Discover Spain - The giralda of Seville

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Giralda is the name given to the bell tower of the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Sevilla. The lower two thirds of the tower correspond to the minaret of the old mosque of Seville which was held at that location of Almohad period, while the upper third is an addition made the Christian era to accommodate bells. At the top is a ball on which is the "Giraldillo", a bronze statue, most of the time revival in Europe, and which acts vane (hence the name Giralda girar in Spanish means turn).

With 97.5 meters (101 meters if included Giraldillo), the Giralda was the highest tower of Spain for centuries, as one of the most famous buildings in Andalusia. In December 1928, it was declared National Heritage and in 1987, included in the list of World Heritage of Unesco.

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Almohad period

Under Almohad domination, Seville became the capital of the Iberian Peninsula, leading to an update of the city's infrastructure, accompanied by a series of major constructions. It is in this context that it was decided in 1172 the construction of a new great mosque. In 1182, the first sermon was pronounced. It was oriented north-south and its main entrance corresponded to the current Door of Forgiveness which overlooks the Patio de los Orangers (Patio de los Naranjos) which was part of the complex. The external route of the mosque is influenced by the mosque of Cordoba, while the internal structure is more modeled on the mosque models of Marrakech and Tinmal.

The construction of the minaret of the mosque began in 1184, under the direction of the architect Ahmad Ben Baso. The work, rather intermittent, will finally end in 1195, under the impetus of an Arab victory over the Castilian forces at the Battle of Alarcos, celebrated July 19, 1195 by the Caliph Abu Yaqub Yusuf. The Giralda was then 82 meters high, and was the tallest building in Europe at that time. According to the chronicler Ibn Sahib al-Sala, the work was completed on March 10, 1198 by placing four golden bronze balls on the upper part of the tower.

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Christian period

Following an earthquake that touched Seville in 1365, the original bronze sphere that crowned the tower was lost. The bell was added in the 16th century, under the direction of the architect Hernan Ruiz who was commissioned by the chapter of the Cathedral to give the statue a representative function of the Faith. The statue was installed in 1568. The word Giralda comes from the Spanish girar and means "weather vane on a tower with a human or animal appearance". Over time, this name eventually refers to the tower as a whole, and the statue that crowns it gradually took the name of Giraldillo.