Seville Cathedral
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Catholic cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Alcázar palace complex and the General Archive of the Indies. It is one of the largest churches in the world and the largest Gothic cathedral.
After its completion in the early 16th century, Seville Cathedral supplanted Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral in the world, a title the Byzantine church had held for a thousand years. The Gothic section alone has a length of, a width of, and a central nave height of . The total height of the Giralda tower from the ground to the weather vane is. The Archbishop's Palace is located on the northeastern side of the cathedral.
Seville Cathedral was the site of the baptism of Infante Juan of Aragon in 1478, only son of the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. Its royal chapel holds the remains of the city's conqueror, Ferdinand III of Castile, his son and heir, Alfonso the Wise, and their descendant, King Peter the Cruel. The funerary monuments for cardinals Juan de Cervantes and Pedro González de Mendoza are located among its chapels. Christopher Columbus and his son Diego are also buried in the cathedral.
Construction and history
Almohad mosque (1172–1248)
The Almohad caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf ordered the construction of a new grand mosque for the city in 1172 on the south end of the city. The new mosque was dedicated in 1182, but was not completed until 1198. It supplanted the one built between 829 and 830 by Umar Ibn Adabbas on the site of the present-day collegiate church of Divino Salvador, as the main mosque in the city. Larger and closer to the city's alcázar, the mosque was designed by architect Ahmad ben Basso as a rectangular building with a surface of over, including a minaret and ablutions courtyard. Its prayer hall consisted of seventeen aisles oriented southward, perpendicular to its qibla wall, in the manner of many mosques of Al-Andalus, including the mosque of Ibn Adabbas."Christianized mosque" (1248–1401)
Shortly after Seville's conquest by Ferdinand III, Yaqub Yusuf's mosque was converted into the city's cathedral. Its orientation was changed and its spaces partitioned and adorned to suit Christian worship practices. The internal space was gradually divided into chapels by constructing walls in the bays along the northern and southern walls. Almost the entire eastern half of the cathedral was occupied by the royal chapel that would hold the bodies of Ferdinand, his wife and Alfonso the Wise.Gothic cathedral (after 1401)
Seville Cathedral was built to demonstrate the city's wealth, as it had become a major trading center in the years after the Reconquista in 1248. In July 1401, city leaders decided to build a new cathedral to replace the grand mosque that served as the cathedral until then. According to local oral tradition, the members of the cathedral chapter said: "Hagamos una Iglesia tan hermosa y tan grandiosa que los que la vieren labrada nos tengan por locos". The actual entry from 8 July 1401, recorded among others by Juan Cean Bermudes in 1801 but now lost, proposed building "una tal y tan buena, que no haya otra su igual".Work began in 1402 and continued for over a century. The precise date when construction began is not certain, but some sources date it to 1433. Several factors, including royal resistance to the temporary relocation of the royal chapel delayed construction. In 1433, King John II of Castille allowed the temporary transportation of the royal bodies from the old Capilla Real – including those of Alfonso X, Beatrice of Swabia, Ferdinand III, Peter the Cruel, and María de Padilla – to the cathedral's cloister for storage.
The clergy of the parish offered half their stipends to pay for architects, artists, stained glass artisans, masons, carvers, craftsman and labourers and other expenses. Due to the size of the building and the cramped nature of the urban fabric around it, demolition and construction took place in different stages. Construction began at the building's northeast corner and continued on its eastern end. After the permission granted by John II, the old Capilla Real on the cathedral's east side was demolished to allow work to continue.
A number of architects worked on the project, often from other countries. In 1434, a Dutch master named Ysambert was placed in charge. He was followed from 1439 to 1454 by a French master named Carlín, and then by Juán Normán until 1472. After 1472 there were two master masons in charge, probably in an attempt to accelerate work. They were succeeded in 1497 by a Master Ximón, who was then succeeded in 1502 by Alfonso Rodríguez until 1513.
By 1467 the eastern part of the cathedral had been completed. The stained glass windows were made after 1478 by Enrique Aleman. The enormous retable was designed in 1482 by Dutch artist Pieter Dancart, who worked on it until his death in 1487, when it was still unfinished. The crossing lantern was completed before 1502 by Ximón and construction of the cathedral was completed in 1506–7.
In 1511, however, the crossing lantern and some of the vaults collapsed, necessitating reconstruction. After some debate, the current crossing lantern, with its ornate lierne vaulting, was designed by Juan Gil de Hontañón the Elder in 1513 and completed in 1519. In 1526 the central part of Dancart's retable was complete, but its side sections were only completed between 1550 and 1594. After the completion of the Gothic cathedral, Seville's subsequent prosperity resulted in many additions to the building in Renaissance and Plateresque style.
The crossing again collapsed in 1888, and work on the dome continued until at least 1903. The 1888 collapse occurred due to an earthquake and resulted in the destruction of "every precious object below" the dome at that time.
Description
The interior has the longest nave of any cathedral in Spain. The central nave rises to a height of. In the main body of the cathedral, the most noticeable features are the great boxlike choir loft, which fills the central portion of the nave, and the vast Gothic retable of carved scenes from the life of Christ.The builders preserved some elements from the ancient mosque. The mosque's sahn, that is, the courtyard for ablutions for the faithful to conduct their ritual cleansing before entering the prayer hall is known today as the Patio de los Naranjos. It contains a fountain and orange trees. However, the most well known is its minaret, which was converted into a bell tower known as the Giralda, and is now the city's most well-known symbol.
Giralda
The Giralda is the bell tower of the Cathedral of Seville. Its height is and its square base is above sea level and long per side. The Giralda is the former minaret of the mosque that stood on the site under Muslim rule, and was built to resemble the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh, Morocco. It was converted into a bell tower for the cathedral after the Reconquista, although the topmost section dates from the Renaissance. The tower is 104.5 m in height and was one of the most important symbols in the medieval city. Construction began in 1184 under the direction of architect Ben Ahmad Baso. According to the chronicler Ibn Sahib al-Salah, the works were completed on 10 March 1198, with the placement of four gilt bronze balls in the top section of the tower. After a strong earthquake in 1365, the spheres were missing. In the 16th century the belfry was added by the architect Hernán Ruiz the Younger, which hides the Almohad lantern; the statue on its top, called "El Giraldillo", was installed in 1568 to represent the triumph of the Christian faith.Doors
Seville Cathedral has fifteen doors on its four façades. The major doors are:West façade
The Door of Baptism, on the left side, was built in the 15th century and decorated with a scene depicting the baptism of Jesus, created by the workshop of Lorenzo Mercadante of Brittany. It is of Gothic style with a pointed archivolt decorated with tracery. It contains sculptures of the brothers Saint Isidore and Saint Leander and the sisters Saints Justa and Rufina, by Lorenzo Mecadante, also a series of angels and prophets by the artisan Pedro Millán.The Main Door or Door of Assumption, in the center of the west façade, is well-preserved and elaborately decorated. Cardinal Cienfuegos y Jovellanos commissioned the artist Ricardo Bellver to carve the relief of the Assumption over the door; it was executed between 1877 and 1898.
The Door of Saint Michael or Door of the Nativity, has sculptures representing the birth of Jesus by Pedro Millán. It was built in the 15th century and is decorated with terracotta sculptures of Saint Laurean, Saint Hermengild and the Four Evangelists. Today, this door is used for the Holy Week processions.
South façade
The Door of Saint Cristopher or De la Lonja of the south transept, was designed by Adolfo Fernandez Casanova and completed in 1917; it was originally designed by the architect Demetrio de los Rios in 1866. A replica of the "Giraldillo" stands in front of its gate.North façade
The Door of the Conception opens onto the Court of the Oranges ' and is kept closed except on festival days. It was designed by Demetrio de los Rios and finished by Adolfo Fernandez Casanova in 1895. It was built in the Gothic style to harmonize with the rest of the building.The Door of the Lizard ' leads from the Court of the Oranges; it is named for the stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling.
The Door of the Sanctuary provides access to the sanctuary. Designed by Pedro Sanchez Falconete in the last third of the 17th century, it is framed by Corinthian columns with a sculpture on top representing King Ferdinand III of Castile next to the Saints Isidore, Leander, Justa and Rufina.
Door of Forgiveness gives access to the Patio de los Naranjos from Calle Alemanes and therefore is not really a door of the cathedral. It belonged to the ancient mosque and retains its horseshoe arch shape from that time. In the early 16th century it was adorned with terracotta sculptures by the sculptor Miguel Perrin, highlighting the great relief of the Purification on the entrance arch. The plaster ornaments were made by Bartolomé López.