cut in relief on the facade; here already the mixture of both
styles, of the round-arched Romanesque and the pointed Gothic, is
clearly visible--as it is also in the windows of the aisles, which are
Romanesque, and of the nave, which are ogival--in the buttresses, which
are leaning on the lower body, and flying in the upper story, uniting
the exterior of the clerestory with that of the aisles. (Compare with
apse of the cathedral of Lugo.)

The portal of the southern arm of the transept is an ugly addition, more
modern and completely out of harmony with the rest. The rosace above the
door is one of the handsomest of the Transition period in Spain, and the
stained glass is both rich and mellow.

The interior shows the same harmonious mixture of the stronger and more
solemn old style, and the graceful lightness of the newer. But the
hesitancy in the mind of the architect is also evident, especially in
the vaulting, which is timidly arched.

The original plan of the church was, doubtless, purely Romanesque: Roman
cruciform with a three-lobed apse, the central one much longer so as to
contain the high altar.

In the sixteenth century, however, an ambulatory was constructed behind
the high altar, joining the two aisles, and the high altar was removed
to the east of the transept.

What a pity that the huge choir, placed in the centre of the church,
should so completely obstruct the view of the ensemble of the nave and
aisles, separated by massive Byzantine arches between the solid pillars,
which, in their turn, support the nascent ogival vaulting of the high
nave! Were it, as well as the grotesque _trascoro_--of the unhappiest
artistic taste--anywhere but in the centre of the church, what a
splendid view would be obtained of the long, narrow, and high aisles and
nave in which the old and the new were moulded together in perfect
harmony, instead of fighting each other and clashing together, as
happened in so many Spanish cathedral churches!

One of the most richly decorated parts of the church is the sacristy, a
small room entirely covered with medallions and sculptural designs of
the greatest variety of subjects. Though of Arabian taste (_Mudejar_),
no Moorish elements have entered into the composition, and consequently
it is one of the very finest, if not the very best specimen, of
Christian Arab decoration.

VI

CUENCA

To the east of Toledo, and to the north of the plains of La Mancha,
Cuenca sits on it