Several spurious Murillos were shown to me. Now and then, the sacristan knows very little about the art treasures of his church. When you ask who painted a picture or carved an image, the attendant shrugs his shoulders, and murmurs _No se_ (Don't know). The boys who volunteer as guides are of no service to the visitor. In the chapter of information I have given the name of a reliable guide. CHAPTER XII _Some Other Buildings_ 'Fair is proud Seville; let her country boast Her strength, her wealth, her site of ancient days.' _Childe Harold_, Stanza lxv. The _palacios_ and fine _casas_ of Seville are numerous. Some of them retain a distinctly _Mudéjar_ design in their architecture, and all of them possess an Oriental atmosphere or tone. One may spend many hours in visiting the courts of the big houses of the city. As a rule, the porter has instructions to admit strangers into the courts, but very rarely within the houses. But from the courts one may gain very considerable knowledge of the progress of architectural style in the dwelling-houses of the South of Spain, where, above all, we may trace the influence and art of the Morisco designer and craftsman. We will first visit the Casa de los Taveras, in the Calle Bustos Tavera. The house is principally celebrated as the scene of the tribunal of the Inquisition from 1626 to 1639. In the corridors is a collection of family portraits. Finer, from the point of view of architecture and adornment, is the Casa de los Marqueses de Torre Blanca, in the Calle de Santiago, number thirty-seven. It has a very beautiful _patio_, and a splendid marble staircase. These two houses are mentioned as well worth seeing in the little book _Sevilla Histórica_. Roaming in the Calle O'Donnell, I peeped into the court of number twenty-four. The fine _patio_ is surrounded with the heads of bulls killed in the arena. Number seventeen in the Calle Alfonso XII. is another handsome _casa_, with a typical court. Visitors may discover many sumptuous houses in this quarter of the city. The Casa Alba once had eleven courts and nine fountains. It is decidedly Moorish in build, with Renaissance details in the stucco-work. This beautiful palace, in the Calle de Dueñas, was at one time owned by the Ribera family (the Dukes of Acalá). It was begun about 1483. The Casa Alba is larger than the Casa Pilatos, described in the literary chapter of this book.