Page:A History of Architecture in All Countries Vol 2.djvu/279

Rh shell to contain it ; but to put such an arrangement into a French church was a mistake that nothing could redeem. Even the elaborate richness of the exterior of the choir at Toledo fails to reconcile us to it, though it is perhaps the richest specimen of its class in Europe, and betraying in certain parts of its ornamentation the influence of Moorish taste, which still lingered in the soil in spite of persecution and every attempt to eradicate it.

The external appearance of this church is very much less beautiful than that of the interior. It is, however, so encumbered that a good view of it can hardly be obtained, and what is seen has been so much altered as to have lost its original character. The northwestern tower of the facade is fine, though late (1428-1479) and hardly worthy of so grand a building. Its companion was terminated with an Italian dome in the last century, and both in height and design is quite incongruous with the rest. If at Toledo we find a noble interior encased in an indifferent husk, the contrary is the case at Burgos. Although very much smaller,