La Giralda - Seville

The Giralda is a tower built by the Almohads in 1184-1195 and was then the tallest minaret in the world . The Hassan Tower in Rabat and the tower of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh served as examples.

The tower stands next to Seville Cathedral and the Patio de los Naranjos . During the Reconquista and the conquest of Seville by the Christians in 1248, the adjacent mosque was converted into a cathedral from 1401 onwards . The Giralda was integrated as a bell tower.

Originally this minaret, then 76 m high , was crowned with four large golden (or copper) spheres that were said to be visible from a distance of 40 km . The foundations of the Giralda are up to 15 m deep in the ground and the material for this came from Roman ruins. The tower lost its original crown in an earthquake in 1356. The spheres had come down and were replaced by a clock with a cross above it. Instead of stairs, there is a sloping corridor that leads to the top via 35 platforms , which the muezzin could climb on horseback when he called the faithful to prayer from the top of the tower.

On top of the tower is a four-meter-high copper statue representing the Faith, nicknamed the Giraldillo. The real name of this female figure is: Triumph of Overcoming Faith. The statue was placed in 1568 and replaced in 1997 by a copy in bronze . After the restoration, which cost 600,000 euros, the original was replaced and the copy was placed on the south side of the cathedral . The statue on the tower rotates with the wind and has given the tower its nickname (Giralda = weather vane) . The statue weighs 2000 kg. The tower, including the Giraldillo, is 97 m high.

There are 25 bells in the tower, the oldest of which was cast in 1400.

The architects of the Ferry Building in San Francisco (USA), the Wrigley Building in Chicago and the University Library in Leuven were inspired by the Giralda.

Willem Vandenameele