| Show 7 MERIVA THE R E OP OF SPAIN I U lound C 0 Joun Journay e In i m jo on the Portuguese lH fl j M nH H H MM M MM Special Merida palk April fIt It seeped a undertaking this wide wid de detour cl tour from travel acme dusty and desolate plains to the very border of Port Portugal ural but we Mare haTt found ample r recompense In merely walking the streets treet of a city whose were wre laid a quarter ot of a century hater Christ w was boni Though te remote and forgotten town lown cut cala no figure pre In modem history Span lards larda cherish U it MUI pardonable pride u as the items of the peninsula for It contains more ort r tin 0 of the early no Ito noman man Incas than even n the eternal city of Italy Itly lad Indeed the whole province of at u as It now app apposes n I richer In monuments of antiquity t than an uy any other equal Brett aren Bretton on the race face of tW globe obi Defore coming this wa way It will fro Ie well to freshen your a bit on duel cal history The Merld Merida of today tody is Ie the Roman capital ut of Luel tania which Legate built D B C U And christened Emerita Augusta It Its continued down clown to th the fourth OIn cen century tUr tury after Cht different Roman colts colM e struck here helt are noW amaie the rarest and mOlt meet valuable In the WOrld existing ani only In Inthe inthe the cabinets of wealthy collector Most Moat of at the worn ot of silver 1111 and copper for which prices a are paid bear the ancient of the city ellY which a are still the arms arma at f Merida a turreted gate with the Ibl inscription Augusta of this old ca capital In stately measure lu in his hla hymn on In th the death ot of its Ita Eulalia who ho b by the way I is not to be confOunded with her nam name namesake sake the of nor yet et I with Ith the member of royal fa mil who visited u us a afew afew few years ago JO Merida s Eulalla was wall born here A D I and w was one of the earliest twin tema marl martyrs yr In Spain History I is silent anent as al to the ot of Mr her martyrdom antI and the torture b by which she be died only twelve years yean old WIlEN PUT TO DEATH she h performed miracle tn in after rt OlIn can cantunes tunes worthy ot of eny Ill grownup Saint SI San reIt that In the year yer she saved aved the being plundered b by Ll GOth by threatening threaten ing In hum t that C visited upon ullon troop at 1 tI le tu tug The Th sight ot of Merida are many and nd of surpassing to the archeologist gist rIt Most of them were projected dur during Inc ing the happy reIgn of en enlightened i lightened whO l v to beautify and ennoble the land of his 1111 bIrth Tit The wall ot of Ute the city one once t twenty t mUll miles In circumference antedate day and nd so does dOlI one of at the the on whose right bank rises Merida It to Is about aboul hall half 1 a amite mite mile Ion long with arches thirty feet teet broad and feet above the water Being Beine 10 o Ion long and flat It bat ha lh the appearance of II a aup wa way ray gray and solemn yet ret stately In its III decay It would bf be to attempt II a crossing now yet you venture ven venture ture a considerable upon the crumbling of the countless multitudes that have passed to and nd fro since alnee It its completion In n the II first fit the broken footway with the d deep still river far farbelow farbelow below gives you which are likely to haunt your our dreams dream unpleasant unpleasantly ly Iy for nights to come The other ancient bridge a smaller stream on the Ihl opposite side of the city and I is a worthy worth to Trajan its builder It sans repaired In inthe the year nar Its by one of oC the Iha Gothic dukes duke of Tol Toledo o and again In 1511 UY by 1 III II as an Inscription on Iti portico An announce A thousand t nOtA TIC AND o cling to these old ohl bud bridges In nos 1508 a gallant band of Frenchmen only y 00 strong kept the whole Spanish army at bay for tor a month py by holding the bridge although the river I le fordable at that point Four years I later during the siege ge ot of Badajos sev I Iral ral arches h ot of the other bridges were purposely destroyed 1 lit order to Impede advance They were wre after atter afterwards wards Rd replaced to 10 mat match h the structure as nearly tUI an solid granite with fUh work pillowed or cl ai as say On Ih the island Illand In the little way tI tip stream tream I is a Roman dyke known II as its T mar built of massive masonry and Intended to tn protect Ut the al arches hM of lb the bridge below from Inundations The dyke ml have ha been effective errUn In ite I prime but every recent Inundation scared b by melting snows or of the moon moun swelling the river has hall wrought damage to the tottering which must soon n disappear Altogether To I the right of bridge III ii a built b by the noman and added t to by the Moon Moora In lade years arll It served 1 as al a palace for the Ole bishops b bop of Mend and o occupied J Jb b by the l D ace e came ih II rif dhe En t eM At Atthe 01 the suppression or of the T l In pain the castle was granted to the order ot of Santiago whose whole pro riser Ybor made mad It his hll residence Little is III left or at It except a splendid court Ourt of granite pillars the vestiges t Of a temple a tank that onor served In some mystic mc rite and nd a scene of MIta ern ancient rest or of the great t pile having hav ing been rutt gutted by the A tall gateway b by It Itself self If near nar the river looks as AI the oldest monument In et but I Is or of recent orl on once ce It mal marble lt tablet an n Arc AN J l ln The hat 1111 arch tour fret feet now a mere shell hl having Icon 0 OF ITS casing by the InrI In a dingy MC back street dwarfing b by It its sweep C prodigious blocks rk the modern that It Male Majestic even ven in III It its naked simplicity It must have ban been when covered with adorned with ball baa and surmounted b by 1 a colossal of the Tb The nOm Roman Forum ot of hl hi 1 h only th area end o broken et remaIn may be Been In the m mil I ni carent Of Below It rin the Via I WW uw W u Silver old Roman toad to Salamanca The Roman Am is II entirely ruIned only le Ita and nd I a f few mate t being bl but tb the theater called by the pre eat Inhabitants Lot Los Sills The Sven Seat ta troll from the seven va of Its Ita benches benchea retains an unbroken semicircle and its Ita or pas passage sage ea for tor entrance and exit running beneath the seats are yet perfect Most OIt picturesque and Im Imp sIng ot of all the Roman remains remain In Mends Merida le I the aqueduct stretching acro across the barren from the railway station It I is formed of immense granite blocks with narrow horizontal courses of brick en of It its piers remain some or of them ninety feet teet high an and arched In three tiers each pier crowned with lIh Ii a I storks nest lint Farther to the east t near th the ugly Ully Spanish aqueduct which th the Albar river th the an tiba rega ar are several leveral broken Shafts of another Roman noman aqueduct The Circus In t hollow nr near the tho Madrid road is II well en preserved Its dimensions ue are 1800 1110 by br feet fHt Th The outer walls wall are of enormous thick ne ness and many of to 10 original seals t for tor remain Then there is 18 Ih the mighty RI HI lAnd d dg seven nn north ot of Mr Mer ida l The granite wall trail which dame daml up th the water ater le III gigantic with staircase leading landing down into the huge hUIt tank lank An Another other reservoir six lis ml In the opposite direction Is called Albuera de It II ie much smaller maller thAn the on one shove loon I mentioned but the arrangement of Its Ite steps In regular rows row Incline antiqua antiquariAns riAns to the belief that were performed here Beside all theM the works Of le Ita founders Merlda Merida abounds abound In oth If Cr Interesting and Ind pal palayes ayes acea entirely composed of sculptured fragment exhibIting In their MUTILATED AND DISCOLORED ornamentation the traces tracel of the Roman chisel gate gat of stupendous dimensions highways stretching like the roads road of at the Campana Campagna tr far over or plaIn and mountain villas villa whose WhON ala buter baiter fountain and moule mONIc pavements reveal the pomp and Ind luxury of their earl early owners onel temples who whose shadowy aisle find and venerable pillars have been consecrated to the rites ot of tour lour ghostly Uy of Ih the ml mighty tower now vanished from the earth You may visit villi tile the half Moorish palace which formerly belonged to the Duke dt de la HOC Roca a noted site te of tb the rel reign n of 01 Philip IV It la a perfect museum of architectural varle Roman Gothic Ionic Moorish arid and modern It entrance door doorway doorway way is IR a bt beautiful specimen of Gothic art but its I Roman noman portion has hll been de degraded graded Into a stable In another ob obscure street Is III the once superb palace pilar of the Conde de los 1011 Corvos with its of fluted and grace ful ul Corinthian capital The building was wa constructed entirely out of at the reo re remains mains ot of an ancient temple dedicated to Diana Then there therea Is the church of Santa said laid to have been built buill In the fourth century It has baa a tine fine Roman RomanI Romanesque I esque doorway and nd chapels chapel ot of the same ume dale at the end of the ales with man many aln singular lar capitals burled buried In whitewash In front of nt the church stand tand RI 81 loru Ito the little oven In blO some authorities good goal I I wa was baked It wu wag converted into Inlo a I chapel tn In 1812 1012 and Is most mOlt interesting with lib its Ita Roman Homan pillar ot of Saint Eulella beinG made up of An Ancient ancient capital and of heathen altars allar Plied piled one above an another ther Meridas Merida built by the Moors about the year Us au I is In excellent prep pre creation The old church hurch of Santa Mark with its III rich lue arch le Ie 11 worth a visit and nd so I is the little provincial museum tl the Vega de the century Plaza Mayor and man many other places s which keep the traveler Interest enchained for weeks Various shunt tripe trill In Ic E province should hould by no means be neglected I For example there ther t Is R a Allege on th Tagus river eo 00 mlle miles northwest of Th The dut dusty trip usually made on nn mule I very fatiguing hut but what globe globetrotter trotter would on that tbt account torero forego seeing the oN oid of the mill any tary monks Of Akan Alcantara ara an order which tike like those thole ot of Santiago and Cala Calatrava Calatrava trava wu Instituted In the early carly days of at the monarchy to 10 protect the frontier against tM the Their immense ImmEn e structure halt hlf hu hac fallen Into j ruin notwithstanding the almost t In Incredible eM credible atre h and extent of f HI Ha walls A Reman eman bridge In the said ald to b he the most mott superb work of f Ina 1111 kind now In ONI tee feet In 11 length and nd rl rises 10 feet teet above the water The enormous gran lie Ite blocks composing of them tn ten tt feet long by three feet wonderfully joInted without the aid of mortar Can an you ou Imagine the feel In Ing of awe we and nd admiration which this thle stupendous ua work which has hall been In use nearly eighteen hundred years yeNI In Inspires spires In the breast of a wanderer from the Infant land of nf the Stan and Sul t Ili 1 n wll n I ot of ruI III ks k g Jn m g a III hulls hll It hur t iti Sol a the vIru 11 In III all allI the Ih mal sty t its lIs y grandeur It Its I urdu UN en today 11 ae when they echoed I to till the measured tread ot of the Ihl Roman Over this broad brod causeway have passed the eagles elle of the k lilt of at Invading the armies of Rod nod aril Muse fulla the sacrilegious booty bouty wrested by the Moor from th the churches church of the triumphant of atlle and Leon returning from the conquest and nd of fair oran ads ada Another excursion lon ot of Ie less magnitude may be l made adl It to the IhO Sierra je do lea VI you tU dare to risk th Ih and reptiles ot of every sort with those thoe mountains mountain may nib b bIn In log of at rascally brigands a very 11 real realand realand and peril In this part of I Spain You will of nt course It In inthe I Ithe the saddle the sinuous hanks hanka of th the for several then rowing cronin the en river limn Inlo the region of nf wheat and finally scrambling up steep t p and rocky hlll hilt trails II as far fer as fancy tAny leads you ou Certainly you must go 10 to Hada jos the historic city on the very borderline between Spain and Portugal LuckilY It is II an easy euy trip trill by railway though vr very slow it lIe le a compact little town of only Inhabitants and most ot of It its eights are re gathered around the central pl pla a Badajos In approached by a bridge or of thirty arches completed in n tb the sixteenth ren cen century tury with quaint tort forts both ends end of nf It The MIe cathedral the mould pet palace the theater the barracks and best shops and cafes all face the tho Campo ampo do de Nan an Juan 8 as Its Ita princIpal square la ft while the t center with its It fountain and bAnd bandstand stand serves as aa the fashionable Iii The lIlt nha hu aUt au U mun many I 1 begun D 1 el j III 1 1 ns 1 L I Inter In thu T rn tle Ionic lonk and a I Nd style statue o 0 John the AIt At d de k axed on ln n I marble atone hh ha hamme which used uell to 0 be knol ked kd then hn a carol caroln n before the Ihei i ASSING AlBINa BELL 1111 was Iced The q clots te HII t ur irl 1 date with their not 1111 Iud In and Ind spiral Iral column ar an arhl hl hr d I 1 In tl the ha has t mot most ot of the Interior bit there nl U tany I fine paintings B and his Ria tork 1111 Including that ot of tb Marquee d fiat nal the famous general o 01 Philip P who w was so 10 soundly beatt batet at Ii a In 1710 1110 The Th Hr of at Badajos are tit the of mind Plus UIL Ultra mutt mott It h weer lip does not apply 1111 it Ie long us I continues from tipal IU I and consequently a source of lak M e Philip If realised when hen h m J upon lh Ih prey r which w waa I t r y hili hie grandson Philip IV The Tho it 11 I of Ih town is III In III v Alonz IX took it I from th h rs In III I 1233 J Ih t Portuguese belie fr d I I In III and again In 1101 Id 1111 failed before it I In al aI ulmi In th year In I is Boulte to adeon 1 I t is reU relieve r Ii ln n arrested Torres Torr I Valdes ald You know th the rest reat host ho I wr s II b Rafael Mesa rho cho until t 1 brace you It soldier WI wit kill hn hue hi In command Jose imer III I the he lout to When th the Fr uI hman beheld It I Ito d ose Which h he be could not lIot have I I fort farce of arom rm he quiet I ly remark I There Iii are t few forts forte it Ie that a laden with gold taw can cannot not Dot pt get In Il D B WARD WAnD |
