Seville - Church - Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Sede - Exterior - Facade - South 03
The Cathedral of Seville is built on the old aljama mosque of the city, this shows the power that one culture exercises over another when it is conquered. This fact makes its plan different, facing Mecca and not Jerusalem, that is, facing south instead of east. It should be clarified that Mecca is oriented at 10o from Seville and not at 86o as the old mosque is oriented, this is due to the fact that in Al-Andalus the mosques had to be oriented towards the south quadrant and not towards the east, as the Christian churches did. When the Cathedral Chapter commissioned the design of the Gothic Cathedral, it stated verbatim that it wanted a Cathedral that everyone who saw it would take for crazy. For this, 5 naves were created that covered the 116 by 76 meter rectangle occupied by the Almohad mosque, this results, unlike what was usual in the great European Gothic Cathedrals, a hall plan with a Latin cross marked in height and in width by the central naves and the transept. This hall plan also results in the absence of an ambulatory at the head, which ends in a straight line like the wall of the old mosque. Later the Royal Chapel would be added, which is a Renaissance apse, but it does not really correspond to the Gothic company. In the naves of the Gospel and the Epistle, which are the lateral naves, there are many chapels. The 60 pillars support 68 ogive vaults, highlighting those of the transept and central nave with their star shapes. Instead of placing a clerestory, a continuous balcony was chosen along the main nave in order to be able to wander around the temple without being seen. Located in the central nave, in order from the feet, are the Retrochoir, the Choir, with two organs, the Transept, the Main Altar, the Back of Altar and the Royal Chapel.
Seville - Church - Cathedral of Santa Maria de la Sede - Exterior - Facade - South 03
The Cathedral of Seville is built on the old aljama mosque of the city, this shows the power that one culture exercises over another when it is conquered. This fact makes its plan different, facing Mecca and not Jerusalem, that is, facing south instead of east. It should be clarified that Mecca is oriented at 10o from Seville and not at 86o as the old mosque is oriented, this is due to the fact that in Al-Andalus the mosques had to be oriented towards the south quadrant and not towards the east, as the Christian churches did. When the Cathedral Chapter commissioned the design of the Gothic Cathedral, it stated verbatim that it wanted a Cathedral that everyone who saw it would take for crazy. For this, 5 naves were created that covered the 116 by 76 meter rectangle occupied by the Almohad mosque, this results, unlike what was usual in the great European Gothic Cathedrals, a hall plan with a Latin cross marked in height and in width by the central naves and the transept. This hall plan also results in the absence of an ambulatory at the head, which ends in a straight line like the wall of the old mosque. Later the Royal Chapel would be added, which is a Renaissance apse, but it does not really correspond to the Gothic company. In the naves of the Gospel and the Epistle, which are the lateral naves, there are many chapels. The 60 pillars support 68 ogive vaults, highlighting those of the transept and central nave with their star shapes. Instead of placing a clerestory, a continuous balcony was chosen along the main nave in order to be able to wander around the temple without being seen. Located in the central nave, in order from the feet, are the Retrochoir, the Choir, with two organs, the Transept, the Main Altar, the Back of Altar and the Royal Chapel.