The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-02-17


and the Most Interesting Ina History,
Art and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS the
Cruep,-uis Gorgeous Palace and
Murderous Pastimes.
(Spectal Correspondence of the Journal
and Courier.)
Seville, Spain, Jan. IL
"Quien no ha visto Sevilla
No ha visto maravella'-
meaning that he who has not seen De
VILE has missed seeing a wonder-ls
proverb which its citizens dellsnt 40.
The same might be truthfully salu %
| other Spanish cities; but this Anoaiu-
sian capital differs from the rest, Win
warmth and gaiety of life peculiarly
| it's own, and Astounding remlhlscehce9
of the noble and cultured MoofS, Whose
palaces and villas We're unlike those III
any other part of the world. Througn
| five hundred years it was their sacreu
city. in which they gathered all thal
| wealth could buy or fashion design ol
bravery win. Its splendid mosques
were crowded with wolshippers OF the
prophet, when from the lofty Geralol
| fine mezzen called the faithful to pray
ar. tie schools were thronged With eager
students in science and the arts; and
| in it's glorious Alcazar--( Al-Nasr'
| House of Carsar'O, were gathered the
| statesmen, warriors and court1ers OF
great and powerful people. All TINS pc
| gan in the eighth century, and endeu
more than two hundred years before the
western world was discovered; put
many of the Moorish palaces are stu
| intact and the glories of that long-past
period have left an indelible impression
| upon the whole region Of the Guadalqul-
vii.
| Long. long before the day of the
Moors Seville was old and gray It's
| foundations having been laid In the
morning twilight of history by Hercules
| himself If anybody doubts the tradl-
| ton he may be treasured by reading
| quaint inscription carved above one OF
| the city gates, which asserts that Her-
| cules was the founder, and that julius
| Caesar captured it from the Carthage
mans more than half a century before
| Christ was born. We know that much
| of the wealth for which Tyre and Sldon
were renowned was derived from the
| region of the Baetica-the Guadalqul-
vir of to-daya land of promise, espec-
| tally protected by the gods and coveted
| by men. It's marvels figured prominent
| ly in classic mythology, as related py
| Homer Herodotus, Cicero and others
| 1t was on the island of Juno, you re-
member, near the rivers mouth, sixty
miles or so below this point, where
| Geryon pastured his flocks The CHIEF
city of Baetica, which the Carthagenl-
ans called Sephelia and the Romans
| Hispalis, became rich and poWerful
| capital under Julius Caesar, VINO
| changed its name to Julia Romula, IN
grateful recognition of its aid during MS
wars with Pompey. 1t was the seat OF
| the proconsul and the favorite residence
! of the provincial nobility. Three Ro-
| man emperors We're born here-Tro1an,
| Adrian and Theodosius. At the foot OF
| the oive-covered hills, five miles away,
Scipio built splendid pleasure resort,
with spacious amphitheater and many
sumptuous residences. Like other Ro-
man cities in Spain the ruins of these
| have served as a quarry for generations
| of subsequent builders. Scipio's amphi-
InedI6r may yet De NlSoiiy NA"NN~'i
J though its walls and those of adjacent
| palaces went to make modern break
| water in the Guadalquivir, to furnish
| building material for neighboring con-
| vents and even to pave the streets OF
| Seville. Many of the busts and statues
| of Caesars time now grace the Spanish
museums and the palaces of grandees,
and the very pavements you walk upon
| to-day have been trodden by the no.
| blest Roman of them ALL in the ancient
city. A portion of the double stone
walls which julius Caesar built around
his capital are yet standing. Defended
by barbicans and thanking towers, they
! look as formidable as when they re-
| PEELED the attacks of barbarians, though
| SCARED by the storms and ward or
| twenty centuries.
| Most of the walls, however, that to-
| day surround Seville are of Moslem
| building, their six or eight miles in cir
| cult pierced by fifteen enormous gate
| WAYS, and surrounded by Sixty-s1x
| watch-towers. In the days of the Ca
| liphs there were one hundred and six
| ty-six of these quaint towers; but when
''the Holy King Saint Ferdinand" drove,
| out the infidel lin the year 124S) the rest
| were demolished. In this dry climate
| the passing centuries have made little
| impression on the old Moorish houses,
which are still the best in Seville. The
| Moors, by the way, discarding the Ro-
man name, undertook TO resume its re-
mote Chaldean title Sephelia, but in
| their harsher tongue rendered it Sibi-
| dia, which has been corrupted to the
| present name, pronounced by the Span
| iards Sah-veel-yah. Fully half the city
| preserves it's ancient character. but
sad to say-changes are taking place
every year. The narrow, winding, hap
| hazard streets, completely over-shad-
owed by spacious mansions with ample
courts and gardens, so admirably suit
| ed to the summer climate of this "Oven
| of SPAIN" as the section is called, are
| slowly but alas! too surely giving way
| to wide, unpicturesque avenues, with
alleged improvements in their small.
! hot, commonplace houses, open to the
MONDAY blaze. In the Moorish quar-
| tiers, where the fore-thought OF the
| builders made the streets so narrow that
| two carriages could not possibly pass
| one another, barriers are placed at eacn
end to prevent wheeled vehicles from
| attempting to enter. In some of them
an ordinary umbrella, when raised,
| will barely clear the walls in turning
! their zizzae corners, and donkeys fling