Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-06-23

military academy, designed 10 stand
forever as the West Point uf Spain, In
which a thousand cadets might be al
ways In training 10 officer the spanish
army But the gods or the ghosts OF
the Moorish builders. seem to have har-
bored special spite against the old pail
ace and again IL was Quilted by ire
leaving little but the bare walls and
the four corner towers. and now Spain
Is too poor TO rebuild IT, In the rooms
overlooking the Tagus the notorious
widow OF Philip ~ was imprisoned
during the minority OF Charles H. AS
every reader OF Spanish history knows
she was first the tool OF the low adj
yenturer, Nlthard. and afterwards OF
an equally despioable lover. Valenzuela
Her mode Of life has been graphically
described by Madame d'Aulay. in
little book which cannot BE- recommend
ed as family reading
From the Alcazar you move with
slow steps, FOR the view Is too entranc-
ing TO be passed In haste. Perhaps you
sit upon stone. fallen from the walls
Of some medieval home, and feast your
eyes upon the prospect Two thousand
feet below, on the banks OF the yellow
Tagus, stood the
EARLIEST ROMAN CITY.
Even from this elevation you can plain
ly trace the outline OF rs ancient amphi-
theator If the gladlators who fought
in IL were suddenly resurrected ana
washed TO prepare Tor combat, they
would not have far 10 80 for weapons
for only a few rods away stands the
arsenal where the famous Toledo blades
are made, Time was when this hill
top was completely covered with pail
aces and converts, an of which have
disappeared. or are fallen in melancholy
heaps of debris. As II In m0ckery OF
departed greatness. the only building
OF large proportions thar is now fully
occupied Is a lunatlc asylum. whose in
mates, screaming from their barred
windows, might be Infatuated spectres
OF once proud Toledans, bewailing what
is gone forever
Not far from the Alcazar, a little
way down the eastern slope OF the hill
and close To the ramparts. are two curl
Gus synagogues one erected about the
year 1850, and the other three centuries
later They belong to the golden days
Of the Jews In Toledo, and are Of the
greatest interest as having been built
during the domination of the Moors.
Under whose tolerant rule the Hebrews
enjoyed perfect freedom and liberty Of
conscience. They have, Of course. lost
their original names, and as rechIist-
ened are called respectively El Translto
and Santa Maria Blanca. Both build
ings are so much Ike mosques in APP
pearance that Il Is presumed they were
built By Moorish wOrkmen, who were
acquainted with but one style of archi-
lecture. Santa Maria Blanca C'White
Saint Nary, stands back in a little
court and outside its door are two
small cisterns. which afforded
WATER FOR PURIFICATINoN
before entering the house OF God. It's
interior Is divided into number Of i'm
posing naves by sweeping horseshoe
arches, resembling those OF the Mosque
Of COrdova. but Il Is a true Jewish
sanctuary being ceiled with cedars Of
Lebanon, and the ground on which II
stands was covered with the sacred
dust Of Palestine. FL TransltO is much
more magnificent. II was built and
presented 20 his country by Samuel
Levi, the wealthy merchant Jew who
became the treasurer OF Pedro the
Cruel and after years OF faithful SER
vice to his royal master was tortured
and put 10 death, so that the wicked
king could enjoy his possessions The
walls of Fl Transito covered with APP
propriate Hebrew inscriptions. quota
tions from the Scriptures and the Tai
mud are decorated with lank patterns,
honey comb cornlce and engrailed
inches like the windows of the Giralda
at Seville. The superb ceiling, OF Lee
banon cedar, carved and painted and
curiously inlaid with tortoise-shell,
mother-of-pear and ivory. is supported