Spanish courses in Seville

Cathedral of Seville, Spain.

Learn Spanish in Spain, Seville

The Cathedral of Seville is no doubt one of the largest in the world, which does not mean one of the most beautiful or inspiring ones.

The Cathedral of Seville was built on the grounds of the demolished grand mosque of Seville. No doubt, the Cathedral of Seville was built to impress the world with its magnitude, but lacking in the spirit and proportions present in other smaller but inspiring Gothic cathedrals in the world. Seen from the river Guadalquivir, the plump silhouette of the Cathedral of Seville, emerging among the roofs of Seville, reminds us of a merchant vessel heading towards the New World.

In the XV century Seville was a conquered land and the Cathedral was the gesture of the conquerors, not of the people who lived in this land, whose culture and spirit was closer to the Muslim and Jewish tradition of Seville, which we can see in the Giralda tower, Patio de los Naranjos and the Alcazar of Seville.

The Seville Cathedral is of Gothic style with an Arabic origin, built in 1401 under the orders of architect Alonso Martinez.

It is of enormous dimensions. The Seville Cathedral has a salon ground plan with five naves (the middle one is the largest) covered by seventy pointed domes and held by forty pillars, some of them measuring up to fifty-six metres high. It is said that when it was ordered to be built the church chapter exclaimed: ¨Let us build such a big building that those who see it finished will take us as madmen¨. Apart from the Puerta del Perdón gate which serves as an entrance to the Patio de los Naranjos (Orange trees courtyard), there are other entrance gates which are famous for their beauty and are located in the Plaza de la Virgen de los Reyes, Puerta de Campanillas and Puerta de Palos.

Inside the temple is the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) with a representation of the last Arab king of Seville surrendering at the feet of Fernando III.

It is precisely here where the silver coffin is holding the mummified body of the Christian king, who is the patron saint of Seville. On the right side there is a Romantic style Mausoleum (19th century) where the remains of Christopher Columbus are supposedly buried. It represents four carriers with symbols on their chests of the kingdoms of Castilla, León, Navarra and Aragón who carry the coffin of the discoverer.

Once in the Sacristía Mayor (main vestry) we can see the famous tablets of Alfonso X, and the Monstrance, done by Juan de Arfe, which weighs three hundred kilos and is considered one of the most important works of the whole Spanish Renaissance.

OPENING HOURS:
- Daily from 11.00 to 17.00
- On Sundays: from 14.30 to 18.00
- Entrance fee: 6€
- Tel:+34-95 421 49 71

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