ine aisles--each row supporting a tier of open Moorish arches of
the same height (12 ft.) with a third and similar tier superimposed upon
the second. The full height of the ceiling is thus about 35 ft. The
Moorish character of the building was unfortunately impaired in the 16th
century by the formation in the interior of a _crucero_, or high altar
and cruciform choir, by the addition of numerous chapels along the sides
of the vast quadrangle, and by the erection of a belfry 300 ft. high in
room of the old minaret. The _crucero_ in itself is no disgrace to the
architect Hernan Ruiz, but every lover of art must sympathize with the
rebuke administered by the emperor Charles V. (1500-1558) to the
cathedral authorities: "You have built here what could have been built
as well anywhere else; and you have destroyed what was unique in the
world." Magnificent, indeed, as the cathedral still is, it is almost
impossible to realize what the mosque must have been when the
worshippers thronged through its nineteen gateways of bronze, and its
4700 lamps, fed with perfumed oil, illuminated its brilliant aisles. Of
the exquisite elaboration bestowed on the more sacred portions abundant
proof is afforded by the third _Mihrab_, or prayer-recess, a small
10th-century chapel, heptagonal in shape, roofed with a single
shell-like block of snow-white marble, and inlaid with Byzantine mosaics
of glass and gold.

Cordova was celebrated in the time of the Moors for its silversmiths,
who are said to have come originally from Damascus; and it exported a
peculiar kind of leather which took its name from the city, whence is
derived the word _cordwainer_. Fine silver filigree ornaments are still
produced; and Moorish work in leather is often skilfully imitated,
although this handicraft almost disappeared in the 15th century. The
chief modern industries of Cordova are distillation of spirits and the
manufacture of woollen, linen and silken goods.

Corduba, probably of Carthaginian origin, was occupied by the Romans
under Marcus Marcellus in 152 B.C.. and shortly afterwards became the
first Roman _colonia_ in Spain. From the large number of men of noble
rank among the colonists, the city obtained the title of _Patricia_; and
to this day the Cordovese pride themselves on the purity and antiquity
of their descent. In the 1st century B.C. Cordova aided the sons of
Pompey against Caesar; but after the battle of Munda, in 45 B.C., it
fell into the hands of C