Seville Cathedral

Why go

Seville Cathedral is a working cathedral in the care of its chapter, the Cabildo, which the cathedral's site describes as responsible for worship and liturgy in it. The cathedral's own timeline says the Great Mosque of Seville was ordered in 1172, turned into the church of Santa María in 1248, and replaced by a new cathedral that the canons decided to build in 1401 and that was inaugurated in 1507; the UNESCO text quoted on its site calls the Giralda the former minaret of the Great Mosque, which became a bell tower after 1248. The cathedral's schedules page sells one general visit to the cathedral and the Giralda together, which begins at the tower, and says hours may change for acts of worship and cultural activities. According to the cathedral's visitor guide, online tickets enter by the Puerta del Lagarto and ticket-office tickets by the Puerta de San Cristóbal, also called the Puerta del Príncipe; once validated, a ticket does not allow leaving and coming back in. The same guide asks for decorous dress with shoulders covered and says the Capilla Real is reserved for worship and is not part of the cultural visit. The cathedral's site says UNESCO inscribed it with the Real Alcázar and the Archive of the Indies as one World Heritage property in 1987.