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SEVILLE 25
corners of the earth to La Feria—the Easter Fair—
and the great festivals of the Resurrection, which are
considered the most magnificent bullfights in the world,
lean far out of the windows of their railway compart-
ments and shout their joy on beholding the shining tip
of the tower in the distance.
La Giralda is 350 feet high. A bright beacon of
joy, it sends its light afar, a message to the traveler.
At my foot lies a cliff on which it means happiness to
be shipwrecked at least once.
La Giralda means “‘the weathercock,” “the weather-
vane.” At the very top of the spire stands a bronze
figure—a woman! She is fourteen feet high, weighs
three thousand pounds, and represents Faith—and she
turns at the slightest wind!
What a symbol of the city at her feet!
Seville has a dazzling history and—like that of al-
most all the other cities of southern Europe—the tale
goes far back into antiquity.
From the beginning of history, this city has sparkled
in joyous sunlight, always festively clad, always cele-
brating and celebrated, always under the protecting
wing of the mighty Sun-god and the beautiful Goddess
of Love. Each year, as the sun reached the zenith of
his course, the image of the Goddess of Love was
borne through the streets of the city by the most dis-
tinguished beauties. Young girls who did not make
sacrifice without reserve to the goddess were sen-
tenced to death, but legend tells of only two such re-
calcitrants in all the periods of history—the sisters
Justa and Rufina. After a time, the gay population
transformed the two chaste sisters into saints. To this
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