Sevilla, June 7, 2015

Sunday, June 7^th:

Today was a most relaxing day, because we did not have to get up early to hit the road.  Instead, it was a totally free day until 7:45 pm.  We didn’t set the alarm and didn’t get up until about 9 am.  I finished the blog from last night and we went to breakfast (really brunch) at 10:30 am.  After meeting up with Mary Alice Carmichael and Janice at breakfast, we decided to meet a noon to catch a taxi and go to the Cathedral area.  Our taxi dropped us off near the south side of the cathedral.  Mary Alice really wanted to take a carriage ride and after meeting Walter Jones and Janet Ort, we decided to proceed with the carriage ride, because the cathedral didn’t open for tours until 2:30 pm.  So, off for a carriage ride, which was 45 minutes, cost 45 Euros, and covered a fairly large area of old town Sevilla.   

We were treated to a small cup of Sangria by a restaurant with the best part being the big ice cube in the cup!  Through the narrow streets we went and entered the huge park by the Spanish Square.  Then we traveled into the courtyard and around the fountain for a nice panoramic view of the plaza.  It really was a very nice leisurely way to cover a lot of the old town area.

Then we decided to get Cathedral and Iglesia del Salvador tour tickets for the afternoon tours.  The advice was to proceed to del Salvador Church, where the IPC Choir will give a 9 pm concert tonight, to purchase combination tickets, see del Salvador first, and then tour the Cathedral.  So, we walked to del Salvador.  Unfortunately, it was closed and didn’t open until 5 pm.  Back to the Cathedral we walked, while Mary Alice and Janice decided to taxi back to the Al Andalus Hotel.  We stood in a very long line to get our tickets and toured the Cathedral, seeing much of the splendor of this enormous Gothic cathedral.   

The Cathedral is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the third largest cathedral in Europe behind St. Paul’s in London and St. Peter’s in Rome. The beginnings of the complex started in 1184 with the construction of Sevilla’s main Mosque and minaret. What remains of this is the courtyard with its bitter orange trees (oranges used to make marmalade) and minaret, which comprises 2/3 of the Giralda bell tower. Then in 1218, after Sevilla was retaken by the Christians, the Mosque was consecrated as a Cathedral. In 1431, construction began on the Gothic cathedral with the work encompassing several centuries. It wasn’t until 1928 that the three main doors and the southwest corner of the cathedral were completed. There are stained glass windows dating from the 1300’s, 15th century choir stalls, the tomb of Columbus mounted on four statue bearers, a phenomenal gold high altar, and extremely elaborate side chapels. 

The golden high altar is just impossible to describe.  

 The Cathedral has five naves.  From the inside of the Cathedral we accessed the La Giralda bell tower; 2/3 being the original minaret from the 12th century.  We climbed to the observation area (top of the original minaret) via the seemingly endless ramp – no stairs, but 34 ramps and final staircase. From this area, there were superb views of Sevilla and the top of the immense cathedral (total surface area of 23,500 square meters)  with its many flying buttresses and the orange courtyard.  

 In the south transept is the coffin of Christopher Columbus being carried by the four kings of the kingdoms comprising Spain in the late 15^th century.  

Once finished touring, we decided to stop for beer and sangria before catching a taxi back to the hotel.  Bev decided to have some paella for an early dinner, because our “first farewell dinner” will not be until 10 pm after the choir concert.  Coming back to the hotel, we decided to relax for a couple of hours before heading out for the concert.

At 7:45 pm we assembled for our ride to the Iglesia del Salvador concert and farewell dinner #1.  The concert, in Sevilla’s second largest church, started at 8:45 pm and was superb with marvelous acoustics.  The church was built on a 9^th century mosque and is of Baroque style with a huge 18^th century Baroque high altar.   

The mosque’s minaret is now the bell tower.  The high altar contains two whirling angels holding lamps with red ropes and is filled with much detail.

At 10 pm we had our first farewell dinner, with about 2/3 of our group departing for home or other parts of Europe tomorrow or Monday.  The extension group will take the high speed train to Madrid tomorrow and continue on in Madrid until Thursday.