This morning, we set out for the Catedral de Sevilla or more properly Catedral Santa Maria de la Sede (Saint Mary of the See). What is not in debate is that the UNESCO World Heritage Listed (1987) cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. When it comes to its place on the list of biggest cathedrals apparently there is debate with some sources putting it second only to Duomo di Milano. Other sources have it in third and even fourth place because it all comes down to what measurements you use – area, volume or weight. I can’t remember if I’ve written it before but it’s a bit like waterfalls. Those can be measured in terms of height, width and volume of water over the falls with each criterion leading to a different result for ‘biggest’.
Anyway, it’s BIG! We met our guide Pedro at the Puerta de Bautismo. This morning’s tour of the hidden stairways and the roof was not quite as exclusive as yesterday morning’s tour, but with only 23 in the group it certainly wasn’t too crowded. Pedro issued us with headsets to hear his commentary and we set off past the Retrochoir and the Tomb of Christopher Columbus before entering the first of many spiral staircases that would take us progressively higher up.
Much of the tour was about learning more about the architecture and construction of the Middle Ages. Pedro told us many interesting facts about how the cathedral was built. Snippets of information like using pottery seconds and breakages to fill the areas over the domes to create flat roofs to provide areas from which it was possible to build still higher and having templates drawn on those roofs for stonemasons, masons and carpenters to use as they crafted materials to be incorporated into the building.
The tour was also about seeing the details of the buttresses, flying buttresses and pinnacles the Renaissance dome of the Royal Chapel, the Giralda (bell tower) soaring to 36-metres and the exterior of the Puerta de la Asunción’s Rose Window. And the views. Marvellous views over Sevilla despite it being a bit overcast this morning. Pedro also pointed out areas of the cathedral that have been cleaned and repaired recently and other parts that are about to have works commence. He pointed out in one section that has been cleaned and repaired that holes left from the medieval timber scaffolds were filled in to stop the pigeons from roosting. However, it has now come to light that lesser kestrels come from Africa every year to nest in the nooks and crannies of the cathedral, so they are unlikely to fill any more of these historic holes. Being bird of prey hopefully the kestrels deter the pigeons??
Without any trips or falls on the uneven surfaces of the roofs or in the tight spiral staircases we made our way back to ground level. Pedro reminded us that our ticket entitles us to explore the interior of the cathedral at our leisure once mass concludes and to make sure that we show our tickets to be fast-tracked through the main door when we are ready to make our visit to the interior. He also told us that we have the rest of the week to visit Iglesia Colegial del Divino Salvador (Divine Saviour Collegiate Church) with our tickets.
We sat outside the cathedral waiting for 11.00am to be sure that mass had concluded. We were entertained by some Chinese girls videoing themselves on the other side of the tram tracks. The bossy one was directing them and striking quite a pose herself as the videographer. Her friend had to walk towards her, giving a very pronounced glance to her left as she approached while making sure to swish her skirt a bit. It was hilarious! The second friend didn’t have a skirt to swish so she had to do Take 2 ensuring that her shirt was draped casually off one shoulder. Finally, the videographer changed places with one of the friends and she strutted her stuff. We wondered what it is they do with these video clips? Straight onto WeChat we suppose?
We walked around to the Puerta del Principe (main door) where a replica of the weathervane that sits atop the Giralda is displayed. The replica was made to replace the original weathervane sculpted by Juan Bautista Vásquez in 1568 when it was being restored between 1999 and 2003. When the original was reinstated, the copy was installed in the courtyard.
It was so wonderful to pass quickly through the courtyard filled with people queuing to buy their tickets because we already had ours. It must be lovely to be a VIP and get that sort of fast-track treatment everywhere you go?! Within moments we were back in the vast space of the cathedral ready to explore the interior. We set out to do a quick circuit of the nave and side chapels but in these old religious buildings it’s never that simple. We returned to the tomb of Christopher Columbus to take photos. We weren’t allowed to photograph inside earlier because it was during mass. Now that mass had concluded tourists were allowed to take photos.
Christopher Columbus is not the only explorer commemorated in the Catedral de Sevilla. When the surviving crew aboard the Nao Victoria returned to Sevilla in 1522 (Magellan’s voyage attempting to be the first to circumnavigate the globe) they prayed in the cathedral before the portrait of the Virgin de la Antigua for their safe return.
After this side chapel our circumnavigation was hijacked into the Renaissance period Vestry of the Chalices, Main Vestry and Chapter House before we were able to return to the main nave. We walked past the Silver Altar, the High Altar and the Choir before completing the Saints’ chapels on the other side of the cathedral. We ended in the corner where the Giralda sits so that we could climb to the top. The sign outside warns that you are about to attempt a climb equivalent to that of a 25-storey building.
However, there are few stairs involved. This is due to the towers mixed history. The tower was not built as a steeple or belfry but as a minaret for the Muslim Mosque which stood on this site in the 1100s. In 1218 the mosque was consecrated as a Catholic Cathedral with parts of the mosque then being incorporated into the new Gothic building between 1434 and 1517. The tower was extended to 97-metres during the Renaissance building period from 1528 to 1621, but on the inside the ramp remained. There was a ramp inside the minaret so a man could ride a mule to the top to call the Muslim worshippers to prayer. So, due to this historic architecture, we walked up 34 wide sloping ramps and just 17 steps to access the top of the bell tower.
From the bell tower we ventured into the Orange Tree Courtyard which is the only part of the cathedral that is overtly Islamic with its patio with fountains and Arabic arches still in evidence. Our visit to the cathedral today was much less stressful than our visit to the Real Alcazar yesterday. I can’t really say whether there were fewer people at the cathedral or a similar number of people in a much larger space? The cathedral is a vast open space 126 metres long and 83 metres wide with a maximum height of 37 metres at the centre of the transept. You can accommodate a lot or people in that amount of space?
With this being our last day in Sevilla we don’t have all week to visit the last place on our ticket so off to Iglesia Colegial del Divino Salvador we went. After the cathedral this church is considered the second most important building of the dioceses of Seville and also one of the most beautiful churches in Europe. After the Gothic elegance of the cathedral the church is a yet another example of Spanish Baroque exuberance.
This is another site with a long and complicated religious history. A mosque was built in the 9th century on the remains of Roman and Visigoth ruins. It was Christianised after the conquest of Seville by king Saint Ferdinand in 1248 by turning the axis of worship and dedicating the ablution court as a cemetery. In the 17th century the mosque as demolished and church was built but, unfortunately that structure collapsed in 1679.
It was in the 18th century that the current church was raised with the artistic fashion of the early part of the century creating this Sevillian Baroque masterpiece featuring works by Juan Martinez Montañés, Juan de Mesa and José Maestre. The Sacramental Altarpiece and Main Altarpieces are the work of Cayetano de Acosta. The monumental altarpieces taking eight and nine years respectively to complete.
During the 20th and 21st centuries the church has been extensively restored during three phases of work. Most recently the crypts have been explored and interpreted with a very informative museum explaining the history of the church and the city opening in the underground space.
From the church we returned to an empanada shop that we had spied on our way. We took our lunch back to the apartment and then took it easy for a few hours since we planned to attempt sunset at the Metropol Parasol again tonight with our tickets already purchased for 9.15pm.
We ventured along the street for ice-creams at ice-cream o’clock and then Bernie went for his second holiday haircut at – wait for it – The Barber of Seville or, actually, El Barbero De Sevilla. He was determined to have a haircut while in Seville! Going to a barber in Cordoba or Madrid just wouldn’t have the same ring to it now, would it? He went a bit extreme though having zero on his head but his usual No.2 on his beard. That should definitely last him for the rest of our holiday.
At 7.30pm we headed off towards Metropol Parasol or Las Setas de Sevilla. Too many things have more than one name here in the city! On the way we stopped at a random restaurant for an early dinner, ha, ha. So few people are eating at 7.30pm in Spain. We had a ham tapa and a garlic prawn tapa followed by mixed paella for two at Rincón de Kevín Bodega.
After dinner we completed our walk to Las Setas. We both had a craving for churros but there were none to be found. Not easily anyway. And … we really didn’t need churros! We were a little bit early for our 9.15pm entry time but we were admitted straight away anyway. It was a lovely evening to watch the sun go down in Sevilla. The sunset itself was a bit meh but as the blue hour descended the colours improved especially with the light show of Las Setas in the foreground. That is what we missed from the rooftop bar on Monday night, so it was definitely worth coming back to do sunset again from a different, higher vantage point. It was an interesting juxtaposition with Sevilla’s classical buildings behind one of its most contemporary structures.
Opened in May 2011, Las Setas de Sevilla is the largest wooden structure in the world. Its design was inspired by the ficus trees in the Plaza de San Pedro and the vaults of the Sevilla Catedral. The structure used 3,500 pieces of microlaminated Finnish pine wood amounting to 3,500 cubic metres or 1,300,000 kilos of timber. The pieces were joined together with 3,000 knots and 16 million screws and nails! The structure is filled with LED lights that put on an ever-changing coloured light display after dark. Quite mesmerising.
After spending way too much time watching the sunset and the light show we walked briskly back to the apartment to ensure that we achieved our Exercise goal today. I thought after clambering around the roof of the cathedral and climbing the bell tower we would have achieved it earlier today, but we were still chasing that goal late this evening!
Steps: 17,520 (10.91kms)