The Cathedral of Seville
If you’ve never visited a two thousand year old city, perhaps Seville might be a good place to start. Check in to one of the luxury hotels Seville Spain offers, and then set your sights on this major center for history. Two millennia has given Seville its own distinct flavor, with a heavy heritage — Baroque, Renaissance and Medieval. It also boasts influences from many culture, including Arabic and Roman. But, perhaps most impressive, is its cathedral, Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede (or Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See), the largest Gothic cathedral in the world.
The Cathedral’s original construction took one hundred and eighteen years, from 1401 to 1519; throughout the centuries, though, it encountered a number of obstacles, which meant that the building was fully completed until 1903, five hundred years later: in encountering a number of obstacles throughout the centuries: The dome of the cathedral collapsed five years after the building was first completed and work began again; three hundred and seventy-seven years later, the dome collapsed again, in 1888, because of an earthquake, and this time the work wasn’t finished for another fifteen years.
The church contains Spain’s longest nave, featuring the choir; the nave height reaches 137 feet. There’s also a carved retablo (or devotional painting) featuring scenes of the life of Christ. The Cathedral’s most famous architectural feature is the Giralda, the church’s bell tower, converted from a minaret, which is part of a mosque that was originally on the site in the 13th century.
The Cathedral is also well worth a visit because it contains the tomb of Christopher Columbus In the past, there has been some controversy over whether or not his bones are actually there, but recent DNA testing in the early 2000s, suggested that this is indeed the explorer’s final resting place.
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