Sevilla Cathedral et al

April 9, 2022

The cathedral was our main focus today. Firstly, it is apparently the third largest in the world and second;y, we wanted to have the cathedral's rubber stamp in our "Pilgrims' Passports". However, for some weird reason, they stamped them on the second page.

The cathedral itself is not overly remarkable except for its size. The focus is very much on the museum aspect and I think this detracts a lot from the building itself. Originally a mosque, first constructed in 1184, it was converted to a Christian cathedral after the conquest of Sevilla by the Castillians in 1248 but little of the mosque is apparent now. The construction of the Gothic cathedral was started in 1434.

Many of the wonderful stained glass windows date back to the early fifteenth century.

This enormous baptism font must be almost two meters across.

The mind blowing detail, and disturbing opulence, of the main alter.

My favourite part was the elliptical Chapter Room, supposedly the first in Europe..

The cathedral holds some well restored artworks.

Christopher Columbus was eventually laid to rest here. It seems as though he moved about a bit after his death as is noted in Wikipedia:

"Columbus's remains were first buried at a convent in Valladolid, then moved to the monastery of La Cartuja in Seville by the will of his son Diego. They may have been exhumed in 1513 and interred at the Seville Cathedral. In about 1536, the remains of both Columbus and his son Diego were moved to a cathedral in Colonial Santo Domingo, in the present-day Dominican Republic; Columbus had requested to be buried on the island. By some accounts, in 1793, when France took over the entire island of Hispaniola, Columbus's remains were moved to Havana, Cuba. After Cuba became independent following the Spanish–American War in 1898, at least some of these remains were moved back to the Seville Cathedral, where they were placed on an elaborate catafalque. In June 2003, DNA samples were taken from these remains as well as those of Columbus's brother Diego and younger son Fernando. Initial observations suggested that the bones did not appear to match Columbus's physique or age at death. DNA extraction proved difficult; only short fragments of mitochondrial DNA could be isolated. These matched corresponding DNA from Columbus's brother, supporting that both individuals had shared the same mother. Such evidence, together with anthropologic and historic analyses, led the researchers to conclude that the remains belonged to Christopher Columbus. In 1877, a priest discovered a lead box at Santo Domingo inscribed: "Discoverer of America, First Admiral". Inscriptions found the next year read "Last of the remains of the first admiral, Sire Christopher Columbus, discoverer." The box contained bones of an arm and a leg, as well as a bullet. These remains were considered legitimate by physician and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Eugene Osborne, who suggested in 1913 that they travel through the Panama Canal as a part of its opening ceremony. These remains were kept at the Basilica Cathedral of Santa María la Menor before being moved to the Columbus Lighthouse (inaugurated in 1992). The authorities in Santo Domingo have never allowed these remains to be DNA-tested, so it is unconfirmed whether they are from Columbus's body as well."

Along with hundreds of other tourists (social distancing was somewhat compromised), we climbed to the top of the 105 meter high Giralda tower which holds the cathedral's bells. This gave us good views over the cathedral and its orangery as well as the city itself.

A view of the Giralda Tower from the orangery.

After lunch I finally managed to buy a pre-paid data SIM, but not as small a bundle for which I had hoped. With us heading into more rural areas and staying in the albergues in which pelegrinos are supposed to stay on the Camino a Santiago it will be useful to have some form of Internet access.

We ended the daylight hours with a lovely walk down the river to the Plaza de Espana via the Torres de Oro, a Moorish tower that got it name from the gold that it used to safeguard. But on the way we stumbled upon Sevilla's historic Bull Fighting Ring.

The Sevilla bullring - Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza. Once again I was drawn to it in an absurd way. Leigh was only divesting herself of her jersey but it looks like she might be taunting a bull of her own.

The Tower of Gold was built by the Moors in the 12th century and was once part of the city walls.

The Plaza de Espana was an uninformed choice of destination for our afternoon walk but what a good choice it was. Built in the nineteen twenties it must be on of the more attractive buildings I have seen that were built during the century of my birth.

But the real highlight of the Plaza de Espana was a troupe of Flamenco dancers busking on one of the staircases. I am not ashamed to admit that I was in tears during their performance.

All in all a great tourist day in Sevilla. Tomorrow is the start of Semana Santa or Holy Week. The processions on Palm Sunday or Domingo de Ramos are supposed to be joyous and uplifting as opposed to the sombre mood of Easter Friday and we hope to get as much of the experience as possible tomorrow.

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