CHAPTER X.
TOLEDO.—VIEW OF THE CITY.—THE CATHEDRAL.—PROCESS OF SMOKE-DRYING.—ALMANZA.—VALENCIA.—THE FONDA DE MADRID.—A BENEVOLENT DOCTOR.—SPANISH MULETEERS.—HOW CONTROVERSIES ARE SETTLED.
OH! Toledo, imperial city, beloved of the old Goth, rich home of the Moor and Jew, [18] and chosen throne of the Emperor of the West, [19] how art thou fallen! And yet thy destiny has only been that which awaits all cities, all nations. Still the old town has a proud and lofty aspect on its rock-built seat, and though the splendours for which it was once celebrated are now mouldering, it still looks down with haughty glance on the feeble kingdom beneath, and its insolent modern capital in the midst. A volume might well be devoted to the description of Toledo, which is still magnificent even in ruins, and inexhaustible in objects of interest; but as we mean to explore some of the regions and cities of the warmer South, and even to extend our journey to the Spanish islands of the Mediterranean, we may not indulge in more than a passing glance at the crumbling walls, the falling palaces, and the Oriental courts of the old metropolis of Spain.
A view of the city from any advantageous position in its neighbourhood is very imposing. The venerable hue of antiquity is upon the whole place; and there is not a street in which there are not buildings that have been connected with important events in the history of Spain. As seen from a distance, its sombre towers rising from the treeless Vega [20] have a striking resemblance to a great fretted crown, such as might have been worn by some old barbarian giant, while the green fields through which the Tagus pursues its course appear like a green velvet cushion on which the royal diadem reposes. As we approached nearer we could judge more accurately of the height of the majestic rock on which the town, like a great castle, is built. The streets are generally steep and winding. Those of Moorish origin are very narrow, and it is difficult to find one's way through them. Their narrowness has this advantage, that it affords a protecting shadow from the oppressive heat of the noonday sun. Some of the churches are splendid specimens of Gothic architecture, though, from being towerless, they are occasionally heavy in aspect. There are many fine examples of the Mediæval and Saracenic styles, the graceful, airy-like character of the latter having something peculiarly attractive in it. But the interest of all we see attaches only to the past; the life of the city has departed long ago; and we walk through its silent streets as in a dream.
The cathedral—one of the richest in the world—is of very ancient origin; its foundation belonging to a period far back in the history of Spain. Many are the changes which it has undergone in the revolutions of the Peninsula. When the Moors conquered the city it was turned into a mosque; when in 1085 Alphonzo V. recovered Toledo, it remained, according to the king's promise, still devoted to the religious service of the Moslem, until the Archbishop of Toledo in the following year summarily destroyed all the insignia of Saracenic worship within it, and it became again a temple of the Catholic faith. A century passed, and St. Ferdinand levelled the edifice, which he felt was tainted with an unclean spirit, to the ground. A new building was then conceived on a magnificent plan; and after two hundred years' incessant labour the present splendid edifice was completed.