Sevilla, Spain: Gothic Cathedral - Rick Steves’ Europe Travel Guide - Travel Bite
Spain's Seville Cathedral is the third-largest church in Europe (after St. Peter’s in the Vatican, and St. Paul’s in London) and the largest Gothic church anywhere. When they ripped down the mosque that stood on this site in 1401, the Reconquista Christians bragged, “We’ll build a cathedral so huge that anyone who sees it will take us for madmen.”
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The delicate charms of Santa Cruz
are just a few steps from Sevilla's immense cathedral.
It's the third-largest church in Europe,
after St. Peter's in the Vatican and St. Paul's in London,
and the largest Gothic church anywhere.
When they ripped down the mosque
that stood on this site in 1401,
the Reconquista Christians bragged,
we'll build a cathedral so huge
that anyone who sees it will take us for madmen.
You could fit a soccer field in here.
Everything is supersized.
The towering main altarpiece is covered in gold leaf.
Constructed in the 1480s,
it's composed of hundreds of figures.
It tells the story of the life of Jesus
in 40 scenes from his birth to his resurrection.
The choir, an enclosure within the cathedral
for more intimate services,
surrounds a spinnable music rack.
It held giant hymnals,
large enough for all to chant from
in an age when there weren't enough for everyone.
In the transept, four pallbearers
carry the tomb of Christopher Columbus.
They represent the four medieval kingdoms that became Spain.
Aragon, Navarra, Castile, and León,
each identified by their team shirts.
Columbus even traveled a lot after he died.
He was buried first in Sevilla,
then moved to Santo Domingo, then to Cuba,
and after Cuba earned its independence
from Spain around 1900,
he sailed all the way back here to Sevilla.
Is he really in there?
Sevillanas like to think so.