The province of Murcia, the only genuine palm-growing country in Europe, has a truly Afican climate. In the town of Murcia the annual mean temperature is 63, while the summer heat rises to 113. The air here is of astonishing dryness (mean annual humidity 60 percent), and the winter sky is noted for its unclouded blue.
The kingdom of Murcia (el Reino de Murcia) possesses only one important river, the Segura, which, with its large tributary the Mundo, descends from the Sierra de Alcaraz (5910 ft.), the Calar del Mundo, and the Sagra Sierra (7875 ft.) The ‘reino serenisimo’, the brightest but at the same time one of the hottest regions in Europe, owes the scantiness of its water-supply to its situation in the S.E. comer of the Iberian peninsula, where it is swept, not like the neighbouríng Audalusia, by the moist W. wind from the Atlantic, but by the parching breath of the Sahara, scarcely alleviated by its short passage over the Mediterranean. The Lebeche, a S. wind resembling the Scirocco, sometimes covers the entire vegetable world with a thick cost of dust within a few minutes. Men and animals overtaken by it sink exhausted to the ground. The Calina, a kind of heat-haze, gradually steals over the whole face of the heavens. Towards the middle of July the horizon is girdled wit.h a narrow strip of a bluish-red or brownish colour, which waxes as the heat increases. In August the upper part of the ?rmament also assumes a leaden-gray hue, across which the light of the stars glimmers feebly. The rising sun and moon shine red through this haze; mountains, trees, and buildings loom through it like spectres. Not till towards the close of September does the calina disappear. The abnormal climate (comp. also p. 316) explains the other remarkable phenomena of this strange land. Among these are the tree-less mountains; the sudden avenidas (p. 280) or ?oods, occasioned by heavy falls of rain at the sources of the rivers; and the extensive despoblados, or deserts of hill, moor, and salt-marsh, where nothing grows except esparto grass and saltwort. The few evergreen plants are used by the inhabítants as fuel, the only alternative being the dried dung of the domestic animals. The bulk of the country is occupied by the despoblados. Along with them may be mentioned the so-called Secanos, or ‘dry lands’, where the want of rain in March, the ‘key of the year’, often destroys the entire harvest. The February rains are too early; those of April ?nd the sprouting grain already dried up and the vines scorched. The whole agricultural wealth of the country is concentrated in the Tierras de Regadía, or irrigated districts. While the plateau of Albacete produces little but grain, wine, and olives, the beautiful huertas of Murcia, Totana, and Lorca are clothed with forests of orange-trees, lemon-trees, and date-palms. The valley of the Segura is also the chief centre for the culture of ?owers and vegetables. Equally important sources of wealth are mining and the making of salt and soda (from the Halogeton sativus). The almost inexhaustible stores of lead and silver were exploited from a very early period by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Romans, and at a later date, by the Moors. Resembling N. Africa in climate, vegetation, and the general conditions of existence, Murcia has been from time immemorial a favourite goal of Oriental immigration; and its present population, in spite of the expulsion of the Moriscoes, still bears a thoroughly African stamp. Murcia is the Spanish Boeotia and lags behind the other provinces of the peninsula. Hence its neighbours say of it that Adam, on his return to earth, found here his old home in unchanged condition, and that while the sky and the soil are good, all that lies between is evil (el cielo y suelo es bueno, el entresuelo malo).
Murcia (140 ft.), the Medinat Mursiya of the Moors, is the capital of the former kingdom and the present province of the same name, and has been the seat of a bishop since 1291. Pop. 31,892. It lies on both banks of the Segura (the Tader of the ancients and the Skehûra of the Moors), which separates the old town, on the left, from the newer quarters, with their wide tree-shaded streets, on the right. The environs of Murcia surpass in fertilíty both the Vega of Granada and the Huerta of Valencia; but the mountains, which rise on all sides, are bare and barren. The Montaña. de Fuensanta (p. 317) is a beautiful feature in the view to the S. The climate of Murcia (comp. p. 281) is liable to great variation. The summer is extremely warm (maximum 120° Fahr.) and in winter ten degrees of frost are by no means unheard of. Young plants are often injured by the cold N. wind on the nights of March. The elms, planes, mulberries, and ?g-trees seldom put forth their leaves before the second half of March. The city is unknown to history before its foundation by the Moors. After the fall of the caliphabe of Cordova it belonged in turn to Almeria, Toledo, and Sevilla. In 1172 it fell into the hands of the Almohades (p. 369), and from 1224 to 1243 it formed an independent Moorish kingdom under ‘Abdullah el-‘Adil. In the latter year it was taken by Ferdinand III of Castíle. Numerous Catalan, Aragonese, and French families then took up their abode here, and their names are still preserved. In the War of the Spanish Succession Bishop Luís de Belluga successfully defended the town against the troops of the Archduke of Austria by placing the huerta under water. From the Railway Station the Paseo del Marqués de Corbera (Pl. D, 4-6) leads to the Jardín de Floridablanca (Pl. D, 3, 4), with a monument to Jos. Moñino, Conde de ?oridablama (1729-1808), the minister of Charles III. The Paseo here joins the other main thoroughfares, and is continued by the Calle del Puente to the hand-some stone Bridge, which crosses the Segura to the old town.
The large sunny square to the N. of the bridge ls the Arenal or Plaza de la Constitución, enlivened on Wed. and Sat. by peasants in their gay costumes engaged in marketing. On its E. side is the Paseo de la Glorieta, a pleasant promenade, affording ?ne views of the imposing S. façades of the Casas Consistoriales and the Palacio Episcopal. On the N. the last faces the Plaza del Cardinal Belluga, in which rises also the Cathedral. The Cathedral (Santa María), a Gothic building founded by Bishop Peñaranda in 1358, on the site of a mosque, was partly modernized in 1521. The effective baroque Façade was erected in the 15th cent. by Jaime Bort. The North Tower is the only one completed. The Portada de Los Apóstoles is late-Gothic; the Portada de las Lagrimas is attributed to Berruguete.
Interior. The aislee on both sides are ?anked hy series of chapels, the transept is short, and an ambulatory encircles the Capilla Mayor. The Coro, projecting into the nave, has stalls of the 18th cent., brought hither from another church. Above the trascoro is the large organ. — The Chapels possess many features of interest. In the 4th Chapel of the right aisle is a fine relief of the Nativity (known as ‘The Shepherds‘) by an unknown master of the Renaissance. In the Capilla del Sagrario is a Marriage of the Virgin by Vicente Joanes Macip (1516). In the Capilla de San José is a picture of St. Luke painting the Madonna, a fine copy of the work ascrihed to Raphael at the Academy of St. Luke in Rome, and in the Capilla del Marqués de los Vélez is a statue of St. Jerome, by Franc. Zarcillo. The Capilla del Marqués Noveldes, richly decorated in the Gothic style, is modern except its lower portion. — The Capilla mayor is adorned with numerous statues of kings and saints. A casket in a Renaissance niche to the left contains the heart and viscera of Alfonso the Learned. To the right are the remains of St. Fulgentius and St. Florentina. The High Altar has a modern gilded retablo, with a painting of Christ elevating the Host, after the freqnently recurring type of Macip. — The Sacristía Mayor, with its beautiful Renaissance portal, contains some ?ne wood-carvings by Berruguete and a custodia by Pérez de Montalbo (1677).
The Tower (310 ft. high) of the cathedral was completed by Card. Mateo de Langa (Matthias Lang, a German) in 1521, and shows the hands of various architects: Berruguete, Herrera, Montañés, and Ventura Rodríguez. It consists of several sections, diminishíng in size as they ascend. The lowest story is richly decorated in the plateresque style.
Entering by the door adjoining the N. transept, we ascend at ?rst by 18 inclined planes and then by 44 tall steps to the clock. whence an easy spiral staircase ascends to the upper story (fee to the ‘Campanero‘, 20-25 c.). The View embraces the town und the valley of the Segura and that of the Sangonera up to Lorca; to the S., the Montaña de la Fuensanta; to the E., the cemetery and Monte Agudo. To the N.W. is the Hieronymite convent, and to the N. the plateau rises gradually to the mountains. From the Cathedral the Calle del Príncipe Alfonso, the chief business-street of Murcia (no wheeled traffic), containing many interesting balconied houses and the sumptuous Casino, leads to the N. to the spacious Plaza dc Santo Domingo, which is planted with trees. About halfway the Platería, a street so narrow that carriages are cxcluded from it, diverges to the left. In summer it is protected against the sun by movable awnings (toldos). The celebrated mantas of Murcia and articles of gold and silver may be purchased at numerous shops in this street. — 'l‘o the S.W. the Platería ends at the Plaza de Monasot, on the E. side of which stands the old church of Santa Catalina, containing some ?ne tombs. On the S. side is the Contraste, the old assay-of?ce for weights and measures, now containing a small Museo Provincial, with pictures by Ribera, Orrente, Bassano, and others. Several other churches in Murcia may be mentioned. San Juan contains two busts of John the Baptist, by Franc. Zarcillo. -— In the church of San Nicolas are a coloured group of St. Joseph and the Holy Child by Mala (side-chapel of the N. transept) and a coloured statuette of St. Anthony, in the dress of the Capuchins, by Alonso Cano; on the altar of the left transept.
— San Miguel possesses a remarkable retablo by F. Zarcillo. — The Ermita de Jesus, a round edifice beside the church of San Andres, contains a unique series of Pasos, or processional ?gures, by Francisco Zarcillo, including the Last Supper, the Agony ln the Garden, the Kiss of Judas, and Christ on the way to Golgotha; apply to the majordomo.
We follow the river to the W. of the Arenal and ?nally ascend a ?ight of ?ve stone steps to the Paseo del Malecón, the ?nest, though shadeless, promenade of Murcia. This. commanding a ?ne view, runs along the quay or river-embankment (‘malecón’), which protects various groves of orangcs and palms from inundations.
Excursiones. The convent of San Jerónimo, about 3 M. to the W., contains an admirable work by Fr. Zarcillo, representing St. Jerome with the cruci?x and skull.
— The convent of Fuensanta, with its spring, is situated to the S., halfway up the mountain of its own name. It may be reached by carriage in 3/4 hr., but the road is rather rough.
— A drive to the Monte Agudo affords an excellent survey of the luxuriant vegetation of the huerta.
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The kingdom of Murcia (el Reino de Murcia) possesses only one important river, the Segura, which, with its large tributary the Mundo, descends from the Sierra de Alcaraz (5910 ft.), the Calar del Mundo, and the Sagra Sierra (7875 ft.) The ‘reino serenisimo’, the brightest but at the same time one of the hottest regions in Europe, owes the scantiness of its water-supply to its situation in the S.E. comer of the Iberian peninsula, where it is swept, not like the neighbouríng Audalusia, by the moist W. wind from the Atlantic, but by the parching breath of the Sahara, scarcely alleviated by its short passage over the Mediterranean. The Lebeche, a S. wind resembling the Scirocco, sometimes covers the entire vegetable world with a thick cost of dust within a few minutes. Men and animals overtaken by it sink exhausted to the ground. The Calina, a kind of heat-haze, gradually steals over the whole face of the heavens. Towards the middle of July the horizon is girdled wit.h a narrow strip of a bluish-red or brownish colour, which waxes as the heat increases. In August the upper part of the ?rmament also assumes a leaden-gray hue, across which the light of the stars glimmers feebly. The rising sun and moon shine red through this haze; mountains, trees, and buildings loom through it like spectres. Not till towards the close of September does the calina disappear. The abnormal climate (comp. also p. 316) explains the other remarkable phenomena of this strange land. Among these are the tree-less mountains; the sudden avenidas (p. 280) or ?oods, occasioned by heavy falls of rain at the sources of the rivers; and the extensive despoblados, or deserts of hill, moor, and salt-marsh, where nothing grows except esparto grass and saltwort. The few evergreen plants are used by the inhabítants as fuel, the only alternative being the dried dung of the domestic animals. The bulk of the country is occupied by the despoblados. Along with them may be mentioned the so-called Secanos, or ‘dry lands’, where the want of rain in March, the ‘key of the year’, often destroys the entire harvest. The February rains are too early; those of April ?nd the sprouting grain already dried up and the vines scorched. The whole agricultural wealth of the country is concentrated in the Tierras de Regadía, or irrigated districts. While the plateau of Albacete produces little but grain, wine, and olives, the beautiful huertas of Murcia, Totana, and Lorca are clothed with forests of orange-trees, lemon-trees, and date-palms. The valley of the Segura is also the chief centre for the culture of ?owers and vegetables. Equally important sources of wealth are mining and the making of salt and soda (from the Halogeton sativus). The almost inexhaustible stores of lead and silver were exploited from a very early period by the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Romans, and at a later date, by the Moors. Resembling N. Africa in climate, vegetation, and the general conditions of existence, Murcia has been from time immemorial a favourite goal of Oriental immigration; and its present population, in spite of the expulsion of the Moriscoes, still bears a thoroughly African stamp. Murcia is the Spanish Boeotia and lags behind the other provinces of the peninsula. Hence its neighbours say of it that Adam, on his return to earth, found here his old home in unchanged condition, and that while the sky and the soil are good, all that lies between is evil (el cielo y suelo es bueno, el entresuelo malo).
Murcia (140 ft.), the Medinat Mursiya of the Moors, is the capital of the former kingdom and the present province of the same name, and has been the seat of a bishop since 1291. Pop. 31,892. It lies on both banks of the Segura (the Tader of the ancients and the Skehûra of the Moors), which separates the old town, on the left, from the newer quarters, with their wide tree-shaded streets, on the right. The environs of Murcia surpass in fertilíty both the Vega of Granada and the Huerta of Valencia; but the mountains, which rise on all sides, are bare and barren. The Montaña. de Fuensanta (p. 317) is a beautiful feature in the view to the S. The climate of Murcia (comp. p. 281) is liable to great variation. The summer is extremely warm (maximum 120° Fahr.) and in winter ten degrees of frost are by no means unheard of. Young plants are often injured by the cold N. wind on the nights of March. The elms, planes, mulberries, and ?g-trees seldom put forth their leaves before the second half of March. The city is unknown to history before its foundation by the Moors. After the fall of the caliphabe of Cordova it belonged in turn to Almeria, Toledo, and Sevilla. In 1172 it fell into the hands of the Almohades (p. 369), and from 1224 to 1243 it formed an independent Moorish kingdom under ‘Abdullah el-‘Adil. In the latter year it was taken by Ferdinand III of Castíle. Numerous Catalan, Aragonese, and French families then took up their abode here, and their names are still preserved. In the War of the Spanish Succession Bishop Luís de Belluga successfully defended the town against the troops of the Archduke of Austria by placing the huerta under water. From the Railway Station the Paseo del Marqués de Corbera (Pl. D, 4-6) leads to the Jardín de Floridablanca (Pl. D, 3, 4), with a monument to Jos. Moñino, Conde de ?oridablama (1729-1808), the minister of Charles III. The Paseo here joins the other main thoroughfares, and is continued by the Calle del Puente to the hand-some stone Bridge, which crosses the Segura to the old town.
The large sunny square to the N. of the bridge ls the Arenal or Plaza de la Constitución, enlivened on Wed. and Sat. by peasants in their gay costumes engaged in marketing. On its E. side is the Paseo de la Glorieta, a pleasant promenade, affording ?ne views of the imposing S. façades of the Casas Consistoriales and the Palacio Episcopal. On the N. the last faces the Plaza del Cardinal Belluga, in which rises also the Cathedral. The Cathedral (Santa María), a Gothic building founded by Bishop Peñaranda in 1358, on the site of a mosque, was partly modernized in 1521. The effective baroque Façade was erected in the 15th cent. by Jaime Bort. The North Tower is the only one completed. The Portada de Los Apóstoles is late-Gothic; the Portada de las Lagrimas is attributed to Berruguete.
Interior. The aislee on both sides are ?anked hy series of chapels, the transept is short, and an ambulatory encircles the Capilla Mayor. The Coro, projecting into the nave, has stalls of the 18th cent., brought hither from another church. Above the trascoro is the large organ. — The Chapels possess many features of interest. In the 4th Chapel of the right aisle is a fine relief of the Nativity (known as ‘The Shepherds‘) by an unknown master of the Renaissance. In the Capilla del Sagrario is a Marriage of the Virgin by Vicente Joanes Macip (1516). In the Capilla de San José is a picture of St. Luke painting the Madonna, a fine copy of the work ascrihed to Raphael at the Academy of St. Luke in Rome, and in the Capilla del Marqués de los Vélez is a statue of St. Jerome, by Franc. Zarcillo. The Capilla del Marqués Noveldes, richly decorated in the Gothic style, is modern except its lower portion. — The Capilla mayor is adorned with numerous statues of kings and saints. A casket in a Renaissance niche to the left contains the heart and viscera of Alfonso the Learned. To the right are the remains of St. Fulgentius and St. Florentina. The High Altar has a modern gilded retablo, with a painting of Christ elevating the Host, after the freqnently recurring type of Macip. — The Sacristía Mayor, with its beautiful Renaissance portal, contains some ?ne wood-carvings by Berruguete and a custodia by Pérez de Montalbo (1677).
The Tower (310 ft. high) of the cathedral was completed by Card. Mateo de Langa (Matthias Lang, a German) in 1521, and shows the hands of various architects: Berruguete, Herrera, Montañés, and Ventura Rodríguez. It consists of several sections, diminishíng in size as they ascend. The lowest story is richly decorated in the plateresque style.
Entering by the door adjoining the N. transept, we ascend at ?rst by 18 inclined planes and then by 44 tall steps to the clock. whence an easy spiral staircase ascends to the upper story (fee to the ‘Campanero‘, 20-25 c.). The View embraces the town und the valley of the Segura and that of the Sangonera up to Lorca; to the S., the Montaña de la Fuensanta; to the E., the cemetery and Monte Agudo. To the N.W. is the Hieronymite convent, and to the N. the plateau rises gradually to the mountains. From the Cathedral the Calle del Príncipe Alfonso, the chief business-street of Murcia (no wheeled traffic), containing many interesting balconied houses and the sumptuous Casino, leads to the N. to the spacious Plaza dc Santo Domingo, which is planted with trees. About halfway the Platería, a street so narrow that carriages are cxcluded from it, diverges to the left. In summer it is protected against the sun by movable awnings (toldos). The celebrated mantas of Murcia and articles of gold and silver may be purchased at numerous shops in this street. — 'l‘o the S.W. the Platería ends at the Plaza de Monasot, on the E. side of which stands the old church of Santa Catalina, containing some ?ne tombs. On the S. side is the Contraste, the old assay-of?ce for weights and measures, now containing a small Museo Provincial, with pictures by Ribera, Orrente, Bassano, and others. Several other churches in Murcia may be mentioned. San Juan contains two busts of John the Baptist, by Franc. Zarcillo. -— In the church of San Nicolas are a coloured group of St. Joseph and the Holy Child by Mala (side-chapel of the N. transept) and a coloured statuette of St. Anthony, in the dress of the Capuchins, by Alonso Cano; on the altar of the left transept.
— San Miguel possesses a remarkable retablo by F. Zarcillo. — The Ermita de Jesus, a round edifice beside the church of San Andres, contains a unique series of Pasos, or processional ?gures, by Francisco Zarcillo, including the Last Supper, the Agony ln the Garden, the Kiss of Judas, and Christ on the way to Golgotha; apply to the majordomo.
We follow the river to the W. of the Arenal and ?nally ascend a ?ight of ?ve stone steps to the Paseo del Malecón, the ?nest, though shadeless, promenade of Murcia. This. commanding a ?ne view, runs along the quay or river-embankment (‘malecón’), which protects various groves of orangcs and palms from inundations.
Excursiones. The convent of San Jerónimo, about 3 M. to the W., contains an admirable work by Fr. Zarcillo, representing St. Jerome with the cruci?x and skull.
— The convent of Fuensanta, with its spring, is situated to the S., halfway up the mountain of its own name. It may be reached by carriage in 3/4 hr., but the road is rather rough.
— A drive to the Monte Agudo affords an excellent survey of the luxuriant vegetation of the huerta.
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