The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-04-19
MODERN CORDOVA.
ONCE THE SEATOP TIE MOST Pow
ERFUL DYNAsTYINE EUROPE,
Now But Skeleton of the Splendid
Capital Of the Caltphs.


especial correspondence VI the 'N9A '
and Courier) ..
Cordova, Spain, March 15.-Strolllng
about this ancient capital, in which no
sound of wheel or hammer, or human
life Is heard, it's narrow, dark ana dir-
ty streets almost deserted by man ana
beast, you recall what Gautier SAID OF
Cordova more than half century ago:
1T is q city of whose once beautlrul
body nothing remains but a bleacheo
and calcined skeleton" Lying low IN
the sunny valley of the Guadalqu1Vlr, IN
the very heart of Andalucia, surround
ed by gray olive-groves and villas
crumbling with the weight OF centuries
it has been appropriately called the
City OF Venerable Tranquility
Though its absolute silence and absence
of life are depressing, you lind 1t ex-
tremely interesting. 1t abounds WIN
antiquities, and at every step memories
are awakened of the old Roman empe-
rors, of later Arabian Caliphs-of Queen
Scheherezode's marvellous tales, and
the adventures of 1.-THE gaunt country
gentleman of la Mancha,' whose home
was close by. Antique gates and
sculptures and nail-studded doors,
mosques, lOWeIS anu llliiieii 9 -, N'NN oN'i
leried houses, with their azuelos, null
lioned windows and fiower-filed patios,
the great Roman bridges and shrines IN
the outer walls-all speak of times long,
long gone by
So winding and shadowy are the
streets, suddenly ending in blank walls
or converging into half doztn alleys
equally torturous and obscure, you are
sure to get lost in their labyrinthine
windings, if without guide Meeting
nobody of whom to enquire the way
back to your hotel you are finally
forced to pound upon cloaed door
which rends the venerable tranquility
with echoes that seem as 5acrellglous as
shouting in dim cathedral. AS visi-
tors are never expected in modern Cor
vova, it takes more than one pounding
to bring anybody to the door; and when
at last the startled servant appears, his
directions are so complicated concern
ing numerous turnngs to be made that
you feel more hopeessly lost than be-
fore. The better way is to engage ma
tive cicerone at the outset. Your hotel
will furnish man, who will shuttle
alongside all day, for a few cents, and
tell YOU iiioie "'iu s"iii" -
pIloe ol .he san uiitais s''i.
Gu IN tiie Araoian Nisi'' e'''e' ''''''
ment
In the widest of Cordova's streets 1t
would be impossible to swing the tspi-
cal cat without dashing ITS brains OUT
and in many of them pedestrians are,
compelled to flatten themselves against
! the walls on either side whenever a
donkey with bulging Planners passes
| through. l suppose that the loea Oh the
ancient builders. in TINS cramping thelr
quarters, when they might just as wei
have spread the city over the whoie
valley, was as much to secure satety
from invaders. as to keep their sasas
cool by excluding the ferved sun. Even
without the wooden, gates, which close
the streets at frequent intervals a raiu
or riot could make small progress, COM
PEELED to pass three or four ABREAST I'M
der the overhanging balconles, eacn
house well-defended fort
The principal sight of Cordova, and
also one of the chief shoW-places I'm
Spain, Is the splendid mosque La Mez-
quita,' (Arabice for masegad, meaning.
to worship prostratel which the Kallpn
Abdu-r-rahman began ABOUT "A. ~.
1880 A hundred years We're consumed In
tho building, and 1t was long the
grandest Moslem temple In the World
| exceeding in beauty even mecca, the
most sacred shrine OF the Koran.
1t stands close to the muddy panK OF
the Guadalquivir. In the heart OF the
crowded Jewish quarter where the ear
ly Hebrews, prosecuted by other ma
items, enjoyed complete liberty or Wor-
ship under the Saracen rulers. Directly
opposite rises the once gorgeous Alcaz-
ar c'House of Caesar" or royal palace)
of the Kalipha, which is now a shabby
military prison, without a trace OF It's
| former splendor. 1t Is hard to realize
that this spot, now so vilely odorous
| and filthy, the haunt OF vice, disease
and misery, was once the ABODE OF SCI
ence and art, the seat OF the Wealthlest
court of medieval Europe, the refuge
of the oppressed of every creed IN Chris
tendon, and the home of the most pol
ished society Of the age.
The most extraordinary feature of La
Mezouita is that to this day 1t is half a
Mostem MOSQUE and hall Christian
cathedral. Long. long ago the Romans
had a teemple on the spot dedicated to
Janus. Afterwards 1t was the Chris
tian Basilica: and when the Arabs en-