present state of the building of San Isidoro is ruinous, thanks to a
stroke of lightning in 1811, and to the harsh treatment bestowed upon
the building by Napoleon's soldiers during the War for Independence
(1808).

Seen from the outside, the edifice is as uninteresting as possible; the
lower part is constructed in the early Latin Romanesque style; the
upper, of a posterior construction, shows a decided tendency to early
Gothic.

The apse was originally three-lobed, composed of three identical chapels
corresponding to the nave and aisles; in the sixteenth century the
central lobe was prolonged and squared off; the same century saw the
erection of the statue of San Isidoro in the southern front, which
spoiled the otherwise excellently simple Romanesque portal.

In the interior of the ruin--for such it is to-day--the only peculiarity
to be noted is the use of the horseshoe arches in the arcades which
separate the aisles from the nave, as well as the Arab dentated arches
of the transept. It is the first case on record where, in a Christian
temple of the importance of San Isidoro, Arab or pagan architectural
elements were made use of in the decoration; that is to say, after the
invasion, for previous examples were known, having most likely
penetrated into the country by means of Byzantine workmen in the fifth
and sixth centuries. (In San Juan de Banos.)

[Illustration: APSE OF SAN ISIDORO, LEON]

Instead of being lined with chapels the aisles are covered with mural
paintings. These frescoes are of great archaeological value on account of
their great age and the evident Byzantine influence which characterizes
them; artistically they are unimportant.

The chief attraction of the building is the pantheon, a low, square
chapel of six arches, supported in the centre by two gigantic pillars
which are crowned by huge cylindrical capitals. Nothing more depressing
or gloomy can be seen in the peninsula excepting the pantheon in the
Escorial; it is doubtful which of the two is more melancholy. The pure
Oriental origin (almost Indian!) of this pantheon is unmistakable and
highly interesting.

The fresco paintings which cover the ceiling and the massive ribs of the
vaulting are equally morbid, representing hell-scenes from the
Apocalypse, the massacre of the babes, etc.

Only one or two of the Romanesque marble tombs which lined the walls
are remaining to-day; the others were used by the French soldiers as
drinking-troughs fo