The Zadorria is the river upon which Vitoria is situated; about two miles up the river there is a historical village, Arriago, and a no less historical bridge. Hither, then, every year on St. John's Day, the inhabitants of Vitoria came in procession, headed by the municipal authorities, the bishop and clergy, the clerk of the town hall, and the sheriff. The latter on his steed waded into the waters of the Zadorria, and threw a letter into the stream; it flowed with the current toward the Ebro River. An act was then drawn up by the clerk, signed by the mayor and the sheriff, testifying that the "waters of the Zadorria flowed into the Ebro." To-day the waters still flow into the Ebro, but the procession does not take place, and the city's _fueros_ are no more. In the reign of Isabel the Catholic, the Church of St. Mary was raised to a Colegiata, and it is only quite recently, according to the latest treaty between Spain and Rome, that an episcopal see has been established in the city of Vitoria. Documents that have been discovered state that in 1281--a hundred years after the city had been newly baptized--the principal temple was a church and castle combined; in the fourteenth century this was completely torn down to make room for the new building, a modest ogival church of little or no merit. The tower is of a later date than the body of the cathedral, as is easily seen by the triangular pediments which crown the square windows: it is composed of three bodies, as is generally the case in Spain, the first of which is square in its cross-section, possessing four turrets which crown the angles; the second body is octagonal and the third is in the form of a pyramid terminating in a spire. The portal is cut into the base of the tower. It is the handsomest front of the building, though in a rather dilapidated state; the sculptural decorations of the three arches, as well as the aerial reliefs of the tympanum, are true to the period in which they were conceived. The sacristy encloses a primitive wooden effigy of the Virgin; it is of greater historic than artistic value. There is also a famous picture attributed now to Van Dyck, now to Murillo; it represents Christ in the arms of his mother, and Mary Magdalene weeping on her knees beside the principal group. The picture is known by the name of Piety or La Piedad. The high altar, instead of being placed to the east of the transept, as is generally the case, is set beneath the _croisée_, in the circular area formed by the intersection of nave and transept. The view of the interior is therefore completely obstructed, no matter where the spectator stands. VIII UPPER RIOJA