Show gem of sunny spain 3 special correspondence seville one of the ancient capital cities of spain the seat successively of phoenician roman gothic moor ish and spanish rulers is one of the most charming of places for the idler who wishes to see spanish life at its best its climate is warm and delightful flowers bloom in its gardens almost the ear round the oranges ft se ville are esteemed as among the finest produced in the old world its people are hospitable sampat ico as the spanish call any one tak ing a 1 andly interest in another indo lent and gay they enjoy life as only a southern spaniard can taking profound pleasure in sociability in sing ing their national songs in playing the guitar and in dancing they are as care free as any people one may meet in spain and though the life ot their city has not the bubbling ex ube rance of that in southern italy it is bright enough to win for seville the character of a joyous place the spanish have a proverb that he who has seen seville has seen a marvel they are proud of the city of its antiquity the character of its people and the beauty of its daughters the houses of seville are very old some of them dating from the moor ish period it Is a place of quaint doorways odd windows charming and other characteristic archi textural tec tural features of southern spain it Is the home of the cloaked gallant singing a serenade at his lady s bal cony to the accompaniment of his guitar or standing in the shadow by her barred window whispering sweet nothings in her ear it Is the custom of seville to have courting conduct ed thus and lovers are called eaters of iron home of the bullfight to the casual traveler seville pre gents besides the charm of its life some attractions of more than ardi nary interest it Is the home of the bullfight and holds the finest fights in the country except possibly those at madrid which are under the pa of royalty it is also to go to the other extreme of the list famous as the birthplace and home of the great painter murillo its public buildings are beautiful and their traditions go back to the days of julius caesar a residence in the city which he ruled tor rome seville like most spanish cities has one distinguishing object of more interest than all others it Is the 01 ralda tower one of the finest in the world whose beautiful proportions rise grandly above the city s roofs the tower was erected in 1196 and was consecrated by the moors to use as a muezzin tower from which the faith tul were called to prayer in the ad joining mosque when driven out ot seville in 1238 the followers of ma hornet wished to destroy this tower rather than have it fall into the hands of christians their purpose was happily thwarted and one of the most striking architectural features of spain preserved it was not am proved however by being incorporate ed into the cathedral or by the bel try added to it the original tower was feet high it Is 50 feet square at the base the material Is stone for the lower 87 feet and above that brick relieved by tracery and ara basques bes ques the color of the tower Is pink it contains no staircase the ascent to the top being made up in dined planes thirty five in number up which one might easily ride to the top on horseback ornaments of the tower in the days of the moors there orna dented the top of the tower four brazen balls cast by a celebrated al chemist a native of sicily to the or der of the moorish rulers they were so large that the keystone of the arch in the entrance had to be re moved to get them in the iron bar which supported them weighed half a ton this strange ornament Is said to have cost it was thrown from the tower by an earth roofs its white walls and its beautiful gardens the river the rich country down the valley and the hills rising in amethyst ranges east ward toward the heart of andalecia andalucia And alucia the giralda tower has a counter part in the tower of madison square garden in new york which while not an exact copy Is in the same style the cathedral of seville though very large would not be notable ar without its famous gi ralda tower the chief objects of in terest in it for the ordinary traveler are several superb paintings by mu rillo and the tomb of christopher co lumbus on fernando in a room in the ancient mosque near by a part matadors of which only has been preserved Is the library of fernando containing many of bis father s books famous golden tower quake in 1395 years after the moors were driven from seville and was never replaced there are now in the tower of the garalda a chime of sweet bells awen ty two in number which ring every afternoon at 3 clock the largest Is called santa maria and weighs eighteen tons the clock in the tower replaced one that was the first ever set up in spain installed in 1400 A D the figure crowning the tower Is of bronze and Is known as el gira dillo the tower takes its name from this figure which Is a weather vane revolving in the wind the spanish word to turn being girar the figure weighs 2 pounds and Is four een feet high it was cast in 1568 superb view of the city A superb view may be obtained from the belfry of the giralda tower embracing the city with its red tiled |