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Tuesday April 15, 2008
Un Paseo
We tried to see a bit of Seville in the evening while it was still daylight. The Cathedral is within easy walking distance of our hotel, so that's where we headed.
The most noticeable feature of the cathedral is its sheer size (I could not get far enough away from it to squash it all into my lens from this angle). Apparently 3rd biggest in Europe? I think it may depend what criteria you apply, as another source says it is certified by the Guinness Book of Records as being the "largest Christian Church in the World" but then you have to exclude St Peters in Rome and maybe non-Catholic churches - so I am left unsure.
But Big it is, and it turns out it was built explicitly to impress - started in 1402 with building continuing for 100 years. It was built over the site of a mosque, and some of the features were absorbed into the cathedral. We did not go in, (apart from anything else the opening times made it impossible), but a fact that caught my eye was that it houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus, though his bones seem to have been in and out of interment more times than someone RIP might hope.
So this is my view of what seems to be an impressive door but I can't seem easily to find out either the name of it nor the road it's in. I found this 3D view of the cathedral for orientation....
..and here is another view from almost the same place, but facing into the square - pretty, in the dusk.
Posted by Christina at 9:38 PM. Category: Days Out
