Bk. VII. Ch. III. CASTLES. 287 it so peculiar and local an aspect.' It also possesses the advantage — rare in Spanish castles — of standing on the edge of a tall rock, to Avhich it has been fitted with almost Oriental taste. Another favorable specimen is the now ruined castle of Cocos. Its tall towers and clustering turrets still attest its former magni- ficence, and point to a local style of defensive architecture differing from that of any other part of Europe, but even more picturesque than the best examples of either France or England. The castle at Olite is still more local in its style. Many other examples might be quoted ; but they hardly belong to the fine-art branch of Architecture, and thus scarcely come within the scope of this work, though a monograph of the military architecture of Spain during the Middle Ages would be almost as interesting as that of her ecclesiastical remains. 1 These were destroyed by a fire which occurred some fourteen years ago.
