When visiting Seville in Spain, the Catredal de Santa Maria de la Sede, better known as the Seville Cathedral, will certainly be one of the top locations on your itinerary. It is certainly a beautiful, gothic cathedral and is one of the largest churches in the world. Just walking around and through the church is certainly worth spending an hour or two at the cathedral, but going to the top of the Giralda, or bell tower, should absolutely be part of your visit. The views of the city of Seville from the cathedral’s bell tower are absolutely stunning.
As you approach the cathedral, you will likely be approached by gypsy women offering you bundles of herbs or flowers. If you accept them, you will immediately be expected to give them money and they can be quite aggressive, so we avoided them. We have also heard that their can be a lot of pickpockets in the area, but we didn’t have any issues during our visit to Seville. Because it such a popular tourist location, another thing that you will find are horse-drawn carriages that will take you on tours of the city. We did take one tour at the end of our first day and it was interesting for many different reasons.
Standing at the viewing platform of the Giralda, the views of Seville are amazing. You get wonderful views of the Alcázar Palace, which is next to the cathedral, and is also a place that you should visit after spending time at the cathedral. The winding, narrow streets of Seville spread out before you from the height of the bell tower. The Guadalquivir river can also be seen off in the distance.
It is hard to miss the cathedral and the bell tower as you enter Seville. As with most gothic cathedrals, the façades around the doors are quite impressive and beautiful. After spending time at the Seville Cathedral, be sure to head into the Old Jewish Quarter, wandering the narrow streets, and shopping at the many local stores that are located there. Seville is certainly a wonderful city and seeing the cathedral will surely be one of the highlights of any visit.
