an
in Galicia the Oriental influence which helped so thoroughly to shape
Central Spanish Romanesque.

Of the chapels, but one deserves special mention, both as seen from
without and from within, namely, the high altar, or central apsidal
chapel. Seen from without, it is of perfect Romanesque construction,
excepting the upper row of rose windows, which are ogival in their
traceries; inside, it contains a mural painting of an exceedingly
primitive design, and a _retablo_ in low reliefs enchased in ogival
arches; it is of Italian workmanship.

Of the remaining chapels, that of San Bartolome contains an alabaster
sepulchre of the Bishop Diego de Anaya--one of the many prelates of
those times who was the possessor of illegitimate sons; the bodies of
most of the latter lie within this chapel, which can be regarded not
only as a family pantheon, but as a symbol of ecclesiastical greatness
and human weakness.

The windows which light up the nave are round-headed, and yet they are
delicately decorated, as is rarely to be seen in the Romanesque type.
The aisles, on the contrary, are not lit up by any windows.

Like the churches of Zamora and Toro, the whole cathedral resembles a
fortress rather than a place of worship. The simplicity of the general
structure, the rounded turrets buried in the walls, serving as leaning
buttresses, the narrow slits in the walls instead of windows, lend an
indisputable aspect of strength. The beautiful, the really beautiful
lantern, situated above the _croisee_, with its turrets, its niches, its
thirty odd windows, and its elegant cupola, is an architectural body
that wins the admiration of all who behold it, either from within the
church or from without, and which, strictly Byzantine in conception
(though rendered peculiarly Spanish by the addition of certain elements
which pertain rather to Gothic military art than to church
architecture), is unique--to the author's knowledge--in all Europe. Less
pure in style, and less Oriental in appearance than that of Zamora, it
was nevertheless, created more perfect by the artistic conception of the
architect, and consequently more finished or developed than those of
Toro and Zamora. Without hesitation, it can claim to be one of
Salamanca's chief attractions.

The thickness of the walls (ten feet!), the admirable simpleness of the
vaulting, and the general aspect from the exterior, have won for the
church the name of _fortis Salamantini_.

*