"A citadel, a small, boxed-in harbour, two churches, two empty monasteries, a dockyard, two fortresses equipped with artillery pieces and piles of cannon balls, which a passer-by may contemplate at his leisure without the sentry raising any objection, form the material appearance of San Sebastian; its ideal appearance is the sky, the sea and the mountains."
Emile BEGUIN.
Voyage pittoresque en Espagne et en Portugal. (1848)