resembles it in the general
composition.

The nave, exceedingly high, is decorated by a blind triforium of ogival
arches; the aisles are sombre and lower than the nave. On the other
hand, the transept, broad and simple, is similar to the nave and as long
as the width of the church, including the lateral chapels. The _croisee_
is surmounted by a _cimborio_, insignificant in comparison to those of
Salamanca, Zamora, and Toro.

The northern and southern extremities of the transept differ from each
other as regard style. The southern has an ogival portal surmounted by a
rosace; the northern, one that is plateresque, the rounded arch,
delicately decorated, reposing on Corinthian columns.

The eastern end of the church has been greatly modified--as is clearly
seen by the mixture of fifteenth-century styles, and not to the
advantage of the ensemble. Byzantine pillars, and even horseshoe arches,
mingle with Gothic elements.

Of the chapels, the greater number are richly decorated, not only with
sepulchres and sepulchral works, but with paintings, some of them by
well-known masters.

Taken all in all, the cathedral of Cuenca does not inspire any of the
sentiments peculiar to religious temples. Not the worst cathedral in
Spain, by any means, neither as regards size nor majesty, it
nevertheless lacks conviction, as though the artist who traced the
primitive plan miscalculated its final appearance. The additions, due to
necessity or to the ruinous state of some of the parts, were luckless,
as are generally all those undertaken at a posterior date.

The decorative wealth of the chapels, which is really astonishing in so
small a town, the luxurious display of grotesque elements, the presence
of a fairly good _transparente_, as well as the rich leaf-decoration of
Byzantine pillars and plateresque arches, give a peculiar _cachet_ to
this church which is not to be found elsewhere.

The same can be said of the city and of the inhabitant. In the words of
an authority, "Cuenca is national, it is Spanish, it is a typical rural
town." Yet, it is so typical, that no other city resembles it.

VII

TOLEDO

A forest of spires and _alminar_ towers rising from a roof-covered hill
to pierce the distant azure sky; a ruined cemetery surrounded on three
sides by the rushing Tago as it cuts out a foaming path through
foothills, and stretching away on the fourth toward the snow-capped
Sierra de Gredo in the distance, beyond the frui