he western
half of the building; on the contrary, it distinctly separates them, not
to the building's advantage.

The interior is gay rather than solemn: the general disposition of the
parts is as customary in a Gothic church of the Transition
(Renaissance). The nave and transept are of the same width; the lateral
chapels, running along the exterior walls of the aisles, are
symmetrical, as in Salamanca; the ambulatory separates the high altar
from the apse and its seven chapels.

The pavement of the church is of black and white marble slabs, like that
of Toledo, for instance; as for the stained windows, they are numerous,
and those in the older part of the building of good (Flemish?)
workmanship and of a rich colour, which heightens the happy expression
of the whole building.

The cloister is the oldest part of the building, having pertained to the
previous cathedral. After the latter's destruction, and the successful
erection of the new temple, the cloister was transported stone by stone
from its old emplacement to where it now stands. It is a handsome and
richly decorated Gothic building, containing many tombs, among them
those of the architects of the cathedral and of Maria del Salto. This
Mary was a certain Jewess, who, condemned to death, and thrown over the
Pena Grajera, invoked the aid of the Virgin, and was saved.

Another tomb is that of Prince Don Pedro, son of Enrique II., who fell
out of a window of the Alcazar. His nurse, according to the tradition,
threw herself out of the window after her charge, and together they were
picked up, one locked in the arms of the other.

IV

MADRID-ALCALA

Though Madrid was proclaimed the capital of Spain in the sixteenth
century, it was not until 1850 that its collegiate church of San Isidro
was raised to an episcopal see.

The appointment met with a storm of disapproval in the neighbouring town
of Alcala de Henares, the citizens claiming the erection of the
ecclesiastical throne in their own collegiate, instead of in Madrid.
Their reasons were purely historical, as will be seen later on, whereas
the capital lacked both history and ecclesiastical significance.

To pacify the inhabitants of Alcala, and at the same time to raise
Madrid to the rank of a city, the following arrangement was made: the
newly created see was to be called Madrid-Alcala; the bishop was to
possess two cathedral churches, and both towns were to be cities.

Such is the state of affai