Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/152

136 The Alhóndiga de Granaditas, as famous in the history of Mexico as is the Bastile in that of France, had been erected by Riaño for the purpose of storing in it a quantity of corn sufficient for one year's consumption as a provision against failure of the crop. During such periods of scarcity not only did the lower orders suffer, but the mining industry was seriously interrupted through want of food for the mule-trails employed at the mines. The building was begun in January 1798, and finished in August 1809. It is a massive oblong two-story structure, 80 by 54 varas, and cost $218,263. The exterior is void of ornament, and its lofty solid walls pierced by windows opening into the numerous store-rooms give to it quite a formidable appearance. In the interior a portico of two stories surrounds the spacious patio, or open court, the lower columns being of Tuscan architecture, and the upper ones, between which a balustrade of stone extends, of Doric. Two magnificent flights of stairs connect the stories, which consist of independent store rooms.

On the northern side is the principal gateway, and another opens at the eastern end of the building, adorned with two columns and a Tuscan entablature. It stands at the south-western entrance of the city, on a rising ground which terminates the height called the cerro del Cuarto by which it is dominated. Stored