The Democratic advocate., 1878-02-09
Ghe Graueller.
LETTERS FROM SPAIN.
Andalusia 0ordova.
Correspondence of the New York Observer.
BY HENRY DAY, ESQ.

BY HENRY DAY, ESQ.
Andalusia embraces the southwestern
part of Spain. OF all Spain this is the
land of romance. Its climate, people and
history are different from other parts of
Spain. Sheltered on the north from the
wintry winds by the lofty range of the
Sierra Morena, and on the south by the
mountains of Ronda from the burning
blasts from Africa, its plains and valleys
are the most charming and fruitful of all
Spain. They abound in vines, olives,
orange groves and palms. Its shores are
washed by the Atlantic, the Straits of
Gibraltar and the Mediterranean. The
Guadalquiver, the only navigable river in
Spain, flows through wide, rich valley.
On its banks are Seville and Cordova,
cities of renown in learning and in the
arts, delightful residences in winter, spring
and autumn; while Ronda and Grenada,
high up in their mountain Businesses, fur
nish delightful retreat from the heats of
summer. Gibraltar, Malaga and Cadiz
are its seaports. OF all the Spaniards, the
Andalusians are the most frank, open
hearted, gallant and joyous. They are
fond of amusement, poetry and dance, and
are in manners the opposite of the haugh-
ty and reserved Castilian. They are a
gay, pleasure-loving, labor-hating race,
tbrusting all care from to-day upon to-
morrow. They are the most picturesque
in dress, most gallant and daring. The
men are tall and well formed, and the wo-
men of great symmetry and queenly bear
ing in their walk Little labor is sreauired
for subsistence here. The climate is en-
ervating, aud SO all the habits of the peo-
pie seem to be directed to taking life in
the easiest possible manner,-to getting
the most pleasure with the least work.
Our travels will take us by rail from
Grenada to Cordova, Seville, Cadiz, and
from thence by sea, through the Straits to
Gibraltar and to Malaga. All these cities
are Moorish in their general character.
Cordova is situated on the Guadalaui-
yer, above navigation. 1t was once a
famous Roman city, contended for by the
armies of Cesar and Pompey. Here we're
born the two Senecas and Lucan. Even
then it was city renowned for its high
culture and intelligence. When the Moors.
in I'll, captured Spain, Cordova was made
their capital. Under their rule it became
a most renowned seat of learning, and the
arts and sciences fourished here as no
where else in Europe, in the 9th and 10th
centuries. In 756 the Moors of Spain
declared themselves independent of the
kalif of Damascus, and proclaimed their
own ruler kalif 1t then contained about
one million of inhabitants. Now it is an
inland city, with forty-three thousand in
habitants, and dependent upon the sur
rounding country for its business, as no
large vessels can come up the Guadalquiver
higher than Seville. 1t lies in a rich, ex
tensive valley, filed with groves of palm
and olives, bounded by high range of
mountains on the north. | know of no
place in Spain where you are not in close
proximity to a range of mountains. The
city is surrounded by old Moorish walls,
and the high hills back of the city are
crowned with monasteries standing out
among the olive groves.
The Guadalquiver flows rapidly by the
city, spanned by an old Roman bridge.
The centre of attraction in Cordova now
is the cathedral, which was once Moor
ish mosque. 1t is almost the only struc-
ture left in Spain which has been saved
from the reforming or destroying hand of
Christians. This mosque was begun in
7S6. The builder followed the plan of
the great mosque at Damascus. 1t was
the third mosque in sanctity in the world.
1t covers an area of 400 feet by $50 feet.
Like most Eastern buildings, it is low, the
roof being only 30 feet high, is almost fat,
and is supported by l,096 columns of all
colors aud sizes of jasper, porphyry, verd-
antique, &c. They were plundered by the
Mahommedans from other and distant
cities in the same manner as the columns
of st. Sophia at Constantinople we're gath
cred from all the famous Greeian temples.
These columns were brought from Nismes
and NarbOnne in France; from Seville and
Iarragona In Spain; from Carthage and
other cities in Africa, and some from Con-
stantinople. They all differ in size, length
and color. As the Mahommedans had
passion for plundering other temples to
adorn their own, uniformity was not con-
sidered.
The maksurah of the mosque, or the
seat of the kalif, is still preserved, and also
the beautifully ornamented recess where
the Koran was kept. The mosque is built
within an immense inclosure, the walls Of
which are from 80 to go feet high and six
feet thick. After passing through this
outer wall through grand Moorish arch
way, you enter the Court of Orange, filed
with oranges and having large fountain
and lake for ablutions in the centre of it.
Such a court is common to all mosques in
the East. Across and beyond this court