El Greco, whose work we have seen in Toledo, is represented by a picture over the altar of St Jesus Nazareno, “St Francis.” The other pictures are by Ribera. Montañez designed the crucifix in the sacristy.
In the Chapel Royal we trace late Gothic work. There is a beautiful reja here (lattice or grating) by Bartolomé, and the altar is adorned with statues of Ferdinand and Isabella. The ornate memorial of these sovereigns is by an Italian, Fancelli.
These are but a few of the objects of art in the cathedral. There are still many churches and historic places to visit in the city, and I must perforce hurry in my descriptions. Siloe’s architecture is seen in the Church of Santa Ana, and other churches should be inspected, though few of them are important. The Charterhouse or Cartuja stands on the site of a monastery, and the church is a very resplendent example of later Gothic decoration, the effects being gained within by a lavish use of pearl, ebony, tortoise-shell, and marble. The Audencia is a handsome building with a gorgeous façade. In the Church of San Geronimo is the burial-place of El Gran Capitan, whose effigy and that of his wife are at the altar.
If we wish to see the types of Andalusian character among the poorer class—such as Murillo painted—we must stroll in the Albaicin Quarter. This is a district of picturesque squalor, and not over-sweet are the odours that may assail sensitive nostrils. But the Albaicin must be seen. It was the resort of the Moors who remained after the taking of Granada by Fernando, and it is now largely populated by gypsies such as George Borrow describes in “The Bible in Spain.” The city has been a haunt of Gitanos for about three hundred years, and many of the swarthy tribe live in caves, which they have delved in the hillsides. For a “consideration,” the gypsies will perform one of their curious symbolic dances.
“One of the most enchanting prospects I ever beheld,” writes the Chevalier de Bourgoanne, in the eighteenth century, after his visit to Granada. Travellers of all nationalities since that time have praised the wonderful spell of the city. Washington Irving, Ford, O’Shea, and many others have depicted its beauties with the pen, while a large gallery could be filled with the pictures painted here by artists from all parts of Europe.
There are quaint Moorish-looking towns and villages within reach of Granada, some within walking distance. “In Granada God gives all the necessaries of life to those by whom He is beloved.” So runs a local proverb, and it seems a justifiable statement from the evidence of plenty that delights the gaze of the traveller through the richly fertile province. The vega that lies betwixt the city and Cadiz is screened by mountains, and thoroughly irrigated by hundreds of rivulets. Here the cactas is grown for the sake of the cochineal insect. The vegetation is marvellous; the earth is so generous that lucerne can be cut from ten to twelve times in the year. No wonder that Romans and Moors craved this sunny land of plenty.
OPORTO
WHEN Bacchus and Lusus came to the Peninsula, sundered from Italy by the Mediterranean Sea, they discovered a delightful region of mountains and glens, well-watered and fertile, which they called Lusitania. Between the rivers Minho and Douro is a glowing tract of country, not unlike the finest parts of North Wales, with a varied sea coast, bright little villages nestling among the hills, and well-tilled fields, vineyards, and gay gardens. Mountains screen this district on the north and east, and the vast Atlantic washes it on the west. Here is the chief wine-growing quarter of Portugal, a land appropriately colonised by Bacchus; and in the centre of the wine-making and exporting industry is Porto, the capital of the province of Entre-Douro-e-Minho.