Colorful facades, golden altars and towering towers, explore the splendid churches of Seville.
Seville is the fourth-largest city in Spain, so it’s no surprise that it is filled to the brim with splendid churches. Spain has a ton of giant cathedrals, and some little ones, too. Seville, of course, has one of the largest. The cathedral is not the only fantastic church I found around the city. True gems are located throughout the city.
It’s hard to really know where to start, honestly. Here’s just an example of what you can find in Seville.
I stepped into a random church with a door open, because I am that person and found this little gem. I think this is the chapel of the Convento Santa Maria de Jesus. Just look at that Mudéjar ceiling above the altar.
San Ildefonso is super colorful. The inside isn’t as exciting though.
I walked past Santa Maria Magdalena so many times so I’m glad I was able to pop in to see it.
There were a lot of images of saints and the like painted on the walls.
Iglesia de la Virgen de la Paz, an interesting looking church in the Plaza del Salvador.
Also on the plaza is the very pink Iglesia Colegial del Divino Salvador, which is included in your Seville Cathedral ticket.
This one is great. It’s a mosque turned church filled with giant golden altars.
Many of these golden altars have giant painted statues of saints.
This church has a lot to take in.
Lots and lots of figures on this one.
I don’t know what church this bell tower belongs to but it’s fantastic.
San Marcos and its former minaret turned bell tower.
Santa Marina, another church that has a former minaret for a bell tower.
The cute chapel of the Convento de Santo Angel.
This one has quite a few unique features and of course, I randomly stumbled into this one.
I dashed into this little church because it decided to downpour. I wasn’t the only one.
The Hermandad de la Macarena is adorable. Perfect place to get out of the rain for a bit.
Now for San Luis de los Franceses, the final church before I show you the cathedral. This is a 18th century Jesuit church, so therefore it’s going to be a doozy.
After an awkward encounter with people that forget they work for a place people visit, I was finally able to bask in the glory of this.
It’s technically in the form of a Greek cross. It’s ringed by golden altars.
And it’s topped by this fantasticness.
Very hard to photograph with this shape.
This is either a chapel or a sacristy. It’s really hard to tell sometimes.
Cathedral time and it’s massive. The Cathedral of Seville is the fourth largest church in the world and the largest in Spain. So, I wasn’t kidding that it was massive. It’s only fourth after St. Peter’s Basilica, the Duomo of Milan and a supper ugly one in Brazil that I’m not going to name because it’s that hideous. The Cathedral of Seville is also the largest Gothic religious building in the world. It also has a giant minaret turned bell tower that you can climb.
There’s that giant bell tower, La Giralda. It still really looks like a minaret.
This cathedral is so huge that you can’t even get it all into one photo.
That looks suspiciously like a former entrance to a mosque.
That’s still giving me mosque vibes.
The courtyard that leads to the cathedral entrance used to be a mosque. As seen from La Giralda.
Climbing up La Giralda requires ascending a ramp. This is the first time I have ever climbed a tower using completely a ramp and not any stairs. Honestly, it was so much easier this way. Even asthmatic me was passing people.
This cathedral is Massive!
The Alcázar in the distance.
Back down to the courtyard to see a massive side door of the cathedral.
Let’s start with the ridiculous high altar.
The ceiling is interestingly lit.
A nice fancy choir.
Complete with a ridiculous organ.
A multi-level chapel. Very interesting.
A couple of saints? with La Giralda. There is a random replica of La Giralda in Kansas City, Missouri of all places. La Giralda has become a symbol of the city.
Grotto like chapel.
The cathedral had a small exhibit on silver tabernacles. (I think that is what they are called.)
I still haven’t found a name for this feature, but it’s located right behind the choir.
That is a giant candlestick.
Even the chapels are massive.
The tomb of Christopher Columbus, the bringer of death.
There is also a series of rooms adjoining the cathedral.
This room was so small and tall, it was impossible to photograph.
Here’s another angle.
Gorgeous room.
Another weird shaped room.
This post has gotten too long so I’m going to stop here. These photos are just a tip of the iceberg of the churches I saw in Seville. I wasn’t even able to include them all. Architecture lovers are going to really enjoy Seville.
Check out my next update where I explore the Ancient Roman city of Italica.
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Start at the beginning of my travels around Spain!
