Thursday Doors – Seville 2

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The Thursday Doors is a weekly challenge at Dan Antion’s site No Facility for people who love doors and architecture to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos, drawings, or other images or stories from around the world. If you’d like to join us, simply create your own Thursday Doors post and then share a link to your post in the comments in Dan’s post.

We left Córdoba at 4:00 a.m. so that we could make it to Seville when the museums were open. Of course, we were tired. We visited the Plaza de España, Royal Alcazar Palace, Seville Cathedral, and the Bulls Farm. Last time, I posted about our tours to the Plaza de España, Royal Alcazar Palace. In this post, I continued with the tours to Seville Cathedral, and the Bulls Farm.

Seville Cathedral
Seville’s Cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and is recognized as UNESCO World Heritage. The cathedral’s construction lasted over a century, from 1401 to 1506.

Seville Cathedral

La Giralda (Bell Tower) – 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. La Giralda functions as the cathedral’s bell tower. Tourists may climb to the top of the tower to admire the city views.

Seville Cathedral Bell Tower

The Sacristía Mayor, or Main Sacristy, of Seville Cathedral, is one of the most beautiful and important rooms in the entire cathedral. It is attached to the south side of the Cathedral de Sevilla with an anteroom called Antecabildo in between. Construction began in the early 16th century and ended in 1543. It is regarded as one of the greatest Renaissance architectural masterpieces.

Main Sacristy

The Seville Cathedral is home to 80 chapels, each one a unique and beautiful work of art. These chapels were built over the centuries by different patrons, and they reflect the changing styles of architecture and art that were popular at the time.

Main Chapel (Capilla Mayor) – The monumental Capilla Mayor dazzling altarpiece is gilded with real gold brought back from the Americas. It 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.

Main Chapel

Choir Stalls showcase the intricate woodwork, and the magnificent pipe organ stands behind the choir stalls. This instrument serves as a testament to both artistic expression and religious devotion.

Choir Stalls
The pipes are on both sides of the stalls
The pipes are on both sides of the stalls

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An Altar in one of the chapels

Altar

Stained Glass window – The stained glass windows of the Cathedral of Seville constitute one of the most extensive, homogeneous and best preserved groups of Spanish cathedrals. The one hundred and thirty-eight stained glass windows preserved also represent a magnificent chapter in the history of this technique in the Iberian Peninsula, from the 15th to the 20th century.

Annunciation Virgin Mary Stained Glass Window

The Tomb of Christopher Columbus – This is one of the main attractions of the cathedral for visitors, housing the remains of the great explorer who died in poverty in Valladolid. The tomb itself is more recent, from 1892, with four bearers presenting the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon, and Navarra.

Bull Farm

Seville is the cradle of the fighting bull; the first fighting bull farms were set up and the breeding and selection of this unique animal began centuries ago in the fields of the province. The bulls are carefully selected for breeding. They are tested on the ranch as if they were in a bullfighting arena. Those who show the most fighting spirit are destined for reproduction, and their calves will grow up and become “toros bravos” – those who go to the arena. The bulls live a free-range life until they are sent to the arena.

After visiting the bull farm, we stopped by the exhibit center.

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If you appreciate architecture and doors, please visit Dan’s Thursday Doors.

Thursday Doors – Seville 2

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