| On Thursday we visited Sevilla�s cathedral, considered to be the largest Gothic church in the world and the third largest church in Europe after St. Peter�s in Rome and St. Paul�s in London. The interior of the church was awesome, and inside one of the cathedral�s entrances was the tomb of Christopher Columbus. Like many churches in both Spain and Portugal, when the Reconquest Christians retook the land from the Moors, all mosques were razed and Christian churches put in their place. That was the case here in Sevilla. The Giralda tower of the cathedral was the only part of the original mosque to remain. Originally a Moorish minaret used to call Muslims to prayer, after the Reconquest it became the cathedral�s bell tower. Since the tower was first used to call Muslims to prayer, the climb to the top was via a spiraling ramp instead of stairs. In the Islamic days a man on horseback would gallop up five times a day to call Muslims to prayer; now it made for an easy walk up to the top of the tower by tourists. Once on top, we had great views of the city. |
