The Giralda Tower: The Minaret of Thirty-Five Ramps
Why is it significant?
Look up from the Plaza Virgen de los Reyes to the crowning jewel of the Seville skyline: the magnificent Giralda tower.
Key Facts
| Place | The Giralda Tower: The Minaret of Thirty-Five Ramps |
|---|---|
| Address | Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, 41004 Sevilla, Spain |
| Geo Coordinates | 37.38620, -5.99260 |
| Part of Walk | Imperial Seville: The Real Alcázar, Giralda, and Columbus's Tomb |
| Generated | Generated |
Look up from the Plaza Virgen de los Reyes to the crowning jewel of the Seville skyline: the magnificent Giralda tower. Rising one hundred and four meters, its lower brick section displays exquisite diamond-lozenge Sebka brick patterns, topped by a graceful sixteenth-century Renaissance belfry and a four-meter bronze sculpture of Faith holding a shield that rotates with the Andalusian wind.
Erected in eleven eighty-four by Almohad architect Ahmad ben Baso as the grand minaret of the Friday Mosque, the tower does not contain a spiral staircase. Instead, it features thirty-five gently inclined interior brick ramps, engineered wide enough so that the muezzin could ride up to the summit on horseback five times a day to chant the call to prayer.
The bronze weather vane at the apex gave the tower its modern name: from the Spanish verb girar, meaning to turn, it became known affectionately to Sevillanos simply as the Giralda.
Step back inside the cathedral to stand before the monument to Christopher Columbus.