Seville Cathedral
From Archiplanet
 | Seville Cathedral |
| Designer | unknown |
| Location | Seville, Spain |
| Date | 1402 to 1520 |
| Building Type | large church, cathedral, religious |
| Climate | mediterranean |
| Context | urban |
| Architectural Style | refined Gothic |
| Street Address | |
| Notes | Piers soar nearly seamlessly into vault 132 feet overhead. |
| At Great Buildings | http://www.GreatBuildings.com/buildings/Seville_Cathedral.html |
Contents |
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[edit] Discussion
| UNESCO World Heritage Sites | |
| Name | Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville |
| UNESCO State Party | Spain |
| Region | Europe and North America |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, iii, vi |
| UNESCO Site ID | 383 |
| Year of Listing | 1987 |
| Building Details |
"Seville Cathedral is the largest Gothic church in the world, its size only later surpassed, in the Renaissance, by Saint Peter’s in Rome. Though it shows influences from French Gothic prototypes (and possibly help from French architects) and from Italy (primarily Milan Cathedral), it carries a personality of its own. Its nave is soaringly powerful, one of the too-little-appreciated Gothic glories of Europe.
"The cathedral reputedly was constructed on the foundations of a mosque, thus producing an unusual squarish plan. In the resultant five-aisle church, the lofty nave is flanked by slightly lower double side-aisles, so that the towering central piers rise straight upward uncompromised, as it were, by the triforium gallery and clerestory that hem typical Gothic naves. Pausing only briefly for small decorative capitals, the nave piers meld with the clearly stated vault of the ceiling, topping off at 132 feet. (The nave of Chartres is 120 feet high.) Seville’s breathtaking—and structurally daring—nave combines soaring vericality with the horizontal mystery of the side aisles..."
— from G.E. Kidder Smith. Looking at Architecture. p64.
[edit] Related content from Wikipedia
Seville Cathedral
The Cathedral of Seville, also known as Catedral de Santa María de la Sede (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See) is the Cathedral of the city of Seville in Andalusia. It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the fourth largest Christian church in the world.
Description
Construction of the cathedral began in 1402 and continued into the 16th century. It is the largest of all Roman Catholic cathedrals ( Saint Peter's Basilica not being a cathedral) and also the largest Medieval Gothic religious building, in terms of both area and volume. It is 76 by 115 meters, and was built to cover the land previously occupied by the Almohad Mosque. Its central nave rises to a height of 42 metres and even the side chapels seem tall enough to contain an ordinary church. Its main altarpiece is considered the largest in the Christian world.
The interior, with the longest nave in Spain, is lavishly decorated, with a large quantity of gold evident. In the main body of the cathedral only the great boxlike structure of the choir stands out, filling the central portion of the nave. This opens onto the Capilla Mayor, dominated by a vast Gothic retablo of 45 carved scenes from the life of Christ. The lifetime work of a single craftsman, Pierre Dancart, this is the ultimate masterpiece of the cathedral - the largest and richest altarpiece in the world and one of the finest examples of Gothic woodcarving anywhere.
The Cathedral also has a large collection of religious jewelry items, paintings and sculptures, along with the tomb of Christopher Columbus.
The builders reused some columns and elements from the mosque, and most famously the Giralda, originally a minaret, was converted into a bell tower. It is topped with a statue representing Faith. The Giralda is the city's most famous symbol.
This cathedral was built to demonstrate Seville's wealth, as it had become a major trading center in the years after the Reconquista.
During the planning of the cathedral's construction, a member of the chapter was recorded to have commented "we shall have a church [so great and] of such a kind that those who see it built will think we were mad."
Timeline
- 1184 - La Giralda begun (Harvey 260)
- 1198 - Completion of Almohad Mosque (Montiel 12) (Harvey 260)
- 1248 - Conquest of Seville by Ferdinand III, mosque Christianized (Montiel 14)
- 1376 - Earthquake destroys minaret, replaced by bell gable (Montiel 12)
- 1401 - (8 July- Harvey 230) Decision made to replace former mosque (Montiel 15)
- 1402 - Nave begun- SW corner (Harvey 260)
- 1432 - Nave completed, east end started (Harvey 260)
- 1466 - Demolition of Royal Chapel authorized by Juan II (Montiel 15)
- 1467 - East end completed, vaults begun. Anchors added. (Harvey 260)
- 1475 - Stalls begun (Harvey 260)
- 1478 - Stalls completed (Harvey 260)
- 1481 - Doorways in high altar completed (Montiel 16)
- 1482 - Retablo Mayor begun (ALTARPIECE) (Harvey 260)
- 1498 - Vaults completed, lantern begun (Harvey 260)*
- 1506 - Main dome (lantern) completed (Montiel 16) (Harvey 260)
- 1511 - Lantern collapses, rebuilding begins (Montiel 16) (Harvey 260)
- 1515 - New choir vaults completed (Montiel 16)*
- 1517 - New transept vaults completed (Montiel 16)*
- 1519 - Lantern rebuilding completed (Harvey 260)
- 1526 - Retablo Mayor completed (Harvey 260)
- 1551 - Capilla Real begun (Harvey 260)
- 1558 - Belfry replaces bell gable (Montiel 12)
- 1568 - Giralda, top stages (Harvey 260)
- 1575 - Capilla Real completed (Harvey 260)
- 1888 - Main dome and vaults collapse (Montiel 16)
Gallery
References
- References are to John Harvey's "The Cathedrals of Spain" and Luis Martinez Montiel's "The Cathedral of Seville"
External links
ar:كاتدرائية سيفييا de:Kathedrale von Sevilla es:Catedral de Sevilla fr:Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Siège de Séville ko:세비야 대성당 it:Cattedrale di Siviglia he:קתדרלת סביליה ka:სევილიის საკათედრო ტაძარი nl:Kathedraal van Sevilla ja:セビリア大聖堂 no:Katedralen i Sevilla pt:Catedral de Sevilha fi:Sevillan katedraali sv:Katedralen i Sevilla
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[edit] References
G. E. Kidder Smith. Looking at Architecture. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Publishers, 1990. ISBN 0-8109-3556-2. LC 90-30728. NA200.S57 1990. discussion, p64.interior photo, p65.
Louis Grodecki. Gothic Architecture. New York: Electra Rizzoli, 1978. interior perspective of nave, plate272, p190.
Christopher Wilson. The Gothic Cathedral. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1990. interior perspective of high altar, plate 215, p286. exterior perspective, plate 214, p284.
