Sevilla

I've spent today wandering around Seville. I'm lodged in the old part of the city, not far from the Cathedral. The streets are cobblestone, narrow and windy. TG for Google Maps or I'd have wandered much more than I did! The highlight of the day has to have been the Collegiate Church of the Divine Saviour, closely followed by the Cathedral. Both are amazing - but for different reasons.

El Señor de la Agonia - Collegiate Church of the Divine Saviour

The Collegiate Church is a recently restored church that had fallen into disuse. It was built over the Arabic mosque that had in turn been built over the demolished Roman-Visigoth basilica! Each iteration of the building recycled bits and pieces of the previous building. As far as I can make out the collegiate bit mean it had a college of canons, not that it was for a school. 

The main altar

It is simple stunning. The present church dates back to 1712 - after the medieval church was torn down to build a new one. That promptly collapsed just as it was completed! Not enough cement in the columns or something. Still happens today! Still, the college decided to try again. And now it has massive stone columns. The church was restored a couple of years ago by the Church and the local government. They did a great job! 

St Anne teaches Mary to read.

The Cathedral is another story. It is the biggest gothic cathedral in the world and the third biggest basilica, after St Peter's in Rome and Aparecida in Brazil (trust the Brazilians!) Although someone has calculated the volume of each and apparently Seville wins (might have been a Spaniard who did the calculations!). Like the Collegiate Church it was built over, and incorporates, bits of an earlier mosque. 

Close up of the Main Altar in the Cathedral

The photo above in a wider context

The entire altar...

The bell tower, the Giralda, is clearly arabic. It is so called because of the staircase/ramp that turns so many times as you ascend (girar means to turn in Spanish). One ascends by a ramp that originally was built so the Iman could ride his horse up to make the call to prayer.

The Giralda

The Orange Tree Courtyard was preserved from the original mosque. The courtyard was heavily perfumed with orange blossom. I can understand why the Moslems planted it - and the Christians preserved it.

The Orange Tree Courtyard

I haven't abandoned being a pilgrim entirely. I went to Mass this morning in the Royal Chapel - one of the many chapels in the Cathedral. It is very regal too, amazing sculptures, the reredos (the altar) had uncountable sculptures. Father's homily wasn't long enough to count them all. And very liberal use of silver and a bit of gold had been used in covering most of it! I couldn't help but thinking of where that silver had come from - probably Bolivia, Peru and Mexico. And of the suffering of the poor indians who had to slave away to extract it to feed the insatiable appetite of the conquistadores and their backers back in Spain.

The Royal Chapel

A closer look at all the silver...

The centre piece

And I've bought a few little things I needed for the Camino too. One of which was a credential - a sort of passport that the pilgrim carries to identify himself. One gets stamps from places such as churches, restaurants, bars (who serve light meals and coffee, not just alcohol) along the way. At Santiago it is used to prove that the pilgrim has walked the necessary distance to be awarded the Compostela - a certificate that one has made the pilgrimage.

I called into the Amigos del Camino de la Via de la Plata across the river Guadalquivir. I was early, but a very nice volunteer let me in - it was hosing down with rain at the time. He sold me credential and some pins for my hat, and assured me it wouldn't be raining on Wednesday when I set out. I'll go to the pilgrim Mass tomorrow too and get the blessing. It'll all help! 

St Christopher

A happy grouping!

Curiously as I walked back to the hotel I found I noticed the yellow arrows that mark the Camino. I'd walked up and down that particular street many times today and yesterday and never noticed them. I had noticed the large tile marker at the end of the street where the hotel was, but try as I might, I hadn't seen any more until after I got my pilgrim's credential... Then I noticed another tile and then yellow arrows, many arrows! Maybe I'm being transformed into a real pilgrim!

Part of Wednesday's walk - Camas in the distance...