Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-01-14
CITY OF ROMAN DAYS.
cordova, Spain, Clings to the Customs
Of Centuries Now Long Gone.


one has compared Spain unto vast
cemetery full of the monuments of the
dead. and 1t Is true perhaps that 1t has
made less progress during the last cen
tury than any other country. This Is
due mainly TO the conservatism of the
masses of the people, who are perfect
ly satisfied with their present condi-
tion. They have opposed the intro
duction of railroads and other modern
necessities, and have successfully re-
sisted many OF the cncroachments and
Innovations of the progressive ele-
ment There are in Spain cities like
Barcelona. .,.ibao. Valencfx and San
lander which are quite up to date, but
At Salamanca. Cordova and other
places have told you about the quaint
customs of the past have been pre-
served. and the traveller can still en-
JOY glimpses of dead centuries. Hence
greatest enjoyment in Spain, and call
1t the last refuge of the picturesque.
In Italy, in Greece. in Turkey. in
Egypt, Syria. Tunis and Algiers the
commercial and social invasion has
modified and modernized the life and
habits OF the people. You can see
Musselmans wearing to their mos
luos rubbers that were made in Mas
5achusetts. gloves from the Palais
Royal OF Paris and umbrellas from the
,ictories in Nottingham. and the same
,pirit has broken out in spots in Spain.
told you recently electric bulbs IL
animate monuments erected 1000
years before the birth OF Christ by
phoenicians and Romans, who passed
the pillars OF Hercules for plunder and
trade, They opened mines at Huelva;
they made Cadiz. which was the Tar
3hish OF Solomon. one of The great
ports of the world. We have here at
gordova remains of the work and the
enterprise of the Carthaginians, from
he famous city of Dido. who once
)vercame and occupied the city and
we're afterward expelled by the all
sonquering Romans.
Cordova was the most populous and
The most famous OF the Roman cities
IN Spain, and continued so ior five
centuries. The Romans built temples.
palaces, ampltheaters. aqueducts and
riumphal arches. Most of them were
swept away by the Vandals and the
joths. who came in herds from France
and Germany. The Gothic rule pre-
salled 300 years, until the Goths in
lurn were driven out by an oyerwhelm-
ng flood from Africa in the early years
II the eighth century. For 700 years
hereafter the Saracens possessed the
and ana gave Spain her most distinc-
live arts. industries and architecture.
They finally fed before a Christian
civilization which came out of the
pyrenees, but not until they had car
-led on for a century conflict for
supremacy that terminated in the sur
render OF the Alhambra and the ex-
pulsion Of the Moors and the Jews
The Christians We're fconoclasts: +:
hey were worse than the Vandals,
or they destroyed and defaced the
most imposing monuments of their
predecessors. because they had been
lehied by the touch OF the infidels
Catholic kings even Issued edictsI Tor
bidding the use of Saracenc designs
IN art and architecture. They either
narred or destroyed nearly every one
# the marvels of magnilcence which
re celebrated by early Arabic writ
,rs. The irrigation works of the
doors, which made the plains produce
n abundance, We're neglected and
bandoned. and their fertile fields are
low scarcely cultivated. Oshea, one
( the ablest writer's on Spain, shows
IS that in one disrict adjoining Cor
,ova, where 1S4, 4,23S fanegas of land
.sere cultivated by the Moors. only A.
100 fanegas are cultivated by the
paniards. and where the yield once
veraged { E201,000 yearly. 1t now aver
iges only G4000; and in another dis
rict, which under the khalifate yield
ed half million fanegas OF corn each
year. the present returns are merely
nominal.
This accounts for the poverty and
decay of the old cities of Spain, but of
course the tourists profit thereby, for
their antiquities and their pictures
queness are made all the more strik-
ing. Each of the old towns has its
Individuality. its peculiar characteris-
les and features, so that one who
seeks new sensations is gratified at al
most every stopping place.
The journey from Madrid to Cor
lova carries you through most nm
Interesting country-treeless. stony
and bleak, parched with the sun,
swept by the winds and mostly uncul-
iiVated-as | have already explained
10 you. The amount of land lying
idle in Spain would produce enough
o sustain the whole kingdom II it
were properly cultivated. There are
rev places OF interest on the way, the
only one worth noting being a little
iown bearing the pompous name OF Ar
gamasilla de Alba. which is familiar
10 all readers of The Adventures of
he Immortal El Hidalgo Don Quixote
e Ia Mancha" This Is the place
whore Cervantes was thrown into
lrlsoa, and while he was In confne-
ment began to write the story. making
his hero q native of the town which
ireated him 80 badly, One of the I'm
est editions of his works was printed
IN that very prison, which has been
printing Office for many years, 1t is
said that the people OF the place are