN HALLS: GUILDHALLS.+ These were really the most characteristic Flemish edifices, and are in most cases the most conspicuous monuments of their respective cities. The +Cloth Hall+ of +Ypres+ (1304) is the earliest and most imposing among them; similar halls were built not much later at +Bruges+, +Louvain+, +Malines+ and +Ghent+. The town halls were mostly of later date, the earliest being that of +Bruges+ (1377). The town halls of +Brussels+ with its imposing and graceful tower, of +Louvain+ (1448-63; Fig. 144) and of +Oudenärde+ (early 16th century) are conspicuous monuments of this class. In general, the Gothic architecture of Belgium presents the traits of a borrowed style, which did not undergo at the hands of its borrowers any radically novel or fundamental development. The structural design is usually lacking in vigor and organic significance, but the details are often graceful and well designed, especially on the exterior. The tendency was often towards over-elaboration, particularly in the later works. The Gothic architecture of +Holland+ and of the +Scandinavian+ countries offers so little that is highly artistic or inspiring in character, that space cannot well be given in this work, even to an enumeration of its chief monuments. +SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.+ The beginnings of Gothic architecture in Spain followed close on the series of campaigns from 1217 to 1252, which began the overthrow of the Moorish dominion. With the resulting spirit of exultation and the wealth accruing from booty, came a rapid development of architecture, mainly under French influence. Gothic architecture was at this date, under St. Louis, producing in France some of its noblest works. The great cathedrals of +Toledo+ and +Burgos+, begun between 1220 and 1230, were the earliest purely Gothic churches in Spain. +San Vincente+ at Avila and the +Old Cathedral+ at Salamanca, of somewhat earlier date, present a mixture of round- and pointed-arched forms, with the Romanesque elements predominant. +Toledo Cathedral+, planned in imitation of Notre Dame and Bourges, but exceeding them in width, covers 75,000 square feet, and thus ranks among the largest of European cathedrals. Internally it is well proportioned and well detailed, recalling the early French masterworks, but its exterior is less commendable. [Illustration: FIG. 145.--FAÇADE OF BURGOS CATHEDRAL.]