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Giralda

Giralda

Ahmad Ibn Baso, Ali al-Ghumari & Hernán Ruiz the Younger

Photo: Ingo Mehling · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Seville, Spain
Client / Owner
Abu Ya'qub Yusuf
Year
Completed 1198
Access
Tickets required
Typology
Spiritual

The Giralda in Seville began as the minaret of the Almohad mosque, commissioned in 1171 by Caliph Abu Ya'qub Yusuf. Ahmad Ibn Baso designed the mosque and began the base, 'Ali al-Ghumari built the brick body, and the tower was completed on March 10, 1198. The infobox and text give Moorish (Almohad) and Renaissance styles.

The base is 13.6 meters (45 feet) per side, and the main shaft is 50.51 meters (166 feet), with ramps instead of stairs. Hernán Ruiz the Younger added a Renaissance belfry from 1558 to 1568, and the total height is given as about 95 or 96 meters (312 feet). The Giraldillo weather vane was installed in 1568.

The shaft uses local brick and recycled marble, with 92 reused Umayyad-era capitals. After the 1356 earthquake, the metal spheres on top were replaced with a cross and bell. It is the bell tower of Seville Cathedral, part of a UNESCO-listed complex.

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