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Alcazar
| Barrio Santa Cruz | Casa
de Pilatos | Cathedral | City
Walls & Gates | Giralda
The Cathedral of Seville
by Josephine Quintero
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| Gothic Architecture
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Seville's Cathedral occupies the site of a great
mosque in the late 12th century. Later, Christian architects added
the extra dimension of height. Its central nave rises to an awesome
42 metres and even the side chapels seem tall enough to contain
an ordinary church. The total area covers 11,520 square metres and
new calculations, based on cubic measurements, have now pushed it
in front of Saint Paul's in London and Saint Peter's in Rome, as
the largest church in the world.
Sheer size and grandeur are, inevitably, the chief
characteristics of the Cathedral, but as you grow used to the gloom,
two other qualities stand out with equal force - the rhythmic balance
and interplay between the parts, and an impressive overall simplicity
and restraint in decoration. All successive ages have left monuments
of their own wealth and style, but these have been restricted to
the two rows of side chapels. In the main body of the cathedral
only the great box like structure of the coro stands out, filling
the central portion of the nave.
This opens onto the Capilla Mayor, dominated by
a vast Gothic retablo comprised of 45 carved scenes from the life
of Christ. The lifetime's work of a single craftsman, Pierre Dancart,
this is the ultimate masterpiece of the cathedral - the largest
and richest altarpiece in the world and one of the finest examples
of Gothic woodcarving anywhere. The guides provide staggering statistics
on the amount of gold involved.
At the end of the first aisle are a series of rooms
designed in the rich Plateresque style in 1530 by Diego de Riano,
one of the foremost exponents of this predominantly decorative architecture
of the late Spanish Renaissance. Through the ante chamber, you reach
the Capitular with its magnificent domed ceiling mirrored in the
marble decoration of the floor. There are a number of paintings
by Murillo here, the finest of which, a flowing Conception occupies
the place of honour.
Alongside this room is the grandiose Sacrista Mayor
which houses the treasury. Amid a confused collection of silver
reliquaries and monastrances are the keys presented to Fernando
by the Moorish and Jewish communities on the surrender of the city,
sculpted into the latter in stylised Arabic script are the words
'May Allah render eternal the dominion of Islam in the city.'
The tomb of Christopher Columbus is always of great
interest to scholars and tourists alike.
The climb to the top of Giralda
is considered well worth the effort for the views alone.
Patio de los Naranjos
Located just outside the Cathedral, the Patio de los Naranjos dates
back to Moorish times when worshippers would wash their hands and
feet in the fountain here - under the orange trees - before their
daily prayers.
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