A part of the Alhambra palace not well preserved.
But neither the Court of the Myrtles nor the Hall of the Ambassadors is the crowning glory of the palace. This honor belongs to the Court of the Lions. One hundred and sixteen by sixty-six feet in size, this court compares with any apartment in the world for pure, exquisite beauty of design. An open portico, its ceiling borne on a hundred and twenty-four slender and beautiful marble columns and delicately ornamented arches, incloses the central space, in the middle of which rises a magnificent fountain, its basin cut from a single giant block of alabaster, and supported on the backs of twelve lions of white marble, emblems of courage and strength.
INTERIOR OF THE ALHAMBRA
Arched window in the "Tower of the Captivity of Isabel."
It is small wonder that the last of the Moorish kings, Boabdil (bo-ahb-deel´), looked back with many tears at this glorious palace as he surrendered it in 1492 to his Christian conqueror Ferdinand. Sadly indeed he and his followers must have crossed again to the dreary deserts of Africa, since they left behind them the whole fair land of Spain, which they had adorned not merely with the Alhambra, but with the Alcázar at Seville, the mosque at Cordova, and other monuments of their civil and religious greatness.
THE GREAT CATHEDRALS
At the very period when the Mohammedan conquerors of Spain were building their palace of the Alhambra, the Christians of northern France were erecting those vast cathedrals which stand today as the crowning achievements of the builder's art. Paris, Chartres (shahrtr), Bourges (boorzh), Rheims (reemz), Rouen (roo-ong´), Le Mans (lee-mong´), Beauvais (bo-vay´) and Amiens (ah-mee-ong´) are but a few of the long list of French Gothic cathedrals of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. From such a list it is most difficult to choose. Each one has its distinctive claim to recognition, and its distinctive features which are not surpassed in any of the others. This fact, indeed, has caused it to be said that the ideal cathedral should have the façade of Rheims, the spires of Chartres, the nave of Amiens, and the choir of Beauvais. But even such an ideal cathedral would not be perfect without the addition of features from each of the other churches in our list.
Since, however, it is necessary to choose, let us choose Amiens; for perhaps this church is most widely acknowledged as the finest example of the Gothic style. Its façade is a masterpiece of decoration. Three deeply recessed portals in the lower story are covered with a wealth of sculptured figures in the round and in relief. Bible lessons and the events of human life and history, carved here in stone, taught the terrors of sin and hell and the joys of a godly life as preached in the church beyond these lofty doors. Nor is the decoration confined to sculpture; for the whole façade, and in fact the entire church, is a tracery of stone.