Page:Lisbon and Cintra, Inchbold, 1907.djvu/54

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Lisbon and Cintra

on horseback, and personated for the day by a man robust enough and willing to bear the heavy armour in the blazing sun, for a gratuity of forty-eight milreis. The standard of the Saint was borne before him by another rider. The King himself with other members of the royal household in gala coaches, court functionaries, and superior officers all took part in the procession. Everyone was bare-headed except the prelates who wore their cardinals' hats, purple stockings and shoes, and sumptuous mantles with their trains carried by sons and members of noble families. When the canopy, beneath which walked the Patriarch carrying the Host, approached, the troops all uncovered and knelt, the multitudes of spectators all prostrated themselves, the artillery of the Castello of St George thundered forth a royal salute.

The north gate of the Castello opens into the road circling the upper slope of the hill to the top of the Calçada of S. André. Spanning the street is a plain, deep arch of great antiquity; it is one of the gateways of the old city ramparts dating from the time of D. Fernando, and resisting a rigorous siege in the reign of D. João I. Alfama, the name given to the streets through which we passed on the south and west of the hill, and Mouraria the district on the north side, were both scarcely disturbed by the earthquake, and still show in many places an antique corner, an old arco (arch), old palace, or ancient quadrant, survivals of Joãonine, or Fernindine architecture. Both of these old quarters contain historical records which those who desire to imitate other great cities in the preservation of ancient buildings are trying to rescue from the zeal of another party whose one idea of the embellishment of Lisbon consists in pulling down all that is old. The intense interest demonstrated by recent royal visitors in the types of ancient architecture

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