-Reji
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, Seville, Spain
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See (Spanish: Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville (Andalusia, Spain). It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world. The total area covers 11,520 square meters.
After its completion in the early 16th century, Seville Cathedral supplanted Hagia Sophia,Istanbl as the largest cathedral in the world, a title the Byzantine church had held for nearly a thousand years. The cathedral also serves as the burial site of Christopher Columbus. The cathedral was built to demonstrate Seville's wealth, as it had become a major trading center in the years after the Reconquista in 1248. In July 1401 it was decided to build a new temple, as the ancient Muslim mosque was in bad shape after a 1356 earthquake. According to the oral tradition of Seville, the decision of members of the chapter was: "Let a church so beautiful and so great that those who see it built will think we were mad". According to the minutes of that day, the new church should be: "a work such as good, which like no other." Construction began in 1402; it continued until 1506.
Seville Cathedral was built on the same large, rectangular base-plan of the grand Almohad Mosque it replaced, but the Christian architects added the extra dimension of height. The result is an astonishingly large building that breaks several size records. Measured by area, Seville Cathedral is the third largest in Europe after after St. Paul's Cathedral in London and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, but measured by volume, it surpasses them both. The builders used some columns and elements from the mosque, and most famously the Giralda, a minaret converted into a bell tower( bell tower or giralda not in the picture as it is on the other side). : Two parts of the mosque were thankfully preserved in the cathedral: the Moorish entrance court (Patio de los Naranjos); and the Giralda, originally a minaret, converted into a bell tower.The Giralda is the city's most famous symbol. Its square base is 13.61 metres and a height of 105 metres. It was built as a minaret of the old mosque, although the bell tower and spire top, is Renaissance.
The huge interior of the cathedral, with a central nave and four side aisles, is lavishly decorated. Gold is everywhere. But at the same time, there is a sense of overall simplicity and restraint in decoration, for the grand monuments are confined to the side aisles and the huge nave is left mostly empty. The supreme masterpiece of the cathedral was the life's work of a single craftsman, Fleming Pieter Dancart. Composed of 45 carved scenes from the life of Christ, it is carved in wood and covered with staggering amounts of gold. It is the largest and richest altarpiece in the world.
Other notable works of art in the cathedral include 15th-century stained-glass windows and the iron screens (rejas) closing off the chapels. During Corpus Christi and Immaculate Conception observances, altar boys with castanets dance in front of the high altar.
Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, Seville, Spain
The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See (Spanish: Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville (Andalusia, Spain). It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world. The total area covers 11,520 square meters.
After its completion in the early 16th century, Seville Cathedral supplanted Hagia Sophia,Istanbl as the largest cathedral in the world, a title the Byzantine church had held for nearly a thousand years. The cathedral also serves as the burial site of Christopher Columbus. The cathedral was built to demonstrate Seville's wealth, as it had become a major trading center in the years after the Reconquista in 1248. In July 1401 it was decided to build a new temple, as the ancient Muslim mosque was in bad shape after a 1356 earthquake. According to the oral tradition of Seville, the decision of members of the chapter was: "Let a church so beautiful and so great that those who see it built will think we were mad". According to the minutes of that day, the new church should be: "a work such as good, which like no other." Construction began in 1402; it continued until 1506.
Seville Cathedral was built on the same large, rectangular base-plan of the grand Almohad Mosque it replaced, but the Christian architects added the extra dimension of height. The result is an astonishingly large building that breaks several size records. Measured by area, Seville Cathedral is the third largest in Europe after after St. Paul's Cathedral in London and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, but measured by volume, it surpasses them both. The builders used some columns and elements from the mosque, and most famously the Giralda, a minaret converted into a bell tower( bell tower or giralda not in the picture as it is on the other side). : Two parts of the mosque were thankfully preserved in the cathedral: the Moorish entrance court (Patio de los Naranjos); and the Giralda, originally a minaret, converted into a bell tower.The Giralda is the city's most famous symbol. Its square base is 13.61 metres and a height of 105 metres. It was built as a minaret of the old mosque, although the bell tower and spire top, is Renaissance.
The huge interior of the cathedral, with a central nave and four side aisles, is lavishly decorated. Gold is everywhere. But at the same time, there is a sense of overall simplicity and restraint in decoration, for the grand monuments are confined to the side aisles and the huge nave is left mostly empty. The supreme masterpiece of the cathedral was the life's work of a single craftsman, Fleming Pieter Dancart. Composed of 45 carved scenes from the life of Christ, it is carved in wood and covered with staggering amounts of gold. It is the largest and richest altarpiece in the world.
Other notable works of art in the cathedral include 15th-century stained-glass windows and the iron screens (rejas) closing off the chapels. During Corpus Christi and Immaculate Conception observances, altar boys with castanets dance in front of the high altar.