1364. In 1762
a fire did considerable damage, which was not repaired till 1805. The
inscriptions are of no great historical interest. "Wa la ghalib ila
Allah"--"there is none victorious but God"--abounds here, as at
the Alhambra, and there are some very neat specimens of the Kufic
character.

Of Moorish Seville, apart from the Giralda and the Palace--El Kasar,
corrupted into Alcazar--the only remains of importance are the Torre
del Oro--Borj ed-Daheb--built in 1220 at the riverside, close to where
the Moors had their bridge of boats, and the towers of the churches
of SS. Marcos and Marina. Others there are, built in imitation of the
older erections, often by Moorish architects, as those of the churches
of Omnium Sanctorum, San Nicolas, Ermita de la Virgen, and Santa
Catalina. Many private houses contain arches, pillars, and other
portions of Moorish buildings which have preceded them, such as are
also to be found in almost every town of southern Spain. As late as
1565 the town had thirteen gates more or less of Moorish origin, but
these have all long since disappeared.

Seville was one of the first cities to surrender to the Moors after
the battle of Guadalete, A.D. 711, and remained in their hands till
taken by St. Ferdinand after fifteen months' siege in 1248, six years
after its inhabitants had thrown off their allegiance to the Emperor
of Morocco, and formed themselves into a sort of republic, and ten
years after the Moorish Kingdom of Granada was founded. It then became
the capital of Spain till Charles V. removed the Court to Valladolid.

IV. GRANADA

"O Palace Red! From distant lands I have come to see thee, believing
thee to be a garden in spring, but I have found thee as a tree in
autumn. I thought to see thee with my heart full of joy, but instead
my eyes have filled with tears."

So wrote in the visitors' album of the Alhambra, in 1876, an Arab poet
in his native tongue, and another inscription in the same volume,
written by a Moor some years before, remarks, "Peace be on thee, O
Granada! We have seen thee and admired thee, and have said, 'Praised
be he who constructed thee, and may they who destroyed thee receive
mercy.'"

As the sentiments of members of the race of its builders, these
expressions are especially interesting; but they can hardly fail to
be shared to some extent by visitors from eastern lands, of whatever
nationality. Although the loveliest monument of Moorish art in Spain,
and a