Seville's immense cathedral
stands on the site of the main Almohad mosque, with the mosque's minaret, La
Giralda, still towering beside it. Within the cathedral lies a bounty of
treasured art as rich as in any of Spain's
great churches, including works by Goya, Murillo, and Zurbarán, and on the
macabre side, a display of skulls. The main building is one of the world's
largest cathedrals, at 126m long and 83m wide. Inside the cathedral's southern
door, the Puerta de los Principes, stands the tomb of Seville's
greatest sailor, the Italian-born Christopher Columbus, borne by four statues.
Then there is La Giralda, a superbly proportioned and decorated minaret
whose color changes with the light, a near perfect example of Islamic building.
It now serves as the bell tower for the cathedral. The easy climb up affords
great views of the buttresses and pinnacles surrounding the cathedral and the
city beyond. Just beyond the Giralda access, and planted with over 60 orange
trees is the Patio de los Naranjos, originally the courtyard of the mosque.
El Centro
Seville's true
centre stretches north of the Catedral. It's a densely packed aerea of narrow,
crooked streets, broken up here and there by plazas around which the life of
the city has revolved for eons. Highlights include the Plaza de San Francisco
& Calle Sierpes, the city's principal public square since the 16th
century; the Plaza Salvador, dominated by the huge red baroque Parroquia
del Salvador church; the animated though traffic-infested Plaza de la
Alfalfa, and the noble Casa de Pilatos mansion, an intriguing mix of
mudéjar, Gothic and Renaissance architecture.
Museo Arqueológico
Dazzling highlights of the huge Museo Arqueológico include a
room chock full of gold finery from the mysterious Tartessos culture and fine
caches of Iberian animal sculptures and Roman mosaics. Artifacts from Visigoth
and Moorish cultures which once dominated Spain
are also included.