The Cathedral of Seville

The glory of Seville is its magnificent Gothic Cathedral, in grandeur and sublimity unsurpassed in Christendom. Its length is more than 400 feet, its breadth more than 300 feet; its central nave rises to a height of 150 feet, while the dome is 30 feet higher. It covers 120,000 square feet of ground, or 12,000 feet more than the Milan Cathedral, which is the next largest, 108,000 feet. The Cathedral stands alone, in the center of an immense square, upon a platform (582 by 420 feet), with a broad terrace running all around it ascended by steps. No good exterior view can be obtained owing to a high enclosing wall; but a walk around the terrace gives a better understanding of its vast proportions, and the various styles of architecture which render this one of the noblest piles ever erected for the worship of God, and is preferred by many even to St. Peter's, Rome. This site has from the earliest times been devoted to religious purposes; a pagan temple to Venus, a Christian Gothic church, a Mohammedan mosque, then the present Cathedral.

At a meeting of the Chapter, July 8th, 1401, a resolution was offered and carried, "Let us erect such a Cathedral that posterity will say we were madmen." And right well has their determination been adhered to. Each of the nine entrances deserves a separate study. They are ornamented with terra-cotta relievos and statues, by noted artists, representing Bible scenes, angels, patriarchs and prophets.

The Porta del Pardon, with its exquisite Moorish arch and bronze doors, attracts attention. The relievo represents the driving of the Money Changers out of the Temple, and the statues (life-size) of St. Peter, St. Paul, and the Annunciation. The exterior walls here, and the truncated pillar, belong to the old Moorish mosque. The immense interior is lighted by ninety-three stained-glass windows designed by the best artists; the space is divided into seven aisles, the extreme aisle on either side being divided into chapels, thirty-seven in all, and some of them as large as ordinary churches.

In the central aisle another cathedral, with its cupola and bell-tower, could easily stand. Like all Spanish churches, the choir, or part partitioned off for the cathedral service, is in the centre of the building, and here are placed two immense organs, which are sometimes played to represent the roll of thunder through the vaulted aisle, and, again, like song and echo. The choir is open towards the high altar, which is magnificent in gold and carvings and paintings and statuary. Beyond the high altar is the Royal Chapel, or Royal Mausoleum, for every Spanish cathedral is a kind of Westminister Abbey. Kings and Queens are buried here; but special honors belong to the tomb of Ferdinand III. (died 1252 A. D.), who recovered Seville from the Moors. His body has been so well preserved that it is yet exhibited on certain days (May 30th, August 22d, and November 23d), when the soldiers of Spain march into the Cathedral, ground their arms and lower their colors, and stand with uncovered heads before the shrine "of the hero of Seville." The hero, king, and saint, lies in a casket of gold, silver, and crystal, dressed in his royal robes, with his crown on his head, his hands crossed, his sceptre on the right and his sword on the left.

In a direct line, at the opposite end of the Cathedral (west end), there is a tomb interesting to Americans. A plain slab in the pavement, surrounded by figures of three ships (caravellos), bears an inscription to the memory of Fernando, second son of Christopher Columbus, who died in Seville, July 12th, 1546, aged fifty years. The inscription is typical of the son of a great father, and was written by himself: "To Castile and to Leon Columbus gave a new world." Fernando bequeathed the library of his father, with important manuscripts, to this Cathedral. In the Columbian Library may be seen the original speeches and arguments used by Columbus to convince Ferdinand and Isabella that he was no "idle dreamer." This Cathedral, five centuries old, and which it took one century to build, with its broad, high-vaulted aisles, its forest of pillars, all aglow with light from stained-glass windows; its numerous chapels, with altars illumined with the finest paintings of the Spanish school, with statues and pictures in relief; its clere-story and parapet; its marble pavement and marvelous roof, entitle it to rank as one of the noblest churches of Christendom.