The Mediterranean: Its Storied Cities and Venerable RuinsAllen, Grant
History
The Mediterranean: Its Storied Cities and Venerable Ruins
Allen, Grant
Europe, Southern -- Description and travel; Mediterranean Region -- Description and travel
obtain of the chapels, veritable little museums of rare and beautiful
things unfortunately consigned to perpetual obscurity, veiled in
never-fading twilight. What a change we find outside! The elegant Gothic
cloisters, rather to be described as a series of chapels, each differing
from the other, each sumptuously adorned, enclose a sunny open space or
patio, planted with palms, orange and lemon trees, the dazzlingly bright
foliage and warm blue sky in striking contrast to the somber gray of the
building-stone. A little farther off, on the other side, we may see the
figures of the bell-ringers high up in the open belfry tower, swinging the
huge bells backwards and forwards with tremendous effort, a sight never to
be missed on Sundays and fête days.
This stately old Cathedral, like so many others, was never finished and
works of reparation and restoration are perpetually going on. Close by
stands the Palais de Justice, with its beautiful Gothic court and carved
stone staircase, the balustrade supported by lovely little statuettes or
gargoyles, each an artistic study in itself. Abutting this is the Palais
de Diputacion, Provincial or local Parliament House, a building of truly
Spanish grandeur. Its wide marble staircases, its elaborate ceilings of
carved wood, its majestic proportions, will, perhaps, have less interest
for some travellers than its art-treasures, two _chefs d'oeuvre_ of the
gifted Fortuny. Barcelona was the patron of this true genius--Catalan by
birth--so unhappily cut off in his early prime. With no little pride the
stately officials show these canvases--the famous "Odalisque" and the
"Battle of Tetuan"--the latter, alas! left unfinished. It is a superb
piece of life and color, but must be seen on a brilliant day as the hall
is somber. Nothing can exceed the courtesy of the Barcelonese to
strangers, and these pictures are shown out of the regular hours. But let
no one incautiously offer a fee. The proffered coin will be politely, even
smilingly, rejected, without humiliating reproof, much less a look of
affront. Ford's remark that "a silver key at all times secures admission"
does not hold good in these days.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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