This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
SAN SALVADOR—SAN SEVERINO
155

it looks south over a small bay, and, protected towards the north by hills rising gradually from 500 to 8000 ft., it is in climate one of the most favoured places on the whole coast, a fact which accounts for the great reputation as a winter resort which it has enjoyed since 1861. The older town, with its narrow steep streets and lofty sombre houses protected against earthquakes by arches connecting them, contrasts with the new visitors' town, containing all the public buildings, which has grown up at the foot of the hill. The fort of S. Tecla protects the small harbour, sheltered by its sickle-shaped mole, 1300 ft. long. The promenade of San Remo is the Corso dell' Imperatrice, running from the main street, the Via Vittorio Emanuele, along the coast to the Giardino dell' Imperatrice; it is a broad road shaded by palm-trees, and was, like the garden, constructed at the expense of the empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (d. 1880). The Villa Thiem has a valuable picture-gallery, containing for the most part examples of the great 17th-century masters of the Netherlands. Besides the Gothic ex-cathedral of San Siro, the white-domed church of the Madonna della Costa, at the top of the old town, may be mentioned. In front of it is a large hospital. On the east of the harbour, the promenade along the coast is called the Passeggiata Imperatore Federico in memory of the German emperor Frederick, whose visit to the town in 1887–1888 greatly increased its repute as a winter resort. Flowers, especially roses and carnations, are extensively grown for export, and olives, lemons and palms are also cultivated.

San Remo appears to have been dependent on Genoa in its early days, but became independent in 1361. In 1544 the town was attacked by Barbarossa, and in 1625 by the French and Savoyards. The Genoese, against whose encroachments it had long defended its independence, subjugated it in 1753; in 1797 it was incorporated in the Ligurian republic, and in 1814 passed to Piedmont.


SAN SALVADOR, the capital of the republic of Salvador; situated in the valley of Las Hamacas, on the river Asalguate, at an altitude of 2115 ft., and 30 m. inland from the Pacific. Pop. (1905) about 60,000. San Salvador is connected by rail with Santa Ana on the north-west and with the Pacific ports of La Libertad and Acajutla. In addition to the government offices, its buildings include a handsome university, a wooden cathedral, a national theatre, an academy of science and literature, a chamber of commerce, and astronomical observatory and a number of hospitals and charitable institutions. There are two large parks and an excellent botanical garden. In the Plaza Morazan, the largest of many shady squares, is a handsome bronze and marble monument to the last president of united Central America, from whom the plaza takes its name. San Salvador is the only city in the republic which has important manufactures; these include the production of soap, candles, ice, shawls and scarves of silk, cotton cloth, cigars, flour and spirits. The city is admirably policed, has an abundant water supply, and can in many respects compare favourably with the smaller provincial capitals of Europe and America. It was founded by Don Jorge de Alvarado in 1528, at a spot near the present site, to which it was transferred in 1539. Except for the year 1839–1840 it has been the capital of the republic since 1834. It was temporarily ruined by earthquakes in 1854 and 1873.


SANS-CULOTTES (French for “without knee-breeches”), the term originally given during the early years of the French Revolution to the ill-clad and ill-equipped volunteers of the Revolutionary army, and later applied generally to the ultra-democrats of the Revolution. They were for the most part men of the poorer classes, or leaders of the populace, but during the Terror public functionaries and persons of good education styled themselves citoyens sans-culottes. The distinctive costume of the typical sans-culotte was the pantalon (long trousers)—in place of the culottes worn by the upper classes—the carmagnole (short-skirted coat), the red cap of liberty and sabots (wooden shoes). The influence of the Sans-culottes ceased with the reaction that followed the fall of Robespierre (July 1794), and the name itself was proscribed. In the Republican Calendar the complementary days at the end of the year were at first called Sans-culottides; this name was, however, suppressed by the Convention when the constitution of the year III. (1795) was adopted, that of jours complémentaires being substituted.


SAN SEBASTIAN (Basque Iruchulo), a seaport and the capital of the Spanish province of Guipúzcoa, on the Bay of Biscay, and on the Northern railway from Madrid to France. Pop. (1900) 37,812. In 1886 San Sebastian became the summer residence of the court. The influx of visitors, attracted by the presence of the royal family, by the prolonged local festivities, the bull-fights and the bathing, increases the number of the inhabitants in summer to about 50,000. The city occupies a narrow sandy peninsula, which terminates on the northern or seaward side in a lofty mass of sandstone, Monte Urgull; it is flanked on the east by the estuary of the river Uruméa, on the west by the broad bay of La Concha. The old town, rebuilt after the fire of 1813, lies partly at the foot of Monte Urgull, partly on its lower slopes. Until 1863 it was enclosed by walls and ramparts, and a strong fort, the Castillo de la Mola, still crowns the heights of Urgull. There are also batteries and redoubts facing landward and seaward below this fort; but the other defences have been either razed or dismantled. The Alameda, one of many fine avenues, was laid out on the site of the chief landward wall, and separates the old town from the new—in which the houses are uniformly modern, and built in straight streets or regular series of squares. The bay of La Concha has a broad sandy shore, the Playa de Baños, admirable for bathing and sheltered from sea-winds by the rocky islet of Santa Clara. Its centre is faced by the casino, a handsome building, and the summer palace and park of Miramar occupy the rising ground towards its western extremity. The other noteworthy buildings are the bull-ring, capable of seating 10,000 spectators, the theatre, fine provincial and municipal halls, barracks, a hospital, a Jesuit college, the American International School for girls, and many other schools. There are numerous breweries, saw and flour mills, and manufactures of preserves, soap, candles, glass and paper, especially in the busy suburb that has sprung up on the right bank of the Uruméa. The fisheries are important. The harbour consists of three artificial basins, opening into La Concha Bay, and situated in the midst of the old town; it is chiefly frequented by coasting and fishing vessels, and cannot accommodate large ships. From its position near the frontier San Sebastian was long a first-class fortress, and has sustained many sieges. The last and most memorable was in August 1813, when the allied British, Portuguese and Spanish armies under Lord Wellington captured the city from the French, and then sacked and burned it.


SAN SEPOLCRO, or Borgo S. Sepolcro, a town and episcopal see of Tuscany, Italy, in the province of Arezzo, from which it is 28 m. N.E. by rail. Pop. (1901) 4537 (town); 9077 (commune). It is situated 1083 ft. above sea-level, on the Tiber. It was the birthplace of Piero della Francesca (1420–1492) and of Raffaello del Colle (1490–1540), a pupil of Raphael. The Romanesque cathedral and the picture-gallery contain works by both these artists.


SAN SEVERINO (anc. Septempeda), a town and episcopal see of the Marches, Italy, in the province of Macerata, from which it is 18 m. W. by S. by rail. Pop. (1901) 3227 (town); 14,932 (commune). The lower town is situated 781 ft. above sea-level, and contains the new cathedral of S. Agostino, with a fine altar-piece by Pinturicchio (1489). The Palazzo Comunale has some interesting pictures by artists of the Marches. Lorenzo and Giacomo Salimbeni da San Severino, who painted an important series of frescoes in the oratory of S. Giovanni Battista at Urbino in 1416, were natives of the town. So was also the later master Lorenzo di Maestro Alessandro, of the end of the 15th century, whose pictures are mainly to be found in the Marches. The old cathedral of S. Severino is in the upper town (1129 ft. above sea-level); it contains frescoes by the two Salimbeni, while an altar-piece by Niccolo Alunno of Foligno (1468) has been removed hence to the picture gallery. The ancient Septempeda lay 1 m. below the modern town, on the branch road which ran from Nuceria Camellaria, on the Via Flaminia; and here the road divided—one branch going to