ROMAN CISTERN

CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE

The Cathedral of Seville is probably the most emblematic monument of the city. Unesco declared it a World Heritage Site in 1987, along with the Alcázar and the Archivo de Indias. It is considered the largest Gothic temple in the world.

Most of its work was done in the late Gothic style during the 15th century, although it retains elements of the 12th-century Almohad mosque on which it sits, such as the Patio de los Naranjos or the Giralda. In addition, in the 16th century the Royal Chapel, the Chapter House and the Greater Sacristy were added in the Renaissance style. Later, during the Baroque period and practically up to the present day, various elements of the cathedral would be added and remodeled, until it became a true compendium of the history of art in the city.

Its floor plan is one of the hall calls, with a flat head and five naves, the central one being taller and wider than the rest. It has numerous side chapels located between the buttresses.

The supports are enormous pillars with a rhomboid section, made of brick and masonry and covered with ashlars. Rib vaults sit on them, so characteristic of Gothic. They are sexpartite in the chapels, quadripartite in the naves, and those corresponding to the transept, in the central part of the temple, are star-shaped.

On the side chapels and on the main axes there is a narrow gallery in the form of a clerestory.

Its construction was approved by the cathedral chapter in 1401. Legend has it that the project would be inspired by the phrase "Let's make a church so beautiful and so great that those who see it carved will consider us crazy" and according to the capitular act of that day the new work should be "one such and so good, that there is no other like it."

In detail: Cathedral of Seville

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 ... ➪

Santas Justa y Rufina en la Puerta del Bautismo

THE SAINTS JUSTA AND RUFINA IN THE DOOR OF THE BAPTISM

Seville Cathedral 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 ... ➪

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 ... ➪

GATES OF THE CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE

The Cathedral has numerous portals towards the exterior:– On the west side, three on the façade at the foot, towards the Avenida de la Constitución, called Baptism, Asunción and San Miguel.– Two on both sides of the transept, called de la Concepción and San Cristóbal ... ➪

Puerta de la Asunción de la Catedral de Sevilla

THE DOOR OF THE ASSUMPTION IN THE CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE

The Puerta de la Asunción, on Avenida de la Constitución, is the main entrance to the Cathedral of Seville. However, its completion was not addressed until well into the 19th century, at the initiative of Cardinal Cienfuegos Jovellanos. In a first phase, between 1827 and ... ➪

Dibujo de la giralda de Sevilla con detalle del campanario de Hernán Ruiz

THE GIRALDA OF SEVILLE

It measures about 100 meters high, making it the tallest cathedral tower in Spain and was for centuries the tallest building in the country. The lower two thirds of the tower are from the Islamic period, Almohad from the 12th century. It began to be ... ➪

OLD CASTLE OF SAN JORGE

by Manuel Hellín

It had ten towers that articulated a robust fortified space with a rectangular plan. The Christians would establish the headquarters of the Inquisition in Seville there in 1480, so it is certain that it was the scene of numerous episodes of imprisonment and torture throughout its history. Some of the events that occurred there have been narrated as brilliant as the one offered by Beethoven in his opera "Fidelio", which is set in this castle.

It continued to be the seat of the Inquisition until the end of the 18th century, when it was abandoned. Already at the beginning of the 19th century it was demolished and a market was built on its site. At the end of the current market, in the part that faces Castilla street, some of the great walls that belonged to the primitive castle can still be seen today.

ELECTRICITY SHED OFF THE 1929 PARK

by Manuel Hellín

This small electricity booth, with its Neo-Baroque style, is the only remainder that has survived to this day from the great amusement park that was built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. It occupied an area of almost 43,000 square meters between the avenues of La Raza and de la Palmera and at the time it was considered in quality to be on par with the best in the world. Unfortunately, despite initial plans to keep it, the park was eventually dismantled and sold. Some parts of its attractions are still preserved today in the historic amusement park of Monte Igueldo, in Bilbao.

PALACE HOUSE AT GUZMÁN EL BUENO STREET 4

by Manuel Hellín

The main façade has preserved a beautiful Renaissance portal from the 16th century, framed by Ionic columns with plant decoration on the shafts. They support a lintel on which appear a series of corbels that in turn support the central balcony.

Inside, the model of a Sevillian house is faithfully reproduced, with the rooms distributed around a porticoed patio on all four sides. On the floor below, the arches are semicircular and rest on marble columns with capitals of ribbons or castanets. The arches have the classic Sevillian plateresque decoration, with vegetation and 'candelieri'. Between them, a series of pilasters support a continuous frieze, all with the same decorative motif.

GENERAL ARCHIVE OF THE INDIES

by Manuel Hellín

Felipe II would attend to the request and commission Juan de Herrera, the famous architect from El Escorial, to design the new building in 1572. Work began in 1584 directed by Juan de Minjares following Herrera's plans. It seems that the building was ready for use in 1598, although there is evidence that the works continued during the 17th century.

When the center of commerce moved to Cádiz, in the 18th century, it was when the building was readapted to house all the documentation generated by the Casa de Contratación. As a result of this new circumstance, new works would be undertaken on the property in order to adapt it to the new use. It would be then, for example, when the monumental main access staircase to the upper floor was built.

It houses all the documentation related to the Spanish administration of the American territories. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, together with the Cathedral and the Alcázar, due to the great historical and artistic values of the complex.

The building is a magnificent sample of the Renaissance in the city, with a more sober and Italianate air than is usual here. It has a square plan, two stories high, articulated around a monumental central patio, porticoed with Doric columns, very similar to the Patio de los Evangelistas in El Escorial.

On the façade, a bichrome color was introduced between the reddish brick panels and the pale stone pilasters. This game of two colors was enormously successful in Seville and we will see it reproduced in numerous buildings in the city for centuries to come.

Inside, the naves around the patio are covered with hollow vaults, with coffers and plant decoration. Practically all the walls are covered by shelves of magnificent quality, made with mahogany and cedar wood brought expressly from Cuba. These shelves were added in the 18th century, when the old Lonja was converted into an Archive.

It was also then that Lucas Cintora designed the monumental staircase behind the main access from Avenida de la Constitución. It is covered with red and greyish black jaspers and above it stands a vaulted ceiling with a central lantern that provides light.

The Archive contains documents of incalculable value. Manuscripts of characters such as Christopher Columbus, Hernán Cortés, Miguel de Cervantes, Felipe II, Felipe IV or George Washington himself, the first president of the United States. In addition, it brings together a magnificent collection of engravings, drawings and maps, authentic jewels for the study of the history of America up to the 19th century.

OLD CONVENT OF EL CARMEN

by Manuel Hellín

This enormous building, which today occupies the Superior Conservatory of Music and the Superior School of Dramatic Art, was originally a Carmelite convent founded in 1358 and known as Casa Grande del Carmen. In the 19th century it became a barracks and remained in that use until relatively recently. This makes its architecture complex and difficult to analyze, with two main construction moments: the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was configured as a convent, and the 19th century, when it was transformed into a barracks.

The church remains of the old convent, rectangular in plan and with a dome over the presbytery, although it was also heavily modified in the 19th century. The tower, dating from the 17th century, has also been preserved, although it has no tops.

The main cloister is original, from the transition from the 16th to the 17th century, late-Renaissance or Mannerist style. It is porticoed on its lower floor, with semicircular arches that rest on pillars, decorated with Tuscan pilasters. On the upper floor, the molding of the large windows is finished off with a split pediment of clear Mannerist tradition.

The main façade constitutes the most important artistic contribution of the nineteenth-century reform. It has a marked neoclassical character, with a central doorway designed according to the prevailing academic models of the time, which determine the auction of the set by a classical entablature with its characteristic triangular pediment.

HOUSE OF EL REY MORO

by Manuel Hellín

Virtually nothing is known about the history of this house, so we do not know where the nickname by which it is known comes from. The researcher Celestino López Martínez pointed out in his day that it could refer to the 'King of Niebla and the Algarve D. Abenmafor, in the mid-13th century'. However, no remains can be found in the house from before the 15th century, so the most widespread hypothesis today is that the Mudejar, 'arabesque' decoration of the house caused the neighbors to spontaneously identify it as Casa del Moro. .

The house has a rectangular floor plan, with a main façade facing Sol street and a lateral one through which the orchard was originally accessed. The rooms are distributed around a patio, which is the best preserved and most interesting space. It is porticoed on two of its sides on the ground floor and on three on the top. The arches are made of exposed brick, peralted on the ground floor and lowered on the top, and rest on brick pillars. It should be noted that originally most of the houses of the Mudejar tradition in Seville used to use this type of pillars, but very few have reached our days. This is because, with the arrival of Renaissance taste in the city, most of these brick pillars were replaced by marble columns, often brought directly from Italy. In addition, the pillars of this house are especially interesting because they adopt a great variety of sections, including on the upper floor some of the 'Solomonic' type, with the body twisted in a spiral.

HOUSE OF SANTA TERESA

by Manuel Hellín

'The lieutenant says that there is no better house in Seville or better position. It seems to me that the heat should not be felt in it. Now they are all in the patio, where mass is said in a room until the church is done, and they see the whole house, that in the innermost patio there are good rooms. The orchard is very graceful, the views extreme'.

The Carmelites would stay there for about ten years until they moved to a new convent in the Barrio de Santa Cruz, the convent of San José or de las Teresas, which is still active as a Carmelite convent today.

The original house underwent important modifications in 1882, when it underwent a profound reform to adapt it to the prevailing taste of the time. In 1924 it was bought by Armando de Soto, who wanted to return it as far as possible to its original appearance from the 16th century, the time when it was inhabited by Saint Teresa. The reform was entrusted to the great architect of Sevillian regionalism, Vicente Traver, who restored the façade to its original appearance based on a drawing that Cardinal Lluch, Archbishop of Seville, had done before the 1882 reform. The architect also recovered the interior all the elements he could from the original house.

Inside, the traditional scheme of the Sevillian palace house is reproduced, with a hallway after the entrance through which you can access a porticoed patio around which the house is distributed. The access staircase to the upper floors is located in one of the corners of the patio, also following the tradition of Sevillian houses.

HOUSE OF SALINAS

by Manuel Hellín

During the 19th century, the House went through various uses. According to its website, it even hosted a Masonic lodge, 'which when it left left an extensive trail of rumors about death practices and corpses buried in the house and nobody wanted to live in it. From these rumors he became convinced that the Freemasons had left a hidden treasure. The rumor was so strong that they began to make holes in the entire house. The search ended when they mistakenly punctured a septic tank with unpleasant consequences for everyone digging at the time.'

At the end of the 19th century, the house would be acquired by Eduardo Ybarra, who would undertake a profound reform to which we owe in part its current appearance. It would be enriched with elements such as the tiles of the Casa Mensaque de Triana, a mosaic by Bacchus from Itálica and dating from the 2nd century, a marble sculpture of the Virgen de los Remedios from the old Convent of Los Remedios and a series of stained glass windows from Pickman's factory for the upper dining room and main courtyard.

In 1930 the house would be acquired by Manuel Salinas de Malagamba and it would be then when it would take the current name of Casa de Salinas.

Architecturally, the house is articulated around a patio with a double gallery, with semicircular arches on the ground floor and carpanels on the upper floor. They sit on marble columns and are enriched with a profuse 'candelieri' decoration, very characteristic of Plateresque.

Currently, the Casa de Salinas is privately owned but is open to cultural visits and can also be rented for events.