KULTURA / CULTURE
ALL THE SECRETS OF SEVILLE CATHEDRAL
dition of a Renaissance bell-stage, with which it gained another ten metres. Entering the cathedral reveals a fascinating interior, as the central nave rises to a height of 42 metres, while the space is filled with 80 altars and more than 80 massive stained-glass windows. The crown of the cathedral is represented by the Main Altar, rep- resenting the world’s largest wood- en altar, which was designed by sculp- tor Pierre Dankart and worked on by several generations of craftsmen over a period of almost 80 years. The altar contains over 200 gilded figures depict- ing scenes from the lives of Christ and the Virgin Mary.
In the year 1401, after an earth- quake caused severe damage to the ex- isting Great Mosque of Seville, the city’s ecclesiastical committee made a decision that would change the history of architecture. They wanted to create a place of worship so big that everyone who saw it completed would think that their eyes were deceiving them. This is how the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See was born and became the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the third largest Christian church, after St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City and London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. Occupying the geographical and historical heart of Seville, in the old Barrio de Santa Cruz city centre, this cathedral dominates the city and rep- resents the focal point of all life in Se- ville. Construction works lasted from 1402 to 1506. Instead of demolish- ing the entire 12 th -century mosque complex, the Christian builders used
its foundation. That’s why the Cathe- dral has a rectangular shape, and not the classic cruciform base common to most European cathedrals. Two key el- ements of the former mosque have been preserved to this day: the Court- yard of Oranges, a former place for ritual bathing before prayer, which is today a peaceful oasis with dozens of bitter orange trees and a marble foun- tain, as well as the Hiralda, a former minaret that’s 94 metres tall and was converted into a belltower with the ad-
The most popular part of the Ca- thedral is the monumental tomb of Christopher Columbus. His casket is carried aloft on the shoulders of four massive allegorical figures repre- senting the four historical kingdoms of Spain: Castile, León, Aragon and Navarre. Columbus died in the Span- ish city of Valladolid in 1506, but he’d expressed a desire to be buried in America. He was originally laid to rest in Seville’s La Cartuja Monastery, but his remains were transferred in 1537 to the cathedral in Santo Domingo in present-day Dominican Republic. When the French took over the island of Hispaniola in the late 18 th century, the Spanish moved his mortal remains to Havana, until they were finally laid to rest in Seville Cathedral.
42 | Arhitektura » Architecture
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator