The times., 1901-06-09

cos - Relies of Eight Hundred
| Years-Reminderso OF Ancient Glory
/ Oh this Cathedral of Leon, with the
matchless spire! The blue sky cleaned
l. through its lofty lattice work so that the
| effect was as If the spire itself were in
laid for Hundreds of feet with slabs Of
! turquoise. The inevitable restoration was
/ in progress. a maze OF scaftold poles and
platforms covered it's southern B~nt like
Il web, and the tick-tick of masons inside
the building responded to the louder
blows Of other masons outside. So it has
been for years, and probably years more
will elapse and architect will succeed
architect ere the stately fane-"ditissima
pulchraque templa''-stands under the
heavens in its naked magnifcence. They
do these things tardily in Spain. But all
in disarray as it was with its monu-
ments bound up in sack cloth, with whist
ling, cigarette smoking mechanics perch
ed about 1t Ike seagullS on the face of
cliff. and the dirt OF decades in it's aisles,
one could still do homage to the lovely
building. Admission was, of course, pro-
hibited, saved to those concerned in the
Festora tom and equally of course a
''peseta" made --- free of the Interior
from the Chape Of the Consolation, in
the extreme east, to the marvellous statu-
aTy groups in alabaster and gold of the
.trascoro.'' Hundreds OF emerald and
ruby lights caught the sunshine and filled
nave and aisles with q glow almost vol
uptuous in it's glamour. Tombs and relics
of eight centuries adorn the Cathedral,
the body of which, as it stands, dates
from about 1900 A. D. only. And here, as
with the Cathedrals Of Oviedo, Santiago.
nd ba rth her obi faF MA ff
Spain, one may in the west facade alone
find material for hours of study.
OF the three supreme sights of Leon,
the cathedral ranks first. The Church of
st. Isidro the Royal may come next. Here
lie the bones of those early kinds of Leon
who trembled in spite of themselves at
the dread name of Almanssor. Soult's
soldiers amused themselves with these
dry bones, and their horses were stabbed
in the aisles of the church. the shell alone
Of which they left unpolluted. 1t is for
it's age and associations that one esteems
st. Isidro the Royal, rather than for its
untrobbed beauty. The third imperative
sight of the city is the Convent of San
Marcos. This l postponed until the heat
of the day was past. The convent i'm
presses more even than the cathedral. 1t
is as dead as Charles v but superb even
in it's slow. happily very slow, decompo-
sition. The knights of Santiago, for
whom it was originally designed, have,
of course, long gone the way of the age
they graced. But one may judge of their
importance in the extraordinary eIabo-
rateness Of this long facade of bronzed
stone Busts, medallions and friezes-
there are enough of them there, of the
highest quality, to endow a dozen art
schools with worthy material for inspira-
ton.
The lone woman who had charge of the
enormous building said, 'Muy bueno!' to
every part -of it. She could have said no
more If she had had the honor of playing
cicerone to- Alfonso XIII himself, and she
spoke truth at random every time. The
omnipFesent scallop shell testified here. as
throughout Galicia, to the commanding
influence in the past of that moribund
sanctuary of Santiago, which still has it's
acres of ecclesiastical buildings and its
scores of clergy. To one empty chamber
there was a ceiling of cedar wood some
twenty yards by eight, gloriousiy carved:
The courtyard toward which we looked
from upper clOister was a tangle or
roses and tall grasses. with stagnant
well in their midst.
Leon rejoiCes, without enthusiasm. in
this matehless convent The city has'nut
IL 900 or L. 600 inhabitants, and no industry
of size, and, there are SO many other relics
of the past within its boundaries that it
cannot be expected to vote lerge sums for
antiquarian purposes. 1t is something
that the convent has been turned into a
provincial museum. The name does not |
mean so much to the Spaniard as il would |
to the NOrtherner Here, in the South, |
they do not spend their leisure moments |
looking at accumulatiOns of Roman in |
scriptions, nOseless heads, and tomb |
stones Spain's provincial museums are
for the stranger rather than the aborigine. |
But better half a loaf than no loaf, and |
one may feel glad at least that there is |
a key to the noble door of the Convent |
of IN I re
from staIling themselves in it's labOred |
midst with as little respect for their en- |
Vironment as the horses of Soult's dra- |
goOns felt for the aisles of San Isidro the |
R0Nal-The London Globe.