The cathedral of Seville is the world’s largest Gothic church.
By any standard, the cathedral is unbelievably huge and amazingly beautiful.
There are so many tall columns holding up the lofty ceiling 130 feet above the floor
that it seems like you are strolling through a vast, indoor stone forest.
This grand church is located of course in the center of the historic Old Town with several
prominent landmarks next to it: the Archives building and the Archbishop's Palace.
Situated on a broad plaza, it's also located right next to the Alcázar Palace.
This site has been for millennia Seville’s main religious setting.
Before the cathedral was constructed this was the location of one of the most important
mosques in the Muslim world and 2,000 years ago it was the scene of an important Roman
temple.
The entrance brings you first into the gorgeous patio courtyard.
This courtyard is called Patio de los Naranjos, as in "patio of the orange trees" which are
growing here.
Formerly it was the courtyard of the original mosque on the site that was used for cleansing,
for the worshipers on their way in, for ablution.
This courtyard and the Giralda Tower, that we will see shortly, are the only two remaining
features of the original mosque.
Entering the huge space you might feel a bit lost and disoriented, stunned by the vast
dimensions.
You need a moment to get your bearings and get over the initial shock, so it's a good
thing we have a local guide to help explain it for us.
Guide: “The name of the Cathedral is Santa María de la Sede, That Is St. Mary of the
See.
This Cathedral has 23,000 square meters.
This is the largest Gothic Cathedral of the world.
They started to build the Cathedral in 1401 and the construction took 125 years.
Over there that is one of the examples of one of the chapels.
This chapel is called Capilla, Chapel of the Antigua.”
The cathedral was built so large in order to demonstrate Seville's wealth, as it had
become a major trading center in the Middle Ages after the Reconquista in 1248.
They were also in competition with the Muslims who were still in control of Granada with
their Alhambra Palace and Córdoba with the great Mosque.
Seville's Cathedral was part of this political competition of status rivalry.
They said "we will build a church so beautiful and grand that those who see it finished will
think we are mad".
The map gives you some idea of the structure, with the church as the main body, and then
the patio to the side, and then we have four major aisles through the middle of the church,
and the central nave – altogether a vast space.
This map compares the size with St. Peter's in Rome, the world's largest church, and you
see that with the patio included it rivals St. Peter's in size.
Construction here was finished when St. Peter's had just begun, so at that time at the beginning
of the 16th century, the Seville Cathedral was the largest church in the world and perhaps
the largest building, the largest enclosed space, surpassing Hagia Sophia in Istanbul,
the previous champion.
Among many burials inside the most notable is that of Christopher Columbus, so important
because Seville was the headquarters for Spanish trade with the New World.
Guide: “It's made of bronze except the faces of the kings that are made of alabaster.
Each king represents the four kingdoms of Spain in the Middle Ages.
This one with the lion represents the Kingdom of Leon.
The other one with the castle represents the Kingdom of Castille.
And at the back, Aragon and Navarra.”
Columbus traveled nearly as much when he was dead as when he was alive, because he was
reburied several times.
He died in Spain in 1506 two years after his final voyage and was buried in Spain, but
then he was dug up and brought back to the Dominican Republic which is where he wanted
to be buried, and he was interred there.
But then after the Spanish lost that area to the French in a war he was reburied in
Havana, Cuba and then after they lost Cuba, he was returned back to Spain and buried here
in Seville, supposedly.
It is still controversial.
They did DNA studies of the remains in this crypt and found that, yes, it's matching the
relatives of Columbus.
So he's almost certainly buried here although the Dominican Republic still claims he's buried
there, but won't allow DNA testing of their remains.
At the crossing where the nave meets the transept you get the maximum impact of the size – it's
100 meters wide, 42 meters high, with a massive altar behind the screen.
The main altar is from the 16th century, with the world’s highest “reredos” screen
behind it made of carved wood and covered with gold leaf.
There are many side chapels with further elaborate decorations, especially the Royal Chapel,
featuring a Renaissance dome.
This vast Gothic retablo of carved scenes from the life of Christ was the lifetime work
of a single craftsman, Pierre Dancart.
Although built in the gothic style starting in 1402, construction of the cathedral continued
for 200 years, resulting in a delightful mix of design motifs including Renaissance and
some later Baroque flourishes.
This 1402 is the very end of the gothic, so this really can be considered one of the last
of the gothic churches ever constructed.
One can imagine heavenly music coming from this choir and massive pipe organ.
There are many side chapels with further elaborate decorations, especially the Royal Chapel,
featuring a Renaissance dome.
There are 80 chapels altogether, in which as many as 500 daily masses were said back
in the 19th century.
The size of the cathedral in comparison to other churches in the world is a little bit
contentious.
It turns out it's kind of difficult to exactly measure the interior dimensions of these vast
spaces.
It's certainly the largest gothic church in the world – no question about that by far.
Perhaps it's the largest church in the world depending on how you measure it – at any
rate very close to St. Peter's in size.
The size of the cathedral in comparison to other churches in the world is a little bit
contentious.
It turns out it's kind of difficult to exactly measure the interior dimensions of these vast
spaces.
It's certainly the largest gothic church in the world – no question about that by far.
It is no accident that one is made to feel tiny and insignificant inside this huge space,
for the creators wanted to make you humble and disoriented in the presence of god.
It took the first 100 years to finish the basic structure and another hundred years
to complete the decoration and build the various chapels and side rooms.
This combination of periods is typical of what you find in many of Europe’s gothic
churches, but never on such an enormous scale as you will find here.
By any standard, the cathedral is unbelievably huge and amazingly beautiful.
Walking through it has been called "one of the supreme moments of a life-time,” so
grand and solemn it strikes the visitor with amazement and awe.
And then, if you like, you can climb up the famous Giralda Tower, former minaret of the
previous mosque and now the bell tower of the Cathedral.
Guide: “Climb the tower, which is the entrance over there.
It takes about 25 minutes to climb to the top and look around.
Remember, 36 ramps, no elevator, no steps, but ramps.”
Walking up the Giralda is one of the most interesting and fun things you can do while
in Seville: not only will you gain great views over the vast cathedral and surrounding rooftops
of the old town, but you will also have the unusual experience of walking up all those
ramps that wind round and round inside the square tower.
The space of the top of the Giralda is a lovely promenade.
You walk all the way around the tower to get your different views looking in all the cardinal
directions, 360° panorama spread out down below all around you.
The view from its upper galleries is another one of those sites that one can never forget,
with the city spread out below as a map with white, closely-packed houses looking like
toys.
And one looks down into patios, rooftop pools, on brown and yellow tiles, along narrow streets
that wind like dark thread and then across all the housetops.
Immediately below is the Cathedral; next to it the Court of Oranges.
It's usually quite busy with other visitors -- everybody angling to get their shot, get
their picture, take their view.
You can sit down on one of the benches and rest for a while if you like, and just generally
hang out here for a little while.
It’s kind of also curious just to observe the other people -- that's always part of
the show whenever you visit a place, the people around you and their activities and what they're
trying to do.
You might get some ideas from them too -- watch their camera angles, watch how they’re shooting.
You might not want to be up here, though, when the big bells are ringing on the hour,
so perhaps time your visit accordingly.
And now the downhill walk is almost like floating down, it's a nice angle on the ramps, almost
like an escalator to the bottom.
The lower part of the tower was the minaret of the earlier mosque and it was constructed
in the late 12th century.
You can see at the very top portion a different style of architecture, Renaissance, built
by the Spanish in the 1560s.
At the very top is a bronze statue, La Giralda, that rotates or gyrates and gives its name
to the Giralda Tower.
It functions as a weathervane and a symbol of Christian faith.
Back at street level as you exit from this complex you have a nice view looking at the
outside of the patio, with a combination of architectural details reflecting the Moorish
and Renaissance past.
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