



Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images available at The Internet Archive)








CATHEDRAL CITIES OF SPAIN

                     _UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_

     CATHEDRAL CITIES OF ENGLAND. By GEORGE GILBERT. With 60
     reproductions from water-colours by W.W. COLLINS, R.I. Demy 8vo,
     16s. net.

     CATHEDRAL CITIES OF FRANCE. By HERBERT and HESTER MARSHALL. With 60
     reproductions from water-colours by HERBERT MARSHALL, R.W.S. Demy
     8vo, 16s. net. Also large paper edition, £2 2s. net.

               _BOOKS ILLUSTRATED BY JOSEPH PENNELL_

     ITALIAN HOURS. By HENRY JAMES. With 32 plates in colour and
     numerous illustrations in black and white by JOSEPH PENNELL. Large
     crown 4to. Price 20s. net.

     A LITTLE TOUR IN FRANCE. By HENRY JAMES. With 94 illustrations by
     JOSEPH PENNELL. Pott 4to. Price 10s. net.

     ENGLISH HOURS. By HENRY JAMES. With 94 illustrations by JOSEPH
     PENNELL. Pott 4to. Price 10s. net.

     ITALIAN JOURNEYS. By W.D. HOWELLS. With 103 illustrations by JOSEPH
     PENNELL. Pott 4to. Price 10s. net.

     CASTILIAN DAYS. By the Hon. JOHN HAY. With 111 illustrations by
     JOSEPH PENNELL. Pott 4to. Price 10s. net.

London: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
21 Bedford Street, W.C.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: BURGOS. THE CATHEDRAL]




CATHEDRAL CITIES
OF SPAIN

WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED
BY
W. W. COLLINS, R.I.

[Illustration: colophon]

LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN
NEW YORK: DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
1909

_All rights reserved_

_Copyright, London, 1909, by William Heinemann and
Washington, U.S.A., by Dodd, Mead & Co_




PREFACE


Spain, the country of contrasts, of races differing from one another in
habits, customs, and language, has one great thing that welds it into a
homogeneous nation, and this is its Religion. Wherever one's footsteps
wander, be it in the progressive provinces of the north, the mediævalism
of the Great Plain, or in that still eastern portion of the south,
Andalusia, this one thing is ever omnipresent and stamps itself on the
memory as the great living force throughout the Peninsula.

In her Cathedrals and Churches, her ruined Monasteries and Convents,
there is more than abundant evidence of the vitality of her Faith; and
we can see how, after the expulsion of the Moor, the wealth of the
nation poured into the coffers of the Church and there centralised the
life of the nation.

In the mountain fastnesses of Asturias the churches of Santa Maria de
Naranco and San Miguel de Lino, dating from the ninth century and
contemporary with San Pablo and Santa Cristina, in Barcelona, are the
earliest Christian buildings in Spain. As the Moor was pushed further
south, a new style followed his retreating steps; and the Romanesque,
introduced from over the Pyrenees, became the adopted form of
architecture in the more or less settled parts of the country. Creeping
south through Leon, where San Isidoro is well worth mention, we find the
finest examples of the period in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, at
Segovia, Avila, and the grand Catedral Vieja of Salamanca.

Spain sought help from France to expel the Moor, and it is but natural
that the more advanced nation should leave her mark somewhere and in
some way in the country she pacifically invaded. Before the spread of
this influence became general, we find at least one great monument of
native genius rise up at Tarragona. The Transition Cathedral there can
lay claim to be entirely Spanish. It is the epitome and outcome of a
yearning for the display of Spain's own talent, and is one of the most
interesting and beautiful in the whole country.

Toledo, Leon, and Burgos are the three Cathedrals known as the "French"
Cathedrals of Spain. They are Gothic and the first named is the finest
of all. Spanish Gothic is best exemplified in the Cathedral of
Barcelona. For late-Gothic,