The Voice Of Freedom

CATHEDRAL AT SEVILLE.

But the great boast and glory of Seville is her vast and lofty Cathedral. Parts of it, or rather a portion of the wall which now encloses the spacious court of the orange-trees, belonged to the splendid mosque which was built there by the Moorish king Abdu, in the year 1171.

The Tower of Giralda was erected about the year 1000, by Algeber, a Moorish architect and mathematician, from whom it is supposed that the science of Algebra derived its name. This tower is square. and its original height was 250 feet, and in the year 1568, 100 feet more were added for the purpose of constructing a belfry and for other objects. Above all arises the famous Giralda, or image of Faith, a gigantic female statue, of bronze, with a large globe of the same metal beneath its feet, while in the hand a vast palm-leaf which causes the statue, resting as it does, on an iron bolt or pivot, to turn about with the wind. Such is the giantess Giralda, to whom allusion is made in Don Quixote, and many a Spanish play and romance. The ascent of the tower is by a spiral staircase within, which was formerly an inclined plane of so gradual an elevation, that mules could easily climb up to the belfry. Low steps have recently been raised on this inclined plane, which give one a surer foothold than before.

Two families live in this singular place; one at the base, who act as the porters, and the other near the belfry, whose business is to take care of the singular and ingenious clock of the cathedral, which was invented and every part of it made by a monk of Seville, some centuries since. Several years were occupied in making it, and the vulgar tradition is, that when it was completed the eyes of the poor man were put out; that such another might never be made, and thus Seville might retain the sole honor of possessing such a treasure. For the correctness of this tradition I do not vouch.

The main body of the Cathedral is 398 feet long, by 291 broad, and though mostly of the Gothic style of architecture, yet to this there are, in portions of the interior, marked and striking exceptions. It has five naves, four of which are twenty-four feet broad each, while the central one, which rises to an immense height, is forty-two feet in breadth. The lofty arches are supported by thirty-two pillars with a diameter of fifteen feet each, and if to these we add the pillars in the various chapels, the whole number is sixty seven.

There are ninety-three large and lofty windows of stained glass. which so modify the light that passes through them, as to cast over the whole of the vast interior an air of solemn and impressive religious majesty and awe. The paintings on these windows represent the different saints, as also passages from the Holy Scriptures, and are the works of distinguished artists from Germany and Holland. The cathedral is extremely rich in treasures, having in addition to its splendid custodia of sculptured silver, which is more than twelve feet high, an altar, and images as large as life, all of solid silver, to say nothing of numerous other objects of almost untold value. During the French
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invasion these treasures were transported to Cadiz, and thus preserved from being plundered. The Cathedral has a rich collection of paintings by Velasquez and other distinguished artists. besides thirteen by Murillo, the prince of Spanish painters, and too, who devoted his life to adorning the edifices of his native city with the splendid works of his pencil.

Connected with the Cathedral is also the Columbian Library, so called from Ferdinand Columbus, the son of the discoverer of America, who presented to it 10,000 volumes, and a collection of valuable manuscripts. At the present time it contains 20,000 volumes, is adorned with numerous portraits of Archbishops of Seville, and of natives of the city, who have been distinguished for their eminence in the arts and sciences.-Rockwell's Trav.