Selected quad for the lemma: city_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
city_n	call_v	place_n	river_n	5,315	4	7.0907	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A26294	The revengeful mistress being an amorous adventure of an English gentleman in Spain : in which are also contain'd three other novels, viz. The wrong'd innocence clear'd, The generous imposter, and The unfortunate collonel / writ. by Ph. Ayres.	Ayres, Philip, 1638-1712.	1696 (1696)	Wing A4313; ESTC R235117	68,609	211

speak of the immense Riches in Plate and Jewels there shewn in several places or the Robes of the Churchmen Relicks of Saints Pieces of Antiquity and other Curiosities I shall therefore only add this seeming incredible thing of this vast Fabrick that the Spaniards affirm it to be no less than thirty three Leagues which is near a hundred Miles as say they it has been computed for a Man to go that would walk about into every one of the Rooms of it But I dare not undertake to vouch for this tho' I spent three days in viewing what was most worthy of Note there But now to return to Madrid which the Romans called Mantua Carpentana or Carpentanorum I say there is not any thing of Beauty of Grandeur for which a Town is Famous but this Place may challenge for it a competition with the proudest City in all Spain a good River excepted and a large Cathedral but as for other Churches Convents and Hospitals here they excel in Curiosity and Riches so do the spacious Streets and Plaças or Piazzas especially the Placa Mayor wherein the Noble Sport of the Bulls called the Fiesta or the Iuego de Toros is exhibited upon some Eminent Occasions but annually on the three Festiaval Days of St. Ann St. Iohn the Baptist and St. Isidro or Isidore to whom they ascribe the Honour of Patron of the Town Hither the Court having drawn a great confluence of the Nobility and Gentry as well as Merchants of divers Nations there are of consequence many stately Palaces and Houses of Grandees and other Noblemen who live here in great Splendor as do also many Eminent Persons of inferiour Rank and Quality The Chiefest of the Houses are first that of the Marquess de Leche built by his Father Don Luis de Haro Grand Minister of State and Privado or Favourite of King Philip the Fourth then the Palace of the Dukes of Lerma those of the Dukes of Infantado of Montalto with innumerable others There were likewise two very stately Bridges over the small River but the newest and finest of them almost as soon as built was carried away by force of a sudden and violent Flood And tho' the Town stand dry on an Eminence much above the River yet is it so well supplied by Water-works and Fountains that there is seldom any scarcity of Water in it The several Foreign Ministers also who are sent from the Courts of other Princes and States to make their Residence here do not a little add to the Ornament and Grandeur of the Place Amongst whom our Kings Ambassadours did lay their Claim to the third Seat in the Chappel Royal and it was ever without dispute formerly allowed them after the Nuncio of the Pope and of the Emperor's Ambassador who only had Precedence of them Tho' of late Years the French have contested for it and since that to avoid the Mischiefs which happened by the Retinues of the two Ambassadors fighting always whenever they met it has been accommodated From this orderly placing in the King's Chappel of the several Ambassadors coming from Crown'd Heads amongst whom are also reckoned those from the Republick of Venice and States of Holland they are called there Emvaxadores de la Capilla Ambassadors of the Chappel 'T was during the Negotiation of a Person of great Honour and Abilities bearing this Character from our King and residing in this Court that there happened a certain Affair of consequence which was to be transacted in the City of Toledo for dispatch whereof his Excellency appointed two of his Retinue to go and attend there till it should be finished The one of these was a brisk young Gentleman of about Two or Three and Twenty Years of Age who had made himself a perfect Master of the Spanish Tongue this was to be the chief Speaker And the other a Graver Person of above Thirty but of much less skill in the Language and he was for the sober Conduct of this Matter They solicited daily with all the diligence they could but the Spaniards being slow and dilatory in all manner of Business that which was supposed would have been brought to an end in a fortnight or three weeks time proved the work of a whole Summer These two English Gentlemen whom I shall call for particular Reasons by Spanish Names the Elder Don Enrique and the other Don Feliz setled themselves in a Casa de Posadas or House of Lodgings adjoining to a great House which stood at the entry into the Plaçuela de la vega the back part whereof overlooking the City wall often afforded them a most refreshing Air in that soultry place and always a very delightful Prospect to the Eye for some Miles over the Fields and Meadows running along the River side But before I proceed further it may not be unpleasant nor unprofitable to the Reader if I also observe something of the Situation and Building of this Town The City of Toledo called in Latin Toletum stands on a high large Hill of which near three parts are surrounded with the River Tagus in the form as I may properly enough say of a Horse-shooe It was much beautified with fine Building and fortified with a strong wall but not totally built as some erroneously conjecture by one of the Kings of the Goths in Spain flourishing about the Year of Christ 680. after his return from appeasing a Rebellion of some of his Subjects his Name was Wamba as this Inscription over one of the Gates does express Erexit fautore Deo Rex inclitus Vrbem Wamba suae celebrem portendens Gentis honorem And according to the vulgar Opinion the same Gothish King caused the following Distich to be Inscribed over another Gate of the City Vos Domini Sancti quorum heic proesentia fulget Hanc Vrbem Plebem solito servate favore Addressed as I conceive to the Popish Saints or Martyrs who formerly lived or suffered Death for the Christian Religion there and whose Shrines were then remaining After the Conquest of Spain by the Arabian Moors who divided it into many petty Kingdoms this City of Toledo wherein the Gothish Kings were wont to have their Residence was made the Metropolis of a Kingdom of the same Name and Seat of one of those Kings of the Moors It is now reckoned an opulent City standing in the very Heart or Center of the Kingdom full of Merchants of Traders and of Manufactories from whence divers sorts of Merchandise and Commodities are sent to all parts of Spain which bring back a Return of Mony and of all things necessary in a great plenty It is divided into three and twenty Regions or Wards which have their particular Magistrates and over them all is the Corrigidor 'T is adorned with many Stately Palaces but that called the Alcazer or Palace-Royal built by the Moors is of no small Ornament to the Town the Fine Churches the Rich Convents the Town-House and other Publick Buildings are very much boasted