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El blog de SEVILLA POR METRO CUADRADO

GATE OF CORDOBA

In almost all of the works that have described Seville since the 16th century, they speak of its “Roman” walls. Official historiography did not hesitate to trace its origin back to the times of Julius Caesar, as reflected in the founding legend of the city that appeared inscribed on a plaque at the Puerta de Jerez: "Hercules founded me, Julius Caesar surrounded me with walls and high towers. In fact, until just a few decades ago, the guides continued to allude to the Roman origin of the Seville fence.

Thus, they were endowed with much more antiquity, within the tendency to extol the Roman past as the main cultural substratum over the Islamic contribution.

It is true that Seville had some Roman walls that have been verified archaeologically, but they enclosed a much smaller space that was limited to an area that extended approximately between Martín Villa, Laraña and Imagen streets, to the north, and the area from the cathedral and the fortress, to the south. The wall that reached contemporary times is the one built by the Almohads in the 12th century, although there are authors who trace its origins back a few decades and attribute them to the Almoravids.

They built an enormous wall marked out by towers of more than 7 kilometers in length, which closed off a space of 273 hectares. The dimensions were so enormous that the intramural area was not filled by the city until centuries later. The few canvases that have come down to us belonged to these walls: the one that develops between the Macarena arch and the Puerta de Córdoba, the one in the Valle gardens and the one that runs along Calle del Agua to the Alcázar in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz. In addition, there are many other fragments masked among the current buildings in various parts of the city.

We know the location of many of the entrances that the Almohad walled enclosure had. In the Puerta de la Macarena there was the bab Maqarana, in the one in Córdoba the bab Qurtuba, at the end of Sol street the bab al-Sams, in Puerta Jerez the bab Saris and possibly in the postigo del Aceite the bab Zayt. In addition, we know that there were other entrances whose names are not clear, such as those of Puerta Osario, Puerta de la Carne or Puerta de Triana, which is said to be the most beautiful of all the Muslim fences.

Of all of them, only the Aceite shutter and the Macarena and Córdoba gates have survived to us, although in a very partial way. Most of the walls and their gates were demolished in the second half of the 19th century, especially during the Democratic Six-year period, between 1868 and 1874. The reasons given were mainly urban. It was believed that the walls restricted Seville in some way and made its expansion impossible following modern and rational criteria.

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There was a prevailing current of thought that identified the permanence of walled enclosures in Spanish cities with the decadence and lack of progress that they wanted to overcome. In a very beautiful way, Bécquer shares this feeling in some verses dedicated to Ávila in 1864:

Almost lost in the twilight mist and enclosed within its jagged walls, the ancient city, homeland of Santa Teresa, Ávila, the one with the dark, narrow and crooked streets, the one with the dust-covered balconies, the corners with altarpieces and the eaves. outgoing There is the population, today as in the 16th century, silent and stagnant.

The fact that the walls were almost complete until such recent times makes it possible for there to be numerous engravings, paintings, drawings and even photographs of its main entrances. However, it must be said that the doors that appear in these images do not correspond to the original ones of the Almohad fence, but rather belong to the reconstructions carried out from the 16th century, therefore they present a stylistic variety that ranges between Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassicism according to their chronology.

This is the case of the Macarena arch, which only shares its location with the Almoha door, since as we see it today it is the result of an 18th century work, when it was completely redone.

The reason why the Almohad entrances were replaced by others made after the arrival of the Christians has to do above all with issues of transit. The Muslim entrances were layered to allow their defense in a more effective way. That is to say, they were made up of several doors arranged at an angle forming turns that made them more difficult to attack. When the Christian conquest of the Peninsula was consolidated, this reinforced security became unnecessary and also caused bottleneck problems in the entry and exit of people and merchandise, especially as the use of horse-drawn carriages spread. Thus, the authorities successively undertook to replace the original entrances with others that were simpler in structure, with a large central opening open on both sides through which it was much easier to navigate.

The only entrance from which we can still see something of its original Almohad traces is the Puerta de Córdoba. As it has come down to us, it is a robust rectangular tower with two horseshoe-arched doors open on two sides, forming a 90º angle. This body would originally be inscribed in a larger fortified space, which had a third door open to the outside and now disappeared. If attacking theorists managed to get past this third gate, they still had two more to break down, while the city's defenders could harass them from the top of the walls.

The fact that it is the only preserved door is not the result of chance. Since the Middle Ages, the legend had spread that this was the place where the Visigothic prince Hermenegildo was imprisoned, after having revolted against his father Leovigildo, proclaiming himself king. Hermenegildo had justified his disloyalty in his conversion to Catholicism, which in theory prevented him from maintaining his fidelity to an Arian king. This circumstance would cause Hermenegildo over time to be identified by official and Catholic historiography as a precursor martyr of the catholicity of Spain. In this vein, he was canonized in 1585 and has since been considered one of the patron saints of the Hispanic Monarchy. The places related to his history or his legend became almost sacred. This explains why in the 17th century the church of San Hermenegildo, which we can see today, was built next to the door.

Although incomplete, this meant that the gate was saved from the great destruction of the wall in the 19th century and has come down to us, at least partially. Seville's taste for legends, which inhabit each of the corners of this city, served in this case so that today we can contemplate a beautiful testimony of the monumental walls of Isbiliya from the 12th century.

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PHARMACY OF AURELIO MURILLO IN TRIANA

The building of the Aurelio Murillo Pharmacy, currently the Santa Ana pharmacy, is one of the most emblematic in Altozano de Triana. It was built between 1912 and 1914 by the architect José Espiau y Muñoz and is one of the jewels of regionalist art in the neighborhood. We have spoken of its author on other occasions, since among his works are some of the most iconic of the 20th century in Seville, such as the Hotel Alfonso XIII in Puerta de Jerez, or the magnificent building of La Adriática, on Avenida de the Constitution.

Specifically, the facade of the pharmacy shows a beautiful neo-Mudejar style. It is made of exposed brick and the windows and balconies are shaped like lobed semicircular arches, framed by alfices that combine ceramic decoration with plaster reliefs.

Fortunately, the interior of the pharmacy has largely retained its original appearance. Especially outstanding are its tile panels, made by Montalbán ceramics following the design of Francisco Murillo and Manuel Vigil-Escalera.

The furniture and the so-called botamen, the collection of pharmaceutical containers, which has around 200 pieces, have also been magnificently preserved.

It is one of the most interesting buildings that surround this beautiful Triana square. And it is that the Altozano has been in some way the nerve center of the life of the neighborhood throughout its history. The main reason is obvious: it is the square where the oldest bridge that connects Triana with Seville reaches.

In addition, before the current one was built around 1850, the famous Bridge of Boats also reached this same point, arranged for the first time to join both riverbanks by the Muslims around the 12th century. It was made up of a series of around ten boats, moored to each other, on which a wooden platform was placed that allowed the river to be crossed. This unstable solution was the only fixed connection between Seville and its Triana suburb for more than seven centuries.

In addition, also since the Islamic period, a fortification for the defense of the city was built next to this esplanade, which would be known as Castillo de San Jorge after the Christian conquest of the city. It was located in the place that today is occupied by the Marcado de Triana and had the particularity of serving as the headquarters of the Inquisition in Seville, for which we know that many of those accused by this institution were imprisoned and tortured there.

But the current appearance of the Altozano corresponds above all to the reforms undertaken in the first decades of the 20th century, when it was widened to allow the tram to turn from the bridge onto Calle San Jorge.

It is at this time when the beautiful regionalist buildings that surround the space are built. The most iconic and recognizable of them is the famous Capilla del Carmen, built between 1924 and 1929 following the project of Aníbal González, the best architect of this style and also probably the best of the 20th century in Seville.

Another great regionalist architect who left his mark on Altozano is José Gómez Millán. Around 1927, he designed the magnificent building that makes a chamfer between San Jacinto and San Jorge streets, recognizable by its characteristic glass balconies. And at the other end of the square, occupying number 5, we can mention the large building with an exposed brick facade designed by Jesús Yanguas Santafé. Originally it served as the headquarters for the first telephone exchange in Triana and today it houses the Akela bar below.

In short, among the innumerable attractions of Triana, there is also that of bringing together a magnificent collection of regionalist-style buildings, which remarkably embellished the main streets of the neighborhood at the beginning of the 20th century. And as we have told, we can see a good sample of them as soon as we cross the bridge, entering that square full of history of Seville that is the Altozano.

Tumba de Cristóbal Colón, Catedral de Sevilla

THE LAST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS

Christopher Columbus is one of the most famous characters in the history of mankind. It is true that in the last century the almost epic narrative of his achievements has been nuanced, giving way to a more critical view of the figure of the admiral. Today, it is questioned everything related to his behavior with the inhabitants of the newly discovered territories and the process of conquest of America that begins with him. In any case, there is no doubt that his determination to travel to the West, although his initial calculation was wrong, ended up being a turning point in the history of the incipient Hispanic Monarchy. That Columbus undertook his journeys under the flag of Castile would end up having incalculable repercussions on the historical future of our country, Europe and America, so the relevance of the character is indisputable.

Columbus's relationship with Seville was intense even before his first voyage and we know that he had frequent and prolonged stays in the Carthusian monastery of Santa María de las Cuevas, between 1484 and 1492. There he obtained advice and the support of the monks in all the process prior to the approval of your project by the Crown. He established a special relationship with the monk Gaspar Gorricio de Novara, who in addition to being his friend, came to act as his treasurer and archivist.

After returning from his first voyage in 1493, Columbus would spend most of the time he lived in Spain in Seville, since the so-called Puerto de Indias was located in the city from the beginning. It must be remembered that the admiral would make three more trips to America, and that all the preparations and procedures before and after would be carried out above all in Seville.

However, his death would reach him in Valladolid in 1506, where he had traveled following the court of Fernando el Católico. There he was buried in the convent of San Francisco, now disappeared. Three years later, in 1509, his remains would be brought to Seville, to the aforementioned Monastery of Santa María de las Cuevas. Along with him, his son Diego would also be buried in 1526. His widow, Viceroy María Álvarez de Toledo, ordered the transfer of the remains of both her husband and her father-in-law to Hispaniola in 1544, receiving burial in the cathedral of Santo Domingo.

They remained there until 1795, the year in which Spain ceded the island to France by virtue of the Treaty of Basel, making sure before transferring the remains of Columbus to the Havana cathedral. It would not be the admiral's last posthumous voyage. In 1898, when the island of Cuba was also lost, his remains were brought back to Spain. Various locations were proposed to bury them, such as the Monastery of La Rábida in Huelva, the Royal Chapel of Granada, the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba or the Cathedral of Cádiz. In the final decision to bring them to Seville weighed the criteria of a descendant of the admiral, Cristóbal Colón de la Cerda, Duke of Veragua, who was Minister of Public Works and the Navy in the Regency of María Cristina and in the reign of Alfonso XIII.

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The remains were received in the city on January 19, 1899, being deposited in the crypt of the Archbishops of the cathedral. From there they would be transferred in 1902 to the sepulcher made by the Valencian sculptor and architect Arturo Mélida, originally intended for the Havana cathedral. In Seville it was placed on the epistle side of the transept, between an enormous fresco depicting Saint Christopher, by Mateo Pérez Alesio, and the chapel of the Virgen de la Antigua. This dedication always had a large number of faithful among the navigators and the survivors of the first circumnavigation of the world appeared before it in 1522. The door that gives direct access to this space, called San Cristóbal or del Príncipe, had very few years when the funerary monument was inaugurated, although the neo-Gothic style in which it was made hides the chronological difference with the rest of the cathedral.

Arturo Mélida made one of his two main works from an artistic point of view here, precisely next to the Columbus Monument in the square of the same name in Madrid. In the Sevillian case, he made a funerary monument in the historicist and romantic style predominant between the 19th and 20th centuries. Four heralds whose ample clothing recreates those of the time of Columbus, support the admiral's sarcophagus on stretchers carried on their shoulders, forming a composition of great rotundity despite the smooth lines typical of romantic sculpture. Each of them wears a breastplate with one of the symbols of the four original kingdoms that made up the monarchy of the Catholic Monarchs: Castilla, León, Aragón and Navarra.

In the front part, the herald of Castile holds an oar with his right hand, a symbol of the leading role of this crown in the navigation of the Atlantic. On the other side, the herald of Aragon holds a long raised cross, which sticks its lower end in a pomegranate, symbols of the triumph of the Christian faith as unique in Spain and of the conquest of the Nasrid kingdom, the same year of the Discovery. On each side of the cloth that covers the sarcophagus appear the shields of the Catholic Monarchs and of Christopher Columbus himself. In the lower part, again the coat of arms of the Elizabethan monarchy, gold and polychrome, around which an inscription recalls the deposit of the remains in the cathedral of Havana.

To be honest, it must be said that the fact that the mortal remains of Christopher Columbus rest in our cathedral is not universally accepted. Mainly from the Dominican Republic it is maintained that they are in a mammoth lighthouse-mausoleum that they built in his honor in the capital. They argue that an error occurred when moving the remains to Havana and that the real ones remained in Santo Domingo, as evidenced by an inscription that appeared on the chest of the remains that they defend as authentic. It has also been written about the theory that the remains never really left one of their first locations in the monastery of Santa María de las Cuevas, of the Sevillian Carthusians.

What we can say with certainty is that in 2006 an investigation by the Identification Laboratory of the University of Granada showed that the remains corresponded to those of Diego Colón's brother, with whom they share identical mitochondrial DNA, transmitted from the mother. to son. They are, therefore, the mortal remains of Christopher Columbus.

It is true that what is preserved in the cathedral is a relatively small percentage of what is a human skeleton, so we can say that we do not know if Columbus also rests elsewhere, but it is certain that he rests in Seville.

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Santas Justa y Rufina en la Puerta del Bautismo

THE SAINTS JUSTA AND RUFINA IN THE DOOR OF THE BAPTISM

The Cathedral of Seville is a splendid display of the history of art in the city. It ranges from the Almohad style of the 12th century in which the original mosque was built, and which is visible above all in the first sections of the Giralda, to the neo-Gothic style in which its last doors were completed at the beginning of the 20th century.

The defining features of the building as a whole are those of a huge Gothic cathedral, the largest in Christendom in this style. It is a late Gothic style, from the 15th and 16th centuries, which is why a large part of its sculptural decoration and the Royal Chapel at its head already show Renaissance features. Most of the magnificent altarpieces, paintings and works of imagery that populate its numerous chapels correspond to the Baroque period.

The Door of Baptism that we are talking about today corresponds to one of the first moments of this passage between the successive styles. It corresponds to the beginning of the 15th century, a time in which the replacement of the old Almohad mosque, which had been used as a cathedral with many reforms, was addressed by a new building with Gothic traces, more in keeping with the relevant role that Seville already occupied in the Crown of Castile.

The old mosque is demolished except for part of its courtyard and its minaret, which will become the first bodies of the Christian bell tower. At the same time, the new Gothic building begins to rise from its feet, that is, from the façade that faces the current Avenida de la Constitución, so this Façade of Baptism is the oldest in the Gothic temple together with its partner, the Cover of San Miguel.

It is an entirely Gothic door in its conception and in its forms. It is formed by a pointed pointed arch, crowned by a gable with tracery decoration. Elements as defining Gothic as the gargoyles, the pinnacles or the crests are also visible in the decoration of the door. On the side jambs are placed under canopies the sculptures of six saints linked to the city of Seville. Similarly, in the archivolts are the figures of ten old prophets and an angel, located in the hollow of the vertex.

The Baptism scene is represented on the tympanum, with Jesus in the center, covered only by a cloth on his hips and in an attitude of blessing towards his left. Saint John is located on this side, in an attitude of baptizing the Lord. To the left is an angel holding the garments of Jesus. The three figures are also covered by canopies and a dragon appears at the Lord's feet, as a symbol of the sin averted through baptism.

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The sculptural decoration of the portal forms an iconographic program around the idea of ​​baptism as an initiation rite to Christianity, in analogy with the act of entering the cathedral, leaving out the world of sin.

Responding to this general idea, the saints that appear on the jambs are from Seville or linked to Seville, considered precursors of Christianity in the city, pioneers of baptism as a way of initiation to the "true faith". They are placed in pairs following a somewhat complex order of precedence. The most important couple is made up of the saints Justa and Rufina, located on both sides, occupying the niches in the foreground, those closest to the viewer. Both were the first Sevillian saints, since their history is set in a time as remote as the 3rd century. In addition, they died martyred for not renouncing their faith.

The following in terms of relevance would be San Leandro and San Isidoro, who are placed in the spaces closest to the door. Both saints were bishops of the city between the 6th and 7th centuries, and they are probably the most outstanding figures of Hispanic Catholicism during the Visigoth kingdom. In third place are Saint Fulgencio and Saint Florentina, in the intermediate jambs, almost in profile and less visible from a frontal point of view. Their link with Seville was less than in the previous cases, although they appear on the cover following the iconographic trend of representing them together with Leandro and Isidoro, since they were all brothers, known as the Four Saints of Cartagena.

In accordance with the historical moment in which it was made, the sculptures that decorate the door are made in a final Gothic style in which the first glimpses of Renaissance art are beginning to be seen in the city. The two figures of prophets that appear at the beginning of the archivolt are the work of Pedro Millán, the first sculptor born in Seville that we know of. Both old men are holding some cartouches with their names on them, and they appear seated on the ground, showing the late Gothic features of Flemish influence characteristic of their author, such as the restrained expressions on their faces or the plasticity and profusion of folds in the clothing.

Although chronologically earlier, the six saints on the side jambs are stylistically closer to the Renaissance style. They were made in fired clay by the French-born sculptor Lorenzo Mercadante de Bretaña. The choice of this material was due to the fact that from very early on it was possible to verify how inappropriate the stone used for sculptural decoration was. Most of the cathedral is made of stone from the San Cristóbal hill in Puerto de Santa María. It is characterized by being quite porous and having little plasticity, which makes detailed work very difficult. It is for this reason that it was decided to use fired clay to complete the decoration of the portal.

In this way, Mercadante de Bretaña opted for this material, which will also be used in the sculptural decoration of the covers of San Miguel, Campanillas, Palos and El Perdón. The data that we have about the author is very limited and the most important works that we know of him are those related to the cathedral: the decoration of these two western portals and the previous creation of the magnificent sepulcher of Cardinal Cervantes, which is located in the chapel of San Hermenegildo.

In Mercadante's work one can see the first traits of Renaissance sculpture in Seville, such as greater naturalism, more concerned with the harmony of proportions. This can be seen in the figures of the saints Justa and Rufina, whose clothes have a fairly realistic treatment, creating forceful volumes, which distance them from the more decorative role that sculpture had during the Gothic, to bring them closer to a certain extent to monumentality. of classical statuary.

However, the Gothic features are still very present, as we can see in the rigidity of the positions or in the features of the face, with the characteristic contained and somewhat inexpressive smile, so common in the Gothic. In addition, his clothes have little to do with those of two ancient characters. They are more like the habits of contemporary nuns than those of any female character from Roman times. Apart from the Sevillian context, the only attributes that allow us to identify the figures as Justa and Rufina are the clay pots that appear at their feet.

But apart from their artistic value, the saints on the Baptism portal have the added value of being the first representations of Justa and Rufina that have been preserved in Seville. Both would later be profusely represented, not only in the cathedral and in churches in Seville, but also as part of the private collections of many Sevillians. And it is that the saints enjoyed a great devotion in the city from very early times, linked to the fact that they were Sevillian and also potters, a craft activity with an enormous presence in the city throughout its history.

According to tradition, based mainly on the story of Saint Isidoro, Justa and Rufina ran a stall for the sale of their clay containers at the end of the 3rd century, which is generally located in Triana, a neighborhood from which it is believed that they were natives. . It was a time when there were still very few Christians in Seville and the majority beliefs among the population were pagan, typical of Rome. Related to one of these cults, a procession was held with an image of Salammbo, to which the saints refused to worship or give donations, alleging that they were Christians and that they believed in one God. There was a struggle with the celebrants of the procession, who attacked the pottery stall and the saints, in response, knocked down the idol of Salammbo, which fell to the ground breaking and showing that it was also made of clay.

As a result of this they are imprisoned and subjected to all kinds of torture with the aim of making them abjure their faith, until finally both die martyred without renouncing Christ, despite the long list of hardships that according to the stories they had to go through.

The story of Justa and Rufina, with a clear edifying objective that is typical of the stories of martyrs, always permeated Sevillians, to the point that both are intimately linked to the main icon of the city, the Giralda. And it is that the most common way of representing them, in addition to the vessels and the palms of martyrdom, is on both sides of the tower of the cathedral of Seville, since from very early on the belief spread that the Giralda was kept standing thanks to the divine intervention of the potter sisters, who held it every time the city was shaken by an earthquake.

So the link between the saints and the Seville cathedral could not be closer and it is logical that we find its oldest representation in it. Obviously, the two sculptures of Mercadante de Bretaña are not the only representations of them that we find in the cathedral. To cite just a few examples, we can mention the painting by Hernando de Esturmio on the bench of the altarpiece in the chapel of the Evangelists, in which the author hints at his Dutch origin both in the features of the saints and in the characteristics of the landscape. It has the particularity that it was made before the Renaissance sections of the tower were built, so it is a beautiful testimony of how the Giralda was during the first centuries of Christian domination.

Much later, from 1817, is the canvas made by Goya for the Sacristy of the Chalices. It shows the saints wearing clothes that denote their popular origin and alters the traditional iconography, since it does not only represent the Giralda, but a diffuse profile of the entire cathedral that appears behind the sisters. It has the touching detail of a lion that licks Rufina's foot with the attitude of a puppy, recalling the episode in which she was confronted by a lion in the city's amphitheater and he only licked her clothes, according to traditional narration. . It seems that Goya used all means to satisfy the Cathedral Chapter with his work and visited the city several times to document himself. Perhaps that is why the faces of both figures show a clear influence of Murillo. is that, although it is not in the cathedral but in the Museum of Fine Arts, it is worth mentioning the Justa and Rufina made by Murillo around 1666. Probably the most famous and beautiful representation that has ever been made of this subject, a true masterpiece within the brilliant production of the author.

So the artistic theme of Justa and Rufina, which opens on the cover of the Baptism, will not only be widely distributed, but also of exceptional quality in the city. Seville has seen its patron saints represented by artists of the stature of Goya, Murillo or Velázquez himself, of whom an exquisite Santa Rufina is preserved in the Hospital de los Venerables, in the heart of the Santa Cruz neighbourhood.

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Portada del Perdón de la catedral de Sevilla

‘CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE’ AT THE PUERTA DEL PERDÓN

The Puerta del Perdón of the Cathedral of Seville and its surroundings constitute an enclave of great artistic and aesthetic value in which it is possible to read about some of the most significant episodes in the history of the city.

To begin with, it should be noted that it is the main entrance to the aljama mosque on which the Christian cathedral was built. The new construction from the 15th and 16th centuries is a grandiose Gothic building in its general conception, but retains some of the elements of its predecessor. Among others, the space currently occupied by the Patio de los Naranjos coincides with the old ablutions patio of the mosque, while its main entrance is also preserved in the Puerta del Perdón.

It is a large Almohad horseshoe arch framed in its upper half by a plasterwork decoration that follows arabesque patterns, but was already made in the 16th century. What has been preserved from the original work are the two magnificent bronze-coated leaves of the door, which are profusely decorated with geometric motifs, lacework, atauriques and Kufic writing with verses from surahs 15 and 24 of the Koran. The two large knockers stand out for their beauty, splendid examples of the mastery achieved in Muslim Seville for bronze work.

In the 16th century, the Cathedral Chapter decided to reform the door, giving it a new iconographic meaning. To this end, its decoration was entrusted to the French-born sculptor Miguel Perrin, who had already worked with good results on the realization of 16 figures for the new dome, raised after the collapse of the original dome in 1511. In the door that concerns us, he made between 1519 and 1522 a sculptural program in fired clay, placing on both sides two monumental figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, about 2.5 meters high. Higher and on a smaller scale, it places an Annunciation, with the Angel on one side of the door and the Virgin on the other. Commissioned by the Cabildo, the relief depicting The Expulsion of the Merchants from the Temple is placed over the entrance opening.

Perrin's own artistic language is already clearly Renaissance. In this relief we can appreciate it in elements such as the naturalism of the figures, the care of its proportions and the fact that it locates the scene in a three-dimensional space, worrying about the effects of perspective and revealing clearly classical architectural forms in the background. The author shows himself with great mastery in this work, as one of the first and most complete introducers of the artistic Renaissance in Seville. This can be seen if we approach the nearby doors of Palos and Campanillas, in the Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, for whose eardrums he made the scenes of the Adoration of the Magi and the Entry into Jerusalem, respectively, in addition to the sculptures of angels and prophets that frame them.

The scenes to be represented in relief were logically determined by the Cathedral Chapter. In the case of the Door of Forgiveness, a passage of Jesus is represented in the Temple of Jerusalem that the four Gospels collect. Matthew, for example, narrates it thus:

And Jesus entered the temple of God, and drove out all those who bought and sold in it, and overturned the tables of the changers and the chairs of those who sold doves; And he says to them: It is written: My house will be called a house of prayer; But you have made it a den of thieves. (Mt. 21, 12-13)

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It seems clear that the canons wanted to send a resounding message with the choice of theme, recalling this particular passage to the merchants who made their deals in spaces annexed to the cathedral.

It should be noted that the surroundings of the Puerta del Perdón constituted a space in which commercial activity in the city had traditionally been concentrated. Already in Islamic times, the so-called Alcaicería de la Seda was located just opposite, on both sides of the current Hernando Colón street, a commercial area specializing in luxury products such as fabrics, goldsmith's pieces or perfumes. Thus, the Muslim custom of locating the main centers of commerce next to the aljama mosques was followed. This activity continued to be predominant in the area after the arrival of the Christians and even today we can see the traces of old shops open towards Calle Alemanes, in the arcaded spaces that open up on the ground floor of several of their homes.

But the presence of dealers around the cathedral skyrocketed above all as a result of the discovery of America and the decision of the Crown to centralize all trade with the New World in Seville. In this way, the steps of the cathedral became the showcase in which all kinds of merchandise were bought and sold. There are stories that tell us about the bustle of the place and how it was filled with stalls and stalls, probably constituting the busiest and busiest space in the city.

Among the many products traded in the area were also slaves. The steps of the cathedral were the main scene of the trade of human beings in the city, coming mainly from Africa, both from the Maghreb area and from the south of the Sahara. There is numerous documentation that tells us about the growing importance of the slave trade in Seville in the 16th century, pushed by the economic boom that brought the status of Puerto de Indias. Although human trafficking was a common and generally accepted activity in Europe at the time, slavery remains one of the saddest aspects of the city's history.

Right in front of the Puerta del Perdón we find a detail that allows us to remember this past. On the collar of one of the columns of the arcades one can read ARIAS CORREA HE WASHED THIS HOUSE IN THE YEAR OF 1591. We know of this character that he was an important slave trader who decided to build his home next to the place where the business of he.

Despite the clear message launched with the relief of The expulsion that we have been talking about, it seems that the members of the Cabildo did not manage to put an end to the problem and the complaints presented throughout the century are constant. They even point out how the merchants do not hesitate to close their deals inside the cathedral on rainy days.

Aware of the problem of the lack of adequate spaces in the city for the development of large-scale commercial exchanges, Felipe II ordered the construction of a Lonja in 1584, the magnificent Renaissance building designed by Juan de Herrera that is the current headquarters of the Archivo de Indians.

Its completion in 1598 would notably alleviate the commercial pressure around the cathedral, but the area around the Puerta del Perdón continued to be a busy space with intense occupation by small businesses. In fact, there are engravings and paintings that show these stalls and stalls in a beautiful and romantic way, as late as the 19th century.

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GATES OF THE CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE

The Cathedral has numerous doorways to the outside:

– On the west side, three on the facade of the feet, towards the Avenida de la Constitución, called Baptism, Asunción and San Miguel.

– Two on both sides of the transept, called de la Concepción and de San Cristóbal or del Príncipe, made at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th under the direction of the architect Fernández Casanova.

– Two at the head, called Palos and Bells.

– One at one end of the pseudo-girola, at the foot of the Giralda, known as Puerta del Lagarto.

– Finally, the so-called Puerta del Perdón, through which the Patio de los Naranjos is accessed from the outside.

 

Facade of the west side (Avenida de la Constitución)

It has three portals, the ones on both sides being known as Baptism and San Miguel or Birth, Gothic from the 15th century. In the center, the main gate, called the Asunción, was not built until the 19th century in a neo-Gothic style.

The two Gothic doors have sculptural decoration by Lorenzo Mercadante and Pedro Millán

In the tympanum of the first the Baptism of Christ is represented and on both sides of the door, the saints Justa and Rufina and the four saint brothers of Cartagena: Leandro, Isidoro, Fulgencio and Florentina.

In the tympanum of the second, a Nativity is represented and on the sides of the door appear, among others, the four evangelists, Saint Laureano and Saint Hermenegildo.

In the tympanum of the central doorway we find an Assumption of the Virgin made in the 19th century by Ricardo Bellver.

 

Facade of the eastern side (Plaza Virgen de los Reyes)

At the head of the cathedral are the doors of Palos and Las Campanillas, which owe their names to previous ones located in the same place that connected the cathedral with the Corral de los Olmos, the former seat of the Cabildo that was located in the current Virgin of the Kings square.

Both are made in the 16th century in Gothic style, although the sculptural decoration is already Renaissance. On the tympanums, an Adoration of the Magi and the Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem are represented, respectively, completed with various figures of angels and prophets on the sides of the doors. They are works in fired clay by Miguel Perrin.

 

Puerta del Perdón (Gate of Forgiveness)

It gives access to the Patio de los Naranjos. It is made up of a pointed horseshoe arch from the Almohad period, decorated in its archivolt with plateresque plasterwork from the 16th century.

On both sides of the door are the figures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul and an Annunciation. Above it a relief depicting the Expulsion of the Merchants from the Temple. They are all made in plaster by Miguel Perrin between 1519 and 1520.

The theme of the Expulsion of the Merchants was chosen by the Cathedral Chapter to send a message to the numerous merchants linked to trade with America who used spaces in the cathedral to make their deals. At this time the Lonja or Casa de Indias that would serve this purpose had not yet been built.

The doors are an Almohad work from the 12th century, made of wood covered with bronze sheeting and decorated with lacework, atauriques and Kufic inscriptions.

THE DOME OF THE MAGDALENE CHURCH

The Magdalena church in Seville is one of the most outstanding examples of Baroque art in Seville. And this is saying a lot for a city whose heritage includes buildings such as the Hospital de la Caridad, San Luis de los Franceses or the Colegial del Salvador, to name just a few of the magnificent achievements of the 17th and 18th centuries.

The current parish of La Magdalena was originally built as the church of the Dominican convent of San Pablo, which occupied an extensive area of ​​more than 30,000 m2 between the current church and Gravina street. The convent had a primitive temple in Mudejar style, but its dilapidated state made the friars decide at the end of the 17th century to demolish it and build a new church, which is the one that has come down to us.

In 1835 it is expropriated by the State within the framework of the confiscation process and the monks are exclaustrated. All the land of the former convent is parceled out and sold for housing construction, with the exception of the Montserrat church and chapel, which remain to this day, and the main cloister, which for a time served as the offices of the administration until it was pulled down as early as the 20th century.

The church of La Magdalena was a few meters further east, where today is the square with this name. It suffered serious damage during the Napoleonic invasion and, although its reconstruction was initially projected, when the church of the convent was freed, it was decided to move the parish there and leave the aforementioned square in the place of the original. In this way, the primitive conventual church of San Pablo became the parish of La Magdalena.

Obviously, it is necessary to take this past into account when attempting to artistically describe the building, since a large part of its characteristics and iconographic program can only be explained if we understand the church as part of a convent of the Dominican order.

In fact, it was the largest Dominican convent in Andalusia, which explains the monumentality of the church. Its history is closely linked not only to that of the city, but also to that of the Crown of Castile. King Fernando III led to its foundation after the conquest of the city in 1248, ceding to the Dominicans some land that at that time was located next to the Triana Gate of the walls. That is why the convent carried from its origins the name of San Pablo el Real.

The Dominicans were an order closely linked to the Inquisition since its creation by Pope Gregory IX in the 13th century. When in 1478 the institution was created in Castile under the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, this convent was the first seat of the court in Seville and therefore the first trials and death sentences were held in the city.

In fact, it was the largest Dominican convent in Andalusia, which explains the monumentality of the church. Its history is closely linked not only to that of the city, but also to that of the Crown of Castile. King Fernando III led to its foundation after the conquest of the city in 1248, ceding to the Dominicans some land that at that time was located next to the Triana Gate of the walls. That is why the convent carried from its origins the name of San Pablo el Real.

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The Dominicans were an order closely linked to the Inquisition since its creation by Pope Gregory IX in the 13th century. When in 1478 the institution was created in Castile under the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, this convent was the first seat of the court in Seville and therefore the first trials and death sentences were held in the city.

After the discovery of America in 1492, Seville became the seat of the Port of the Indies and centralized all overseas trade. It will be the beginning of a time of splendor to which the convent will not be oblivious. It must be remembered that among the declared priorities of the Crown was always the evangelization of the new territories, so Seville had to be filled with convents and monasteries, from which the religious who would go to America with this mission came. The convent of San Pablo stood out among all of them in this mission, due in part to the very nature of the order, whose official name is Ordo Praedicatorum, that is, order of preachers. In this way, many of the clerics sent to evangelize America and the Philippines came from here. Among them, the famous Fray Bartolomé de las Casas, theologian and jurist known as "the defender of the Indians", who was consecrated bishop of Chiapas in this same church.

Its construction took place between 1691 and 1709, directed by the architect Leonardo de Figueroa, probably the most prominent figure in all of Sevillian baroque architecture. This is shown by his intervention in such relevant buildings of this period in the city as the Hospital de la Caridad, El Salvador, San Luis de los Franceses and the Palacio de San Telmo.

The new construction would preserve some elements of the Mudejar Gothic church that preceded it, such as the marked polygonal head and what is now the Quinta Angustia chapel, which in the Mudejar church were three adjoining chapels on the epistle side, annexed between yes forming the current one with the baroque reform.

Focusing on the magnificent dome, it was the first built in Seville on a drum, followed in this characteristic by those of El Salvador and San Luis de los Franceses, also designed by Leonardo de Figueroa. Specifically, it is an octagonal drum, on which stands the hemisphere topped by a large lantern, also octagonal. An enormous wrought iron royal crown is placed as a finishing touch, recalling the foundation of the convent by the royal initiative of Fernando III and its strong historical link with the Crown.

It is the first dome built by Leonardo de Figueroa and in it he makes clear some of the defining elements of his style, such as the roundness of the lantern, which he will repeat in El Salvador and San Luis, or the wealth of decorative elements, which also They show a remarkable chromatic variety.

In the case of the Magdalena, these decorative elements have a clear iconographic reading linked to the evangelizing work of the order in America. To allude to this, a series of sculptural elements inspired by artistic representations of some of the pre-Hispanic cultures, reinterpreted in a picturesque way, are included.

Thus, for example, the lantern is surrounded by a series of Amerindians who act as cloths, that is, they support the cornice above their heads. In addition, masks with highly emphasized Negroid features appear on the antefixes, wearing curious feathered headdresses in various colors. Other semi-fantastic characters appear in other parts of the façade such as in the pilasters, inspired by pre-Hispanic art but in a very deformed way.

The interior of the dome is decorated with frescoes by Lucas Valdés. On each of the segments, a pair of angels hold a lavishly decorated golden letter. Together they form the inscription AVE MARÍA.

The choice of this theme also has to do with an episode in the history of the order that we have not yet commented on. Seville was always a firm defender of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, that is, of the belief that the Virgin was conceived without original sin, unlike the rest of mortals. Other religious orders based in the city, such as the Dominicans or the Franciscans, were fervent defenders that this doctrine be proclaimed as a dogma of faith, something that did not happen until 1854. The Dominicans, on the other hand, did not share this belief and defended that Mary he was born with the same stain as the rest of the humans.

In the context of a city of such Marian devotion as Seville, this somehow earned them a certain unpopularity among the faithful. In the decoration of its dome, the Dominicans of San Pablo wanted to make it clear that they also shared an enormous faith and affection for the figure of the Virgin, and arranged that the first words of the greeting that the Archangel Gabriel made to her could be read on it to Mary announcing the miraculous conception of Jesus: Hail Mary.

Inside the lantern, at the highest point in the entire space, a splendid golden sun appears on a dark blue background, around which the Latin inscription ET CAEPISSE EST ALQUID, SED FINIS FACTA can be read. That is, having started is something, but the end must be reached. An allusion to the human capacity to undertake and complete undertakings as extraordinary as that of building a church as magnificent as the Magdalena de Sevilla.

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Dibujo de la Iglesia de Santa Catalina de Sevilla

SAINT CATHERINE CHURCH IN SEVILLE

Santa Catalina is part of the magnificent series of Mudejar Gothic churches that the city of Seville has. It is probably the one with the most “Islamic” air when viewed from the outside, especially due to its characteristic bell tower and the exterior of the Exaltation Chapel, which with its square floor plan covered by a dome is very reminiscent of the Muslim “qubbas”.

However, we know that the construction of the temple began already in Christian times, in the second half of the 13th century, although it was profoundly reformed from the 14th century, probably after the damage suffered by the great earthquake of 1356.

Today, after a profound restoration that kept the temple closed between 2004 and 2018, we can admire the church in all its splendor. It has three naves, divided by transverse arches, pointed and seated on cruciform brick pillars. The whole is covered with Mudejar wooden coffered ceilings, except for the head, very prominent from the rest of the floor, which is covered by Gothic ribbed vaults made of brick.

Towards the outside, the main portal of the church stands out, with its characteristic ogival and flared shape, so similar to that of other Sevillian churches, such as San Marcos, San Román or Santa Marina. However, in this case we must point out the curiosity that this is not the original portal of the temple, but was part of the church of Santa Lucía, today deconsecrated and converted into the Research and Resource Center for the Performing Arts of Andalusia. . It was moved to its current location between 1924 and 1930, in works directed by the architect Juan Talavera y Heredia, who sought to strengthen the stability of this part of the temple.

The primitive Mudejar portal of Santa Catalina is still preserved in its location, today already inside. It has the shape of a horseshoe arch, framed by a beautiful and original polylobed molding.

Recalling in some way this link with the old church, since 1930 the Brotherhood of Santa Lucía has had its headquarters in Santa Catalina, as recalled by the ceramic altarpiece that we find outside, the work of Antonio Kierman Flores and in whose molding we can read the acronym for ONCE.

Very close to the main portal we find a curious lateral apse, decorated with a series of polylobed blind arches, very original due to its strange location at the foot of the temple.

As for the tower, it is built almost entirely in brick, except at its base, where it has stone ashlars. Some authors have pointed out the possibility that these blocks were indeed part of the minaret of a previous mosque, although it is a theory that has not been confirmed. The complex is crowned by jagged battlements and is a beautiful example of a Mudejar bell tower, although over time it has lost much of its original decoration based on “sebka” cloth.

Already inside the temple, although its essential medieval structure is still perceptible, the successive reforms throughout history have partially masked it and today the baroque style predominates in the chapels and altarpieces of the temple.

In the apse, the main altarpiece is a work by Diego López Bueno from the first half of the 17th century. With a fairly simple structure, it includes a series of canvases with scenes alluding to the life of Saint Catherine, with a sculpture of the Saint appearing in the central niche, a work from the 18th century. Above it, a canvas with a Crucified crowns the altarpiece, and on its sides, the sculptures of Saints John the Evangelist, John the Baptist, Peter and Paul.

Among the chapels that the church has, we can undoubtedly highlight the Sacramental Chapel, also located at the head of the temple, on the Gospel side. It is a magnificent work by the great architect Leonardo de Figueroa, dated around 1721. It has a rectangular floor plan and stands out for its profuse decoration of plasterwork and paintings. It is covered by an original octagonal lantern, which gives light to the space and is especially beautiful towards the outside, where it is topped by an allegorical sculpture of Faith made by Miguel Quintero. Authors as prominent as the painter José García and the sculptor Pedro Duque Cornejo intervened in the exuberant decoration of the chapel. The main altarpiece, one of the best of the 18th century in Seville, is the work of Felipe Fernández del Castillo and his nephew Benito Hita del Castillo.

Inside the same chapel, the painting of the Christ of Forgiveness that occupies one of the lateral altarpieces is also of great interest. It is a 1546 work by Pedro de Campaña, one of the great Renaissance painters in Seville.

Also noteworthy among the chapels is the one that serves as the headquarters for the Brotherhood of Exaltation, on the side of the Epistle. As we have already mentioned, it has the traditional shape of an Islamic "qubba", with a square floor plan and a vault of panels resting on squinches, especially beautiful in its Mudejar decoration based on lacework. The image that presides over the chapel is that of the Christ of Exaltation, a work by Pedro Roldán from 1687. It is accompanied on its right by the image of the Virgen de las Lágrimas, by an anonymous author and dated from the 18th century. Of great artistic interest are also the passionate angels that frame the altarpiece, masterpieces by Luisa Roldán. They accompany the mystery step in its processional exit every Holy Thursday, located in the corners of the basket.

And thus we conclude this small outline of the church, necessarily leaving without mentioning many of the very interesting sculptural and pictorial works that are preserved in it. Although Santa Catalina is not generally included in the tourist circuits of the city, it is still a splendid sample of Sevillian Mudejar that history has enriched with magnificent works of art, which we can also enjoy in all its splendor after so many years of profound restoration.

MAIDENS COURTYARD IN THE ALCAZAR OF SEVILLE

The Patio de las Doncellas (Maidens Courtyard) is the center of the Palace of Pedro I in the Alcázar of Seville. This palace was built in the mid-14th century, replacing earlier Muslim constructions and is probably the most outstanding example of all Mudejar civil architecture.

Around this patio the spaces with a public purpose are articulated, while around the small Patio de las Munecas the palatial rooms are arranged with a more private character.

The ground floor corresponds to the original work of the 14th century, while the upper gallery responds to the reforms undertaken in the 16th century in Renaissance style.

This magnificent courtyard is surrounded by a gallery of polylobed arches, adopting one of the most characteristic decorative forms of Almohad art. The central arches on each side are larger, highlighting the main axes of the patio. They all rest on precious marble columns in the Corinthian style, brought from Genoa during the Renaissance to replace the original brick pillars.

The decoration is based on stucco, following the diamond-shaped pattern, comparable in style and quality to similar works from Córdoba or Granada. Among the ornamental motifs we see some as characteristic as the shell, a symbol of fertility, or the hand of Fatima, which symbolizes protection. All of them framed in a rich composition of geometric and plant motifs.

In the upper part, you can see a frieze with Arabic characters, in which you can read the motto of the kings of Granada, "there is no winner but Allah". This frieze also includes Christian heraldic motifs, such as the shields of Castilla y León, the imperial shield of Carlos V or the two columns with the motto “Plus ultra”.

The central part is crossed by an elongated pool, surrounded by depressed gardens. This type of patio allowed that when the trees bloom or bear fruit, they are just at the height of the people who walk around it. It is a frequent feature in Islamic gardens, which somehow recall the Paradise described in the Koran.

As we have already mentioned, during the 16th century this space underwent important modifications, especially in relation to an important event that took place in the Alcázar in 1526: the wedding of Carlos V and Isabel of Portugal. For the occasion, the patio was completely covered with marble tiles and remained so for centuries, until 2005, when, after an archaeological excavation, it was decided to recover the original Mudejar physiognomy.

SAINT PAULA MONASTERY IN SEVILLE

The Monastery of Santa Paula, owned by nuns of the Order of San Jerónimo, is located in the heart of Seville, very close to the church of San Marcos and neighbor of another of the great convents of the city, that of Santa Isabel. It came to occupy a much larger area than the current one, since its orchards extended to the north, in what is now the area of ​​warehouses around the Mallol Passage.

In its origin, two women of aristocratic origins played a fundamental role. The first of them was Ana de Santillán y de Guzmán, who, after being widowed and losing her only daughter, founded the monastery in 1473 after obtaining a bull from Pope Sixtus IV.

Barely a decade later, the modest facilities of the new monastery seem to have become too small due to the influx of nuns. It was then that Mrs. Isabel Enríquez intervened as a sponsor, who, also after becoming a widow, took charge of its remodeling and expansion. It was she who paid for the construction of the conventual church that has survived to this day, where we precisely find her tomb and that of her husband, Juan de Braganza.

The monastery complex presents a very complex structure, the result of its long history, and mixes the original Mudejar Gothic style, with Renaissance and Baroque elements, especially from the 16th and 17th centuries. Already in the twentieth century it would undergo another important remodeling, this time at the hands of the one who was its prioress for more than forty years, Sister Cristina de Arteaga, who promoted the idea of ​​creating a museum remodeling some of the monastery's dependencies to expose part of the artistic heritage that had been treasured for centuries. To this patrimony was added the personal contribution of Sister Cristina, as heir to a notable aristocratic family.

The main access to the monastic complex is through a beautiful 16th century portal, made of brick in the shape of an ogee arch, following the Mudejar Gothic style. Above it is a tile panel representing Santa Paula, a work from the late nineteenth century made to replace the original set lost during the Revolution of 1868.

Along with this portal, the most remarkable exterior element of the monastery is its beautiful two-section belfry, made in the 17th century by Diego López Bueno. It is richly decorated with ceramic details, geometric motifs, attached pilasters and symbolic elements that allude to the Order of Saint Jerome.

Once inside, the doorway of the church opens onto a landscaped patio, which constitutes a true artistic jewel of the 16th century in Seville. It is built in two-tone brick that gives it a very pronounced Mudejar air, but at the same time has a marked ogival shape characteristic of the Gothic. It also includes clearly Renaissance elements, such as its exquisite ceramic decoration, in which we know that the Italian based in Triana, Niculoso Pisano, participated. Pedro Millán, the first Sevillian sculptor whose name we know, also worked alongside him, who collaborated with Mercadante de Brittany in the sculptural decoration of the doors of Baptism and of San Miguel de la Catedral. Framing the arch there are a series of clearly Renaissance tondos with the representation of various saints. In fact, the one in the center, with a representation of the Nativity, comes from the famous Florentine workshop of the Della Robbia and probably served as a model for the others. On the tympanum appears the coat of arms of the Catholic Monarchs, framed by two others with their characteristic symbols of the yoke and the bundle of arrows, alluding to the unity of the peninsular kingdoms that occurred during their reign.

Inside, the church has the characteristic shape of Sevillian convent temples, with a box plan, that is, with a single nave. The bulk of the church is covered by wooden coffered ceiling, while the head, the most sacred area, is covered by stone, with Gothic rib vaults. Inside, the sculptural and pictorial decoration is very rich, mainly from the 17th and 18th centuries, which gives the complex a very baroque air. We find works by such prominent authors as Alonso Cano, Martínez Montañés or Alonso Vázquez.

In addition to the church and the rooms dedicated to the museum, its two cloisters are noteworthy in the monastery. The oldest is the so-called small patio, with a square plan framed by a gallery of banked arches on marble columns of different heights, a symptom of its origin from previous constructions. The largest and main cloister of the convent is already a 17th-century work by Diego López Bueno, with a square plan with two levels of galleries with round arches, very banked, on marble columns.

We finish for now this small reference to a monastic group that would give for its artistic treasures to write several volumes. Simply recommend his visit, from which we can also take a sweet memory in the form of some of the exquisite products made by the nuns and put on sale in the monastery itself.