Note 233 — Chapter XI · TOLEDO.

The account given by Blas Ortiz (who wrote his description of the cathedral in the time of Philip II.) ought to be given here, because it seems to show that in his time the roofs were not entirely covered with stone, but, as at present, with tile roofs in some parts above the stone. “Ecclesiæ testudines,” he says, “candidæ sunt, muniunt eas, et ab imbribus aliisque incommodis protegunt tabulata magna (sive contiguationes) artificiose composita, fulcris statura hominis altioribus suffulta, tectaque partim tegulis, partim lateribus ac planis lapidibus. Turriculæ lapideæ in modum pyramidum erectæ, e singulis (inquam) pilis per totum ædificium exeunt, quæ sacram Basilicam extrinsecus pulcherrimam faciunt.”—Descrip. Temp. Toletani, cap. xxi.