“What?”
They looked at each other again and smiled.
“Do you think you have seen the entire Mosque?” said the one who had first spoken.
“I? Yes,” I replied, looking around me.
“Well, you have not seen it all: what remains to be seen is a church—nothing more!”
“A church!” I cried, stupefied, “where is it?”
“Look!” said the other companion, pointing it out, “it is in the very centre of the Mosque.”
“Good heavens! And I had not noticed it at all!”
By that you may judge of the size of the Mosque. We went to see the church. It is very beautiful and very rich, with a magnificent high altar and a choir worthy of ranking with those of Burgos and Toledo; but, like all things which do not harmonize with their surroundings, it annoys you instead of exciting your admiration. Even Charles V., who gave the Chapter permission to build it here, repented when he saw the Mussulman temple. Next to the church there is a kind of Arabian chapel, admirably preserved and rich in mosaics not less beautiful and varied than those of the Maksura; it is said that the doctors of this religion met there to read the Book of the Prophet.
Such is the Mosque of to-day.