Today, we started our day by going to the Sevilla Cathedral—the 3rd largest cathedral in the world (only to St. Peter’s in Rome and St. Paul’s in London). It was gorgeous & enormous! Height = over 120 ft. Length = 378 ft. Width = 249 ft. Plus, 80 side chapels. It contained lots of sculptures and paintings—an art historian’s dream. Also, it was built on the site of an old mosque, which is still recognizable in its belltower, the Giralda.
The Giralda itself is very interesting. Unlike most churches, there are no steps leading up to the tower. Instead, there are ramps. The reason lies in that Muslims are called to prayer 5 times a day, and the person responsible for calling people to prayer had to be somehow carried up by horses each time. We heard that the Giralda has a great view overlooking Sevilla, so of course, we had to check it out.
Later that day, we visited the Alcazar, which is a royal palace that used to be a Moorish fort. We wandered through some beautiful gardens and accidentally fell asleep. It was a wonderful day!
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