terminated by an apse,
that is, each aisle and the central nave run into a chapel. The effect
of this _double apse_ is highly peculiar, especially as seen from
within, with chapels to the east and chapels to the west.

The _retablo_ is of indifferent workmanship; the choir stalls, on the
other hand, are among the most exquisitely wrought--simple, sober, and
natural--to be seen in Spain, especially those of the lower row.

The chapels are as usual in Spanish cathedrals, as different in style as
they are in size; none of those in Zamora can be considered as artistic
jewels. The best is doubtless that which terminates the southern aisles
on the western end of the church, where the principal facade ought to
have been placed. It is Gothic, rich in its decoration, but showing here
and there the decadence of the northern style.

The cloister--well, anywhere else it might have been praised for its
plateresque simplicity and severity, but here!--it is out of date and
place.

To conclude, the general characteristics of the cathedral of Zamora are
such as justify the opinion that the edifice, especially as its
Byzantine-Oriental and severe primitive structure is concerned, is one
of the great churches that can still be admired in Spain, in spite of
the reduced size and of the additions which have been introduced.

NOTE.--To the traveller interested in church architecture, the
author wishes to draw attention to the parish church of La Magdalen
in Zamora. The northern portal of the same is one of the most
perfect--if not the most perfect--specimen of Byzantine-Romanesque
decoration to be met with in Spain. It is perhaps unique in the
world. At the same time, the severe Oriental appearance of the
church, both from the outside and as seen from within, cannot fail
to draw the attention of the most casual observer.

III

TORO

To the west of Valladolid, on the river Duero, Toro, the second of the
two great fortress cities, uplifts its Alcazar to the blue sky; like
Zamora, it owed its fame to its strategic position: first, as one of the
Christian outposts to the north of the Duero against the Arab
possessions to the south, and, secondly, as a link between Valladolid
and Zamora, the latter being the bulwark of Christian opposition against
the ever encroaching Portuguese.

Twin cities the fortresses have been called, and no better expression is
at hand to denote at once the simila