Seville - Cathedral

On the east side of the Patio de los Naranjos in Seville is the Biblioteca Colombina, founded in the 13th century and enriched by a bequest from Fernando Colón, Columbus's son, which contains rare works on the discovery of America and valuable manuscripts, including some by Columbus himself.

Behind the Capilla Mayor, at the east end of the Seville Cathedral, is the Capilla Real, a Renaissance structure 38m/125ft long with a high dome, built between 1551 and 1575 on the site of an earlier royal funerary chapel. Behind the grille (1773) are the tombs of King Alfonso the Wise and his mother Beatrice of Sweden. In the apse are two altars: one in front, with a silver shrine (1729) containing the remains of St Ferdinand, and the other to the rear with a 13th century figure of the Virgen de los Reyes, patroness of the town. Steps beside the front altar lead down to the Panteón, with the tombs of Pedro the Cruel, his wife María de Padilla and several infantes. To the left of the Capilla Real is the Puerta de los Palos.

In the southeast corner of the Patio de los Naranjos in Seville is the Capilla de la Granada, another relic of the old mosque, with a fine horseshoe arch.

In the Capilla Mayor of the Seville Cathedral, which also has a large and richly wrought reja, the dominant feature is the resplendent retablo, a masterpiece of Gothic wood-carving. In the center is a silver image of the Virgen de la Sede surrounded by 45 scenes from the life of Christ and the life of the Virgin.

The Seville Cathedral choir has a beautiful reja (grille) of 1519 and Gothic choir-stalls of 1475-79.

The imposing Puerta del Perdón on the north side of the Seville Cathedral, which dates from the Moorish period, leads into the Patio de los Naranjos, originally the forecourt of the mosque. The octagonal Visigothic fountain in the center is a remnant of the Islamic midha, the fountain for religious ablutions.

The finest of the Seville Cathedral's doorways, all of which are richly decorated with statues and reliefs, are the Puerta del Bautismo (Doorway of the Baptism) and the Puerta del Nacimiento (Doorway of the Nativity), to left and right of the Puerta Mayor on the west front, with figural decoration by Lorenzo Mercadante and Pedro Millán. In the south transept is the modern Puerta de San Cristóbal or Puerta de la Lonja; on the east side are the Puerta de las Campanillas (Doorway of the Little Bells) and the Puerta de los Palos.

The five-aisled interior of the Seville Cathedral (117m/384ft long, 76m/249ft wide, 40m/130ft high) is one of the most impressive among the Gothic churches of Spain, notable for the clarity of its proportions and the beauty of its lines as well as for the abundance of art treasures it contains. Of the 75 stained glass windows (16th-19th century) the oldest are those by Cristóbal Alemán (1504) and Arnao de Flandes (1525-57). At the west end of the nave is the tomb of Columbus's son Fernando (d. 1539).

The Sacristía Mayor of the Seville Cathedral, which is entered through an antechamber, is a magnificent 16th century structure with a beautiful domed ceiling. It contains a number of fine pictures, a large candelabrum and a crucifix by Pieter de Kempeneer, and also houses the rich Cathedral Treasury, which includes the key of Seville (1248) and the crown of the Virgen de los Reyes, decked with precious stones.

The Sacristía de los Cálices in the Seville Cathedral, to the right of the Capilla Mayor, contains a famous crucifix by Montañés as well as numerous pictures, including works by Goya, Zurbarán, Morales and Murillo.

The side chapels of the Seville Cathedral contain numerous tombs and altarpieces. Particularly notable among the altarpieces are two by Murillo, the "Guardian Angel" to the right of the Puerta Mayor and another in the Capilla de San Antonio (the second in the north aisle), with the "Baptism of Christ" and "The Infant Christ appearing to St Antony of Padua"; this chapel also has a picture by Jordaens. Among the finest of the tombs are the Gothic monument of Juan de Cervantes in the Capilla de San Hermenegildo and the Plateresque tomb of Archbishop Mendoza in the Capilla de la Antigua.

In the southeast corner of the Seville Cathedral the Plateresque Chapterhouse (Sala Capitular; 1530-92) contains Murillo's ''Immaculate Conception''.

In the south transept of Seville, just inside the Puerta de San Cristóbal, can be seen the monument of Columbus (by Arturo Mélida), originally erected in Havana Cathedral in 1892 and brought here after the loss of Cuba in the Spanish-American War of 1898.

On the east side of the Seville Cathedral, between the Puerta de los Palos and the Puerta de Oriente, which gives access to the Patio de los Naranjos, rises the Giralda, the 93m/305ft high tower which is the landmark and emblem of Seville. The tower was originally built in 1184-96 as the minaret of the Great Mosque; the bell-chamber added in 1568 is topped by a weathervane 4m/13ft high, the Giraldillo, in the form of a female figure representing Faith and carrying the banner of Constantine. From the first gallery, with 24 bells, at a height of 70m/230ft, there are extensive views of the city and surrounding area. Above this gallery is the Matraca, a timber structure housing the rattles which are used during Holy Week instead of bells.