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The cathedral has several doors: the most famous door is Puerta de los Palos or of the Adoration of the Magi, on whose spandrel there can be seen the beautiful relief representing the Adoration of the Magi, a work by Miguel Florentín (1520). The Puerta de la Campanillas, near the main entrance, is also by florentín. It represents the arrival of Christ in Jerusalem. On the opposite side of the building there are another two monumental doors overlooking the Avenida de la Constitución. On their side you can admire six large statues representing the four evangelists, St. Laureanus and St. Hermenegildus, all by Pedro Millán. The interior of the cathedral has five naves; it was designed by Alonso Martínez between 1402 and 1439. The most important element of the church is the altar piece on the high altar, considered one of the most important examples of religious art. It was carried out by the Flemish artist Pierre Dankart in 1482. Later other sculptors worked on it until 1564. The altar piece is 18 meters wide and 20 meters high and represents, in 36 large compartments, episodes of the Old Testament, the life of Christ and of the Saints.
The Royal Chapel is also very sumptuous. Here the Virgin of the Kings is venerated, a Gothic image of the French school which is believed to have been given to St. Ferdinand, King of Castile by his cousin St. Louis, King of France. At the foot of the Virgin we find a silver and crystal urn in which it is said the body of St. Ferdinand is buried. The bodies of his wife Beatrice of Swabia, of his son Alfonso X the wise are buried in the magnificent arcosolium tombs on both sides of the chapel. Under the altar we find a crypt with a pantheon in which all the kings, queens and infantes of the reign of Castile are buried (12 - 15th centuries). There are other famous paintings in the other chapels such as the Mary Immaculate by Zurbarán (Chapels of Sr. Peter), the allegory of the Conception by Luis Vargas, also Known as "the leg painting" for the perfection with which the leg of Adam has been painted, a Vision of St. Anthony of Padua painted by Murillo ( St. Anthony Chapel or Baptistery Chapel).
Noteworthy are also the stained glass windows of the cathedral, carried out by Master Enrico (1478), others by Mecer Cristobal Alemán (1504) and others by Jean Jacques, Vibán, Bernardino of Gelandia and others. The Choir, with its 117 seats, is also very beautiful. Among the seats there can be admired the royal throne with the coat of alms of the Kings of Castile, those of the prelates and the canons, all works by the sculptor Nufro Sánchez. Noteworthy is also the gigantic lectern used for the books of the Choir. In the transept we find the tomb of Hernando Colombo and next to the Puerta de San Cristobal stands the burial monument in honour of Christopher Columbus, whose body was taken from L'Avana to Seville in 1898 when the Spanish domination on the island of Cuba ended. The monument is decorated with four large statues which hold on their shoulders the body of the famous navigator. The Capitulary is also very important because of its magnificent architecture and its vault painted by Murillo. The Main Sacristy houses the Museum of the Cathedral, which exhibits the most precious paintings, the procession monstrances, by the famous goldsmith Juan de Arfe, and other treasures. Next to the cathedral you can see the Church of the Sagrario famous for its beautiful altars and for its baroque style sculptures. |
