The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1900-05-17

in which-so some authorities declare
the good child-martyr was baked.
1t was converted into a chapel in 1912,
and is most interesting with its Rom
an decorations-the pillar of Saint
Eulalia being made up of ancient cap
itals and scraps of heather affairs, pill
ed one above another.
Merida's Alcazer, built by the Moors
about the year 833, is in excellent pres
ervation. The old church of Santa
Maria, we'll worth visit; and so is
the little provincial Museum, the We
ga de Guadiana, the sixteenth century
Plaza Mayor, and many other places
which keep the travellers interest en-
chained for weeks.
Various short trips in Estramadura
province should by no means be neg
lected. For example there is Alcan-
ira. village on the Tagus river,
60 miles northwest of Merida. The
dusty trip usually made on mule-back
is very fatiguing; but what globe
trotter would on that account forego
seeing the old strong hold of the Mil,
itary Monks of Alcantara, an order
which, like those of Santiago and Cal
atrava, was instituted in the early
days of the Castilian monarchy to
protect the frontier against the inf
del. Their monastery-an immense
structure, half-castle, half barrack,
has fallen into ruin, northumberland
ing the almost incredible strength and
extent of its walls. A Roman bridge
in the vicinity, said to be the most
superb work of it's kind now in exis-
tence, measures go feet in length and
rises 210 feet above the water. The
enormous granite blocks composing
! it-many Of them ten feet long by
three feet thick-are wonderfully
| jointed, without the aid of mortar.
Can you imagine the feeling of awe
and admiration which this stupendu-
Gus work, which has been in use near
ly eighteen hundred years, inspires in
the breast Of a wanderer from the in
FAINT land of the Stars and Stripes?
Standing amid wilderness of rocks,
gorges and treeless hills, it bursts sud
denly upon the view in all the males
ty of its solitary grandeur, it's coloss-
al arches as sound to-day as when
they echoed to the measured tread of
the Roman legions. Over this broad
causeway have passed the eagles of
the emperor, the struggling hordes of
invading Cloths, the armies of Roder-
ick and Musa, the sacrilegious booty
wrested by the Moor from the church
es of Galicia, the triumphant chival-
ry of Castle and Leon returning from
the conquest and devastation of fair
| Grenada.
Another excursion of less magni-
tude may be made to the Sierra de
las Viboras-if you dare to risk the
snakes and reptiles of every sort with
which those mountains abound-to
say nothing of rascally brigands, and
very real and ever-present peril in
this part of Spain. You will of course
make it in the saddle, following the
sinuous banks of the Guadiana for
several miles; then crossing the Alju-
cen river into the region of wheat
field, and finally scrambling up steep
rocky hill-trails, as far as fancy leads
you.
Certainly you must go to Badajoz,
the historic city of the very border
line between Spain and Portugal.
Luckily, it is IN easy trip, by railway,
though very slow. 1t is compact
little town of only $4,000 inhabitants,
and most of it's 'sights" are gathered
around the central plaza. Badajoz is
approached by a handsome granite
bridge, of thirty arches, completed in
the sixteenth century, with quaint
forts guarding both ends of it. The
cathedral, the municipal palace, the
theatre, barracks and best shops and
cafes, all face the Campo de San Juan,
as its principal square is called, while
the tree-shaded centre, with its foun-
tain and band-stand serves as the
fashionable prominade. The cathe-
dral, which has survived so many
changes, was begun by Alonzo ell Su-
bio, in 124S. Its facade is later, in
the Greco-Roman style, with Ionic
pillars and a colossal statue of John
the Baptist. AT side portal is fixed
on marble stone, the hammer which
used to be knocked when a canon
was dying before the passing bell''
was introduced. The picturesque
cloisters of early date, with their in
terlacing arches and spiral columns,
are inches deep in white wash, which
has defaced most of the interior; but
there are many fine paintings, and
historic tombs, including that of the
Marques de Bal, the General Of Philip
V, who was SO sondly beaten at cara
goza, in 1710.