2019-2020 Christmas Cruise - Andalusia: Sevilla 2

Today was a morning of churches and an afternoon of wandering. We walked north through the barrio to the Iglesia del Salvador (Church of the Savior). We started there primarily because it is a combination ticket with the Seville Cathedral, and buying the ticket at del Salvador lets you bypass the lines at the Cathedral. I’m glad we did. Bigger is not always better, and I ended up preferring this smaller church. (Tip for older travelers: always ask if there is a pensioners price. It’s usually available, and at a significant discount.)

Above a plaza 

A mosque first occupied this site. The bell tower incorporates part of the original minaret and the ubiquitous orange grove occupies the courtyard formerly used for ablutions.

In the small orange grove courtyard

The church, completed in 1712, is Andalusian Baroque. It’s been completely restored and is lovely.

Lamp angel


Top of a side altar catching light through a stained glass window 

Seville has a long tradition of elaborate Holy Week processions. The city is choked with thousands of spectators for the daily processions of statues carried through the streets by teams of 30-50 men carrying the floats, which can weigh up to three tons. The men are completely covered in cloaks; the work is anonymous and done from devotion. Several of the most beloved statues are kept in this church, removed only for the processions. The Christ statues, most carved string 1600, are remarkably humanistic, showing a man resigned and in anguish. 

Holy Week Palanquin 


Passion week statue being prepared for procession


Christ of Humbleness and Patience


Christ of the Afflicted

Although the Church of the Savior is the second largest church in Seville, it feels intimate and approachable. 

The cathedral, on the other hand, seems designed to make one feel small and insignificant. It’s the largest church in Spain and third largest in Europe, after St. Peter’s at the Vatican and St. Paul’s in London. It is also the largest Gothic church in the world. It’s (surprise!) built on the site of a former mosque which was demolished in 1401. 

As we’ve seen in so many Andalusian churches, the exterior courtyard formerly used for ablutions before entering the mosque has been adapted into a pleasant grove of orange trees. There’s a practical reason for this. These oranges aren’t for eating. In fact, they are quite bitter. But orange trees don’t lose their leaves, so provide cooling shade year round. 

The interior is vast, surrounded by side aisles and chapels. 

Huge iron grilles forged in the early 1500s guard the almost overwhelming Retablo Mayor behind the main altar. It’s a pictorial history of the life of Christ and Mary, read from bottom to top and left to right. It took three generations to complete the carvings, which were then plated with gold leaf. 





The tomb of Columbus is prominently displayed. His remains travelled almost as much as he did while alive. They were returned to Seville from Cuba (he died in Spain) after Cuba gained independence from Spain in 1902. 

The cathedral treasury displays the usual assortment of ornate vestments, implements and reliquaries, similar to other collections we’ve seen on this trip. Of note was a crown designed for a statue of Mary. It incorporates the world’s largest pearl into the torso of a little angel. 

The highlight of visiting the cathedral was climbing its bell tower, La Giralda. The original 1198 minaret is capped with a Renaissance belfry upon which a weathervane (or giraldello) depicting Faith turns. 

The top is reached by climbing 35 ramps and then a final flight of 17 steps. The ramps are paved with bricks and steepest in the lower levels. 

When this was a minaret, the muzzein would ride a donkey up the ramps five times a day to issue the call to prayer. Even without the donkey, I found this an easier way to climb a tower than those narrow stone circular staircases that lead up bell towers in most churches. There were good views out the many windows and from the top. 

The Alcázar palace and gardens beyond


Looking towards the river and the bullring 

A geocaching excursion was next on the agenda. The semicircular Plaza de España is about a mile from cathedral district. It was built as the centerpiece of the ill-timed 1929 Ibero-American exposition. Unfortunately, the exposition coincided with the stock market crash and the anticipated multitude of visitors did not materialize. 

The plaza is large and beautifully decorated with tile work representing each Spanish province and a large fountain. You can rent rowboats to navigate a canal crossed by colorful footbridges. It was clear most of the people trying this had never been near a rowboat. Many rowed backwards, others tried to split the task between two rowers, and our favorites stood in the stern and tried to push the boat along (backwards) with one paddle like a gondola. 

A small flamenco group was performing outside the center of the semi-circular Renaissance Neo-Moorish building embracing the plaza. 

Thus warmed up, we headed back to the Barrio de Santa Cruz where we had tickets to a flamenco concert at Casa del Flamenco. The venue is an intimate setting that presents a one hour concert of non-choreographed    performances. We both wished there had been some overview or explanation provided in the concert, but enjoyed the enthusiastic performances. 





Interesting fact: Taverns and restaurants here generally have hocks of Iberian ham hanging over the bar. We noticed today that they have little inverted umbrellas under them to catch any dripping fat.