Palaces, Gardens, and Cathedrals, oh my!
By Sullivan DenBleyker
Greetings from Seville! After a three-hour bus ride from Granada and a quick lunch, we headed out with our tour guide, Reme, to explore the ancient capital city of Andalusia. As we strolled through narrow, cobblestone streets and admired the colored terraces of the buildings, our tour guide shared with us the rich history of Seville. Originally a Roman city known as Hispalis, Seville fell under Umayyad control during the Islamic conquests in the early 8th century. After the fall of the caliphate of Córdoba, Seville was ruled by the Almoravids and Almohads. Lastly, after a long siege, Seville was surrendered to Ferdinand III of Castille-Leon in 1248.
Streets of Seville. Photographs by Sullivan DenBleyker.
The first stop on our tour was La Catedral de Sevilla, the third-largest cathedral in the Christian world. Constructed during the 15th century, this cathedral is an architectural mosaic of the Gothic and Mudéjar (Arabic) styles. Nowhere is this mosaicism so striking as in the cathedral’s largest tower, La Giralda (pictured below). The stones and bricks that constitute the tower form a visual representation of the history of Seville: the lowest layer contains large, limestone blocks with Latin engravings from the Roman period. Above that are smaller, organized bricks laid by the Muslims in Seville during the Almohad reign. This part of the tower served as a minaret for a mosque that preceded the cathedral. Lastly, the top of the tower is decorated in the Gothic style of the Catholics who succeeded the Almohads. The commanding appearance of La Giralda has a beauty that is distinctly Andalusian- a beauty borne from the repeated convergence of cultures and religions that occurred in Spain during the period we are studying.
Cathedral, minaret/Giralda tower, and marking stone. Photographs by Sullivan DenBleyker.
As we walked through the doors of the cathedral, we realized that the external edifice of the building was comparatively humble. The 42-meter vaulted ceilings, supported by dozens of pillars, are adorned with hundreds of chiseled arches that took our breath away. The walls of the cathedral were populated by several individual chapels that each contained treasures such as paintings by Murillo, the bones of saints, and the tomb of Christopher Columbus (though it does not contain a complete Columbus skeleton). The most spectacular treasure inside the cathedral was the largest altarpiece in Spain, known as the Golden Bible. This altarpiece stands 66 feet tall and boasts dozens of engravings that visually tell the story of the Bible.
The Golden Bible, Cathedral interior, and tomb of an archbishop. Photographs by Sullivan DenBleyker.
Lastly, before we left the cathedral, several of us took the opportunity to climb up 35 ramps to the top of the Giralda Tower. Although the trek up was long and painful, the beautiful view from the top allowed us to see all over Seville and the surrounding area.
The top of the Giralda Tower. Photographs by Sullivan DenBleyker.
Continuing our tour of Seville, we left the cathedral and came to the Real Alcázar de Sevilla, an opulent palace in the heart of Seville that is still used by the Spanish Royal Family. The majority of the construction of the Alcazar took place during the reign of Pedro I, who designed it in the Mudéjar style with the help of his friend Muhammed V, the Sultan of Granada. We were delighted to find a clear example of dialogue and coexistence that occurred between Christian Castille-Leon and the Muslim kingdom of Granada. As we walked through the Alcazar, we marveled at the adjacent Latin and Arabic engravings that decorated the walls which inscribed religious sentiments and useful knowledge on how to lead a happy life.
Inside the Alcazar. Photographs by Sullivan DenBleyker.
One particularly interesting location in the Alcazar was El Patio de las Doncellas (Courtyard of Maidens) (pictured below). Designed by Pedro I and Muhammed V, this courtyard is strikingly similar to the Courtyard of Lions at the Alhambra, which Muhammed V also designed. According to María Menochal’s book, The Ornament of the World, it is as if these two locations are in a conversation with one another, a shining example of “convivencia”. The two photos below picture both courtyards:
Lastly, we had an adventure with peacocks in the gardens at the Alcazar. As we marveled at the cyprus, magnolia, and palm trees that decorated the public gardens, several curious peacocks approached us to ask for food (and subsequently squawked at us if we had none to offer).
The gardens (and the real king) of Alcazar. Photographs by Sullivan DenBleyker.
We finished our walking tour of Seville by passing through the old Jewish neighborhood, now known as Santa Cruz, on our way back to the hotel. We took our last stop at la Cruz de la cerrajeria, which was a plaza decorated in the middle by an iron gazebo and cross, forged in 1692. This site was marked by a symbol in the shape of the Iberian peninsula with Sephardic Hebrew lettering, marking the presence of a Jewish community. This particular plaza was once the site of a Visigothic church, followed by a synagogue, and then became a Catholic church. However, the site was destroyed by the French army during the Napoleonic Wars. This last stop was a fitting conclusion to a day full of sites that demonstrated the beautiful and profound ways that cultures can converge.
I feel as though, I am there and getting smarter!