Reales Alcazares y Catedral



"New" wall built in the 18th century



Yesterday we visited the Reales Alcazares (pronounced ray-AL-es al-CA-thar-es in Spanish), which was originally a Moorish fortress in the 12th century. Throughout the years various kings added on to it for a collection of small palaces and gardens.

Garden Maze, modeled after those of Versailles



Mini palace constructed as a dining room for the king.
It's surrounded by gardens which were supposed to cool
the room  down in the heat of the summer. It was also
a place where the kings would entertain their mistresses.





Tile decoration around the mini dining room. All hand painted from Sevilla, cerca 15th centry.



 

Bath houses of Maria de Padilla, mistress of Peter the Cruel. She was hated by the people  and a soldier had to test the water before she could enter every day. One time a soldier refused and King Peter had him swiftly executed.





View of the gardens





In one of the palaces



Ceiling of one of the palaces

Upside down map tapestry...they made it that way to focus on the battles at sea.

Patio de las Doncellas (Courtyard of the Maidens)
Referring to the legend that the Moors demanded 100 virgins every
year as a tribute from the Christian kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula.

After that we went to the Cathedral. It was kind of funny that the only thing anyone could mutter when we walked in was "holy shit"...there was a lot of holy shit in there that's for sure...one being the preserved body of a saint!

Ok ok a little history...it was originally a mosque that was built in the 10th century, but when Ferdinand III conquered Sevilla from the Moors in 1248 he "Christianized" the mosque. The construction of the current cathedral began in 1402 and the decision of the builders was to "Build a church so beautiful and so great that those who see it built will think we were mad." They did just that, it is the 3rd largest Cathedral in the world behind St. Peter's at the Vatican and St. Paul in London. Construction finished in 1506, over 100 years later.

Patio de Naranjos
(from the top of the Giralda)

Giralda...35 ramps to the top
100 meters tall

Church workers gave half of their salaries for builders, architects, and many other expenses. The main source of funding came from the chapels. There are over 80 small chapels surrounding the main area that were paid for by the super rich of that time. They each had their own chapel for their own family to attend mass.

The builders kept 2 things from the original mosque that had been built in 1184...the entrance court (now the Patio de los Naranjos) and the Giralda (originally a minaret, now a bell tower).

The Cathedral is home to many tombs. Tombs of Castillian kings and queens from the 13th & 14th centuries can be found under the altar, but two very very important people were also laid to rest there.





Tomb of Cristobal Colon


• The first is Christopher Columbus, and everybody knows who that is. He was originally buried in Santo Domingo but was moved back to Spain during the Spanish-American war. During the destruction of a church in Santo Domingo a box was found with Christopher Columbus' name enscribed on it. The only way to find out if Sevilla had the real remains or if Santo Domingo had the real remains was to do DNA testing. It was confirmed that Sevilla did have (some) remains of Christopher Columbus, but the Dominican refused to do testing so no one knows if they have some too or not.
• The second is Saint Ferdinand III. His body is actually fully preserved in a tomb behind the high altar and is only open to the public once a year. His body remains incorrupt...our guide told us that he still has skin, hair, nails, and eyes after 759 YEARS! If you remember from my history lesson earlier, he was the one who reconquered Sevilla from the Moors in the 13th century, and for that he is ever remembered by the Sevillian people. He was canonized by Clement X in 1671. Unfortunately I won't be here this year when they allow the public to view him, but my hostmom said it was an incredible sight...and the lines wrap around the Cathedral multiple times!

Have I bored you enough yet? I LOVE history. I like knowing why what I'm seeing is important! Here's what you all have been waiting for...

Puerto del Lagarto
An Egyptian king gave this alligator and that elephant tusk along
 with a giraffe to Spain in effort to establish diplomatic contacts.

Notice how the naves make a cross?

High Altar...over 2000 kilos of real gold folks.



Organ anyone?



And this concludes my history lesson for the day. They no longer hold masses at the Cathedral except for special occasions (when the current king's daughter got married). Hope y'all enjoyed!

PS...I'M GOING TO PARIS THIS-COMING WEEKEND!