The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-06-16
RELIGIOUS HEART OF SPAIN.
ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE
IN Old TOLEDO.
The Famous Cathedral Which WINS SIX
Centuries In Building and Absorbed
tho Revenues of several sovereigns

tho Revenues of Several sovereigns.
Especial Correspondence of the Journal
and Courier)
Toledo, Spain May 20.-If l were writ
ing a book on cathedrals / should be
tempted to initiate Senior Parro, author
of a celebrated work on central Spain,
who devoted exactly half OF it's 1850
pages to the cathedral Of Toledo. Cas-
telar pronounces it the most perfect
specimen of ecclesiastical architecture
in existence. Certainly it is the great
est sight" in this ancient storehouse of
architectural Wonders-a rare and beau
tiful example of the pious art of priest
ly builders who blent artistic with reli-
gious emotions, all to the glory of God
as Wagner intensihes the interest of his
music by means of his poetry and scenic
accessories.
More than six hundred years in build
ing this Toledo cathedral absorbed the
revenues of several reigns and the rents
of one of the Wealthiest sect in Spain
Generation after generation its slowly
rising walls Were watched by the peo-
pie. Men were born, grew old and died,
leaving the labor to their children, who
took 1t UP and carried it on, until their
turn came to go 1.-THE way of all the
earth" Then their children, and chill
drenS children, carried it along; so that,
when at last it stood complete, it repre-
scented not one king, or one age, but
many generations. 1t occupies the site
of cathedral which existed before the
n n a Moons JJ11 tJ-aI
says that the first church was built
during the life time of the Virgin Mary,
and that she worshpped here, which, if
true, makes it the Oldest church in
Christendom. At any rate, on a certain
much-venerated slab near the high al
tar may be seen the mark of a small
shoe, which is said to be footprint of
the Virgin herself. 1t is not probable
that some temple stood here long before
Mary's day, since the city antedates the
birth of Christ by two or three centu-
ries. Ancient history tells us that Ma
RUS Fulvius took it, 1893 B. C. The
Moors turned the old church into a
mosque and occupied it for the worship
of Allah about four hundred years
When they were conquered by the
Spaniards AlonZo VI gave them his SOL
emn promise that they should retain it
pndisturbed. Not long afterwards the
king had occasion to leave the city. In
his temporary absence Bernardo, the
archbishop, backed by the queen (who
was native of France, like HIMSELF,
seized the mosque, turned out the Moors
and reconstructed it as a cathedral.
When the king heard how his royal
hn1 hoo lArC1 he Il 70
Toledo in a towering rage, swearing
that he would burn at the stake both
queen and bishop. Riding into the city,
he met a crowd of Moors and called out
to them that the injury had been done
to himself. who had solemny given his
oath, rather than to them and that
their mosque should be preserved. The
wise Moors, however, persuaded him to
let them release him from his oath.
'Whereat," says the chronicler, "the
king had great joy and the matter end
ed peacefully"
Most of the old building was pulled
down in the year 1927, during the reign
of Don Fernando III, that great de-
stroyer of mosques who himself laid
the corner stone of the new structure.
From that time UP to the seventeenth !
century additions and alterations were
constantly being made. PadillaS' mob |
plundered it in 1921: and again it was (
sacked in 1903 by invaders under Gene ,
raj La Houssaye. the same who looted |
the EScoril. Previous to this it must |
have been a perfect mine Of wealth and |
art, During several centuries all the |
foremost artists of the world had been
employed by the richest prelates of !
Spain to make this cathedral the worthy |
seat of primacy which yet ranks Sec
ond in the Roman Catholic hierarchy |
Here, aS'at Burgos and Leor, the pope |
and king of Spain were canC>s, and the |
was always fined two thousand |
for on-attendance in choir |
on fiesta days. But alas! Times have
changed in Spain and the power of the
priests has sadly waned. Most of the
have been suppressed;
though the primate is still second in
dignity only to the king nobody falls
upon his knees to kiss the ring upon his
hand, and mere handfuls of people,
mostly women, attend divine service
Could he impose proportional fines, in
heSe days, on all Spanish Catholics who
'ail to go to church, he would soon be- |
come the richest man in the world
1t is impossible to get good exterior
view of the cathedral, because it is
lemmed in on all sidea by a network
narrow, winding alleys, so that it has
10 distance to give the proper effect,
ind under it's walls one can have little
dea of its full majesty. The figures of
he ground plan-three hundred and
twenty-five feet long by one hundred and
feet wide-fail to impress
you; and the great square and tower
ooks top-heavy, without perspective.
This tower. by the way, rises square one
hundred and seventy feet; then changes
nto an octagon, with bbolt turrets and
and above that is a spire en-
ircled by triple rows of metal rays, the
ntire height being three hundred and
twenty-five feet. Along the facade
tatues are ranged of Biblical celebri-
les and native saints, strangely associ-
ted with hydras and centaurs and 9TH
r monsters of heather mythology The
hree bronze d0ors-the Door of Pardon |
he Door of Hell and the Door of Judg-
1ent-With their exquisite Picturesque
esignS and grOteSque Knockers form
n appropriate finish to the stone ara |
esques by which they are surrounded.
What carving, what world of statues
nd flowers, living and breathing under
le chisels of the master hands that !
voIved them from the dull stOOpt The