If it’s Tuesday, it must be Seville, Spain. We arrived yesterday evening and had dinner at our hotel. Today, we were up and out exploring Seville. Our first stop was to meet with some locals….
Others got into the discussion – here is Tracy
Next we drove around and saw many of the pavilions that were built for the 1929 World’s fair – the Ibero-American Expo. Many of the foreign buildings, including the United States exhibition building, were to be used as consulates after the closing of the exhibits. By the opening of the exposition all of the buildings were complete, although many were no longer new. Not long before the opening of the Exposition, the Spanish government also began a modernization of the city in order to prepare for the expected crowds by erecting new hotels and widening the medieval streets to allow for the movement of automobiles.
I didn’t take photos from the bus as the glare on the windows would come through. Sorry.
We then drove over to Plaza de Espana – aka Palace of the Kingdom of Naboo from Star Wars – Attack of the Clones and Palace of the Kingdom of Dorne from Game of Thrones and it appeared in Lawrence of Arabia and the 2012 movie – The Dictator.
The Plaza de España complex is a huge half-circle; the buildings are accessible by four bridges over the moat, which represent the ancient kingdoms of Spain. In the center is the Vicente Traver fountain.
Many tiled alcoves were built around the plaza, each representing a different province of Spain. The Plaza’s tiled Alcoves of the Provinces are frequent backdrops for visitors’ portrait photographs, taken in their own home province. Each alcove is flanked by a pair of covered bookshelves, formerly used by visitors as there were pamphlets talking about each region.
Today the buildings of the Plaza de España have been renovated and adapted for use as offices for government agencies. The central government departments, with sensitive adaptive redesign, are located within it.
We then walked with a guide Pablo, who took us into the Jewish quarter in the old town.
Formerly an Islamic minaret, this iconic Moorish tower is one of the few remaining elements of the original Great Mosque that was replaced by the cathedral.
The tower was built in the 12th century by Islamic rulers of the Almohad dynasty, who hailed from the Atlas Mountains of North Africa. Architect Alí de Gómara designed the brick section of the tower, which exemplifies Mudéjar design with its decorative arched niches and geometric patterns.
At the time it was built, the 318 foot high tower was the tallest monument in the world. Today, the tower stands as an emblem of the city’s multicultural heritage.
La Giralda functions as the cathedral’s bell tower. At the top is the 16th-century weather vane, an enormous (14 feet high) bronze statue of a female figure bearing a cross to symbolize Faith.
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Alcazar palace complex and the General Archive of the Indies. It is the fourth largest church in the world as well as the largest Gothic church.
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 413 ft, a width of 249 ft, and its maximum height in the center of the transept is 138 ft. The total height of the Giralda tower from the ground to the weather vane is 342 ft 10 in.
Seville Cathedral was the site of the baptism of Infant 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 Just. The funerary monuments for cardinals Juan de Cervantes and Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza are located among its chapels. Christopher Columbus and his son Diego are also buried in the cathedral.
The chapel’s magnificent main altarpiece creates a dazzling impression. A masterpiece of Gothic woodcarving, this massive retablo (98.4 feet high by 65.6 feet wide) features the Virgen de la Sede surrounded by scenes from the Life of Christ and the Life of the Virgin. Created between 1482 and 1564, this incredibly intricate work of art includes 44 reliefs and over 200 figures of saints.
The dazzling altarpiece is gilded with real gold brought back from the Americas; it’s a testimony to the rich heritage of the cathedral, which was built during the Age of Discovery (also considered the Golden Age of Spain), when Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, first to the islands of the Bahamas in the Caribbean and then to Central America.
As you can see from the image, a finely-carved altarpiece encloses two exquisite paintings, both by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, a renowned Spanish painter. The large painting depicts St.Antony of Padua’s vision of Infant Jesus, painted in 1654. The smaller one above depicts the Baptism of Christ, painted in 1668.
An interesting story is associated with St. Antony’s vision painting. An art thief cut-out the piece containing St. Anthony and sold it to an art dealer in New York. The Spanish Ambassador to the US recovered it and transported it back to Spain. Salvador Martínez Cubells, a well-known painter of his time, later restored to its current form.
There was so much more to this church, but my postings are getting too long. You can read more about this exceptional Cathedral if you are interested. It is definitely worth it to come see it if you are in Spain.
Off to a Flamenco show tonight, then packing as we are off to Lisbon, Portugal in the morning.
Ta Ta for now.
Postcards from Sue and friends 