_The Remains of the Mosque_
'I have never entered a mosque without a vivid emotion--shall I
even say without a certain regret in not being a
Mussulman?'--ERNEST RENAN, _Islamism and Science_.
In the year 1171, Abu Yakub Yûsuf, the conquering Moor, began the
building of a mighty _mezquita_, or mosque, in the captured city of
Seville. The important work was given into the hands of a famed
architect, one Gever, Hever, or Djâbir, the correct spelling of whose
name has puzzled the historians. Gever is said to have been 'the
inventor of Algebra.' Whether he really designed the Mosque is difficult
to determine. Some Spanish writers have asserted that the first stage of
the Giralda Tower was commenced in the year 1000 of the Christian era
'by the famous Moor, Herver.' From the discovery, at a great depth, of
certain pieces of Roman masonry, it is supposed that an amphitheatre
once occupied the ground now covered by the Cathedral, the Giralda, and
the Court of the Oranges.
There is no doubt that the Mosque of the Almohade ruler was a vast and
noble building, resembling in most of its characters that of Córdova.
The minaret, now called the Giralda, is certainly one of the most
ancient buildings in the city. It is recorded that the Moorish
astronomers used the tower as an observatory. Probably the minaret
served the double purpose of praying-tower and astronomical outlook. In
building the tower the remains of ruined Roman and Gothic structures
were used by the Moors, just as the Christians afterwards employed
portions of the mosques and palaces for building their temples. The
original minaret was about two hundred and thirty feet in height. At
each corner of the minaret stood four huge brass balls, which were
thrown down in the earthquake of 1395.
If we enter the precincts of the old Mosque by the Puerta del Perdón, in
the Calle de Alemanes, we shall see the bronze-covered doors which may
have formed one of the entrances to the building. The bronze has been
spoilt by paint, but one can note the distinctly Moorish character of
these great doors. This gate was reconstructed by Alfonso XI. after the
victory of Salado. In its present state it dates from 1340. Bartolomé
López added the plateresque ornamentations about 1522. The sculptures
over the doorway are statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, an Annunciation
and the Expulsion of the Money Changers from the Temple. Before the
Lonja was built, the merchants of Seville used the court within as an
exchange. Hence the relief of the Expulsion, a fine piece of carving by
the Italian, Miguel, representing Christ chastising the money changers
from the Temple. Miguel of Florence was one of the early Renaissance
sculptors who came to Spain.
Under the archway of the Gate of Pardon is a modern shrine. At almost
all hours of the day sin-stricken supplicants, chiefly women, may be
seen kneeling on the stones before the altar.
[Illustration: Puerta del Perdón]
Through the gateway we enter the quiet retreat of the Patio de los
Naranjas, or the Court of the Oranges, which formed the courtyard of the
ancient Morisco temple. The lofty Cathedral is before us; on the left
towers the imposing Giralda, and to the right hand is the Sagrario,
or parish church. There is a beautiful Moorish fountain in the centre of
the court, with an octagonal basin. Every Morisco _patio_ had its
fountain, orange and lemon trees, and marble seats. In the walls of the
Sacristry of the Sagrario, we shall find further traces of the Moorish
decoration in the form of _azulejos_ which belonged to the original
Mosque.
The _patio_ is smaller than that of the _mezquita_ of Córdova, and with
the exception of the few relics which I have described, there is not
much suggestion of former grandeur.
But imagination calls forth the figure of a Mueddjin upon the minaret,
chanting the _Adyân_, or call to prayer, as the sun tints the sky at its
setting. The worshippers repair to the baths to purify themselves for
devotion by washing their bodies. 'Regularly perform thy prayer at the
declension of the sun,' says the Sura, 'at the first darkness of the
night and the prayer of daybreak; for the prayer of daybreak is borne
witness unto by the angels.' Five times during the day the pious
Mohammedans spread their mats here, and prayed to Allah.
The Crescent has vanished from the Giralda. A figure of Christian faith
stands there in its stead, and from the Cathedral issue the strains of
the choristers and the swelling of the organ. For long centuries this
spot in the heart of Seville has been dedicated to worship. Romans,
Visigoths, Moors and Catholic Christians each in their day of power have
bent the knee to their deities upon the ground which we are now
treading. It is a strange, composite fane! The lower part of the Giralda
is Moorish, the upper part Christian. In the middle of the Court of the
Oranges we have the Moslem fountain; and in the wall is a stone pulpit
from which many eminent Catholic divines have preached against heresy.
The Giralda, incorporated with the Cathedral, dominates all, but it is
the most Moorish feature of the great pile.
[Illustration: Stone Pulpit in Court of Oranges.]
We must now inspect the minaret. Our way is through the Capilla de la
Granada of the Cathedral. Here we may see one more monument of the
Moors, a horseshoe arch, once a part of the Mosque. Within, suspended
from the roof, is a huge elephant's tusk, a bridle, said to have
belonged to the Cid's steed, and a stuffed crocodile, a present from the
Sultan of Egypt, who sent it to Alfonso el Sabio, with a request for the
King's daughter as wife.
The ascent of the Giralda is not laborious. We can walk up the inclined
plane without losing breath; and at each window of the stages there are
lovely peeps of the city and the vast plain of the Guadalquivir. From
these windows there are fine outlooks upon the Cathedral, and the
details of its wonderful buttresses can be well studied as we ascend
stage by stage. The stages, or _cuerpos_, of the tower are all named.
We soon arrive at the Cuerpo de Campanas, where there is a peal of
bells. Santa Maria is a ponderous bell which cost ten thousand ducats.
It was set up in the year 1588 by the order of the Archbishop Don
Gonzalo de Mena. This bell is vulgarly called 'the plump' by reason of
its great bulk and weight. Its note is deep and resonant, and can be
heard all over the city, and far away in the country, when the wind is
favourable.
[Illustration: Cuerpo de Azucenas]
Another _cuerpo_ is that of the Azucenas, or white lilies, so called on
account of its architectural urns, with ironwork flower decorations. El
Cuerpo del Reloj (the Clock Tower) contained the first tower-clock made
in Spain. It was put in its place in the presence of King Enrique III.
The present clock was the work of José Cordero, a monk, and it dates
from 1765. It is said that portions of the old clock were used by
Cordero.
Around the more modern part of the Giralda is an inscription in Latin:
_Turris Fortisima Nomen Domini_. Each word of the motto occupies one of
the faces of the tower. The Cuerpo de Estrellas, or Stage of the Stars,
is so named in allusion to the decorations of its faces. Notice the
_ajimez_ windows as you ascend the tower. The fourth and last _cuerpo_
is the Corambolas, or billiard balls, referring to the globes of stone
in the decoration.
We emerge upon a gallery below the great statue of La Fé, thirteen feet
in height, and made out of bronze by Bartolomé Morel, in 1568. This
figure of a woman is a vane, which moves with every wind in spite of its
size and weight. It is a wonderful piece of workmanship. The head of the
Faith is crowned with a Roman helmet, and in the woman's right hand is
the great standard of Rome in the time of the Emperor Constantine. In
the left hand the figure holds a palm branch, a symbol of conquest. The
true name of the statue is La Fé Triumfante; but in the common speech of
Seville it is spoken of as Victoria, Giraldillo, Santa Juasma, and El
Muñeco.
Don Alfonso Alvarez-Benavides, in his little book on _La Giralda_,
published in Seville, tells us that the statue of the Faith has suffered
several lightning strokes. One of these attacks severely scorched the
upper section of the tower. In the afternoon of April 26, 1884, during a
terrific thunder-storm, a shower of sparks fell upon the Giralda and
caused much damage. Again, on the 18th of June 1885, lightning assailed
the building. The work of restoration began in the year 1885, and was
completed in 1888, under the direction of Fernandez Casanova.
It was in 1568 that Hernan Ruiz erected the highest _cuerpo_ of the
minaret by order of the Cathedral authorities. Ruiz was often employed
by the Church, and his work may be seen in the restored _mezquita_ of
Córdova.
The Giralda is about three hundred feet in height. As the surrounding
country is level, we can command a very wide expanse from the gallery
below the statue of the Faith. Looking over the roofs and dome of the
Cathedral, we see the Plaza de Toros, and the suburb of Triana, on the
opposite bank of the Guadalquivir. Among the low hills beyond the
Cartuja, to the right of Triana, is the ancient Roman amphitheatre of
Italica, while in the extreme distance are blue mountains.
Beyond the Alcázar we note the Parque, the Delicias, the Prado de San
Sebastian, and the red clay hills of Coria on the right bank of the
broad river. Further away are the interminable marshes bordering the
estuary, and beyond is San Lucar. Below us is the Archbishop's Palace
and the gardens of the Alcázar. Seville is spread beneath us like a huge
map. We look down on roof gardens, into _patios_, along the white,
narrow _calles_, into the _plazas_, and across the housetops to the
fertile land beyond the Roman walls.
It is a prospect that inspires the spectator. Fair, sunny, fruitful
Andalusia stretches around for league upon league, under a burning blue
sky. The air is clear; there is scarcely a trace of smoke from the
myriad chimneys of the city. No town could be brighter and cleaner. We
are above the brown hawks that nest in the niches of the Cathedral. They
float on outspread wings over the buttresses. The passengers in the
streets are like specks; the trees in the Court of the Oranges are but
shrubs. It is one of the finest panoramas in Spain. One is reluctant to
descend from this breezy platform, and to turn one's back upon the fine
bird's-eye view of Seville and the surrounding landscape.
It is a misfortune that sun, wind and rain have almost expunged the
frescoes that decorate the niches of the Giralda. They were the work of
Luis de Vargas, who painted the altar-piece in the Chapel of the
Nativity in the Cathedral. Vargas was a pupil of Perino del Vaga in
Italy. One of the paintings on the Giralda represented the Saints of
Seville, St. Justa and St. Rufina, who protect the tower from harm, and
other subjects were scenes in the lives of saints and martyrs. Vargas
also executed the fresco of Christ bearing the Cross, or the _Calle de
Amargura_, on the outside of Patio de los Naranjas. The picture was
restored by Vasco Pereyra, in 1594. We read of Luis de Vargas that he
was extremely devout. He practised austerities and mortifications, and
slept with a coffin by his bedside, to remind him of the insecurity of
this earthly life. The ascetic artist was born in Seville, in 1502, and
died there about the year 1568.
Like the monument of London, and many other high towers, the Giralda has
often been used by suicides. A number of despairing persons have thrown
themselves from its summit.
[Illustration: The Giralda]