Cathedral of Seville - Spain

I've been to Spain a lot of times, visited many places but I haven't been to Seville yet. It's on my list though. Joana and Miguel have already been there. Joana attended a Postcrossing meeting in the city in 2007 and Miguel visited it last month.

Among all the historic buildings that Seville treasures, the Cathedral and Giralda are two of the buildings that you cannot miss.The Cathedral, including the Giralda, was registered in 1987 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, along with the Alcázar and the General Archive of the Indies.

 The Cathedral of Seville, also known as the Cathedral of St. Mary of the See, it is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the third Christian temple after St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London.

Since the conquest of the city, on November 23, 1248, the building of the aljama, or the Almohad Mosque, was converted into the cathedral of the archdiocese of the Kingdom of Seville.
The construction changed the liturgical orientation of the mosque, which was towards the south, for the Christian orientation towards the east, placing the Main Chapel on the east side. With the passage of time, the walls, facades and pillars were covered with altarpieces and paintings. At the end of the fourteenth century, the mosque was badly damaged, at risk of ruin. The cathedral Cabildo decided to demolish the Almohade building to build a Christian cathedral. Its construction was carried out in several phases over more than 500 years, resulting in a mixture of several architectural styles that provide its special beauty.

 

Editorial Fisa Escudo de Oro, S. A.

The Giralda is the bell tower of the Cathedral. It its day, it was the tallest tower in the world, standing at 97.5 m in height, in addition to being one of the most famous images of the city and Andalusia. The tower consists of two different but perfectly unified pieces, a perfect example of the crucible of cultures existing in the city.

The Muslim body is the oldest part, started in 1184 by order of Abu Yaqub Yusuf to be the minaret of the Almohad mosque of Seville. A curious fact, the Giralda does not have stairs, but instead has 35 ramps wide enough to allow the Sultan to ascend mounted on horseback to see the beautiful view.

In the 17th century, the current Christian part, the bell tower that tops the tower, was added by the architect Hernán Ruiz. The top of the tower is the “Lily section” which has four jars of bronze lilies, one on each corner. And above this, there is still another section in a more Renaissance style. - in: https://www.visitasevilla.es