Verracos

Mary Elizabeth Herbert. (1822-1911) Impressions of Spain in 1866. London, Richard Bentley, new Burlington street. MDCCCLXVII (1867)

Página 227

Chapter XI. Avila and Alva

Pág. 229-230

…

From the bridge, the view of the river, of the towers, (of which there are eighty-eigth), and of the grand old crenellated walls which encircle the town, is very fine. The following morning, after high mass at the catedral, one of the party started with the vicar-general to see the house in which St. Theresa was born. On their way they passed by the beautiful palace of the Medina Cœli, wich has the arms of the family (thirteen balls) over the door, and four of those curious granite rhinoceros, or “toros”, as the people call them, found here and there in Spain, the origin of which is so disputed by the learned. There is also a curious inscription on a bas-relief over the principal entrance, in old and quaint Spanish, the meaning of which in English would be: “When one dooor shuts, another opens”, probably alluding to some family legend now forgotten.

…