Seville Cathedral and the Giralda: what the ticket includes, and how the climb works

For a century and a half after the Christian conquest of Seville in 1248, the city's cathedral was its old mosque, with an altar where the prayer niche had been. By 1401 the building was failing, and the cathedral chapter voted to replace it. The words handed down from that meeting are a boast: let us build a church so large that those who see it finished will take us for madmen.

They did. The work took about a century and produced the largest Gothic church in the world. But the builders kept two pieces of the mosque: its courtyard, and its minaret, which became the bell tower. That is why a visit here is two visits in one, and why people ask before booking whether the tower is a second ticket and what the climb is like.

The vaults of the cathedral, begun in the first years of the fifteenth century. Photo: Adam Jones, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What the ticket covers

A general ticket to Seville Cathedral includes more than its name says:

• The cathedral: the five naves, the chapels, the sacristies and the treasury rooms with their paintings.
• The Giralda. The climb is part of the same ticket. There is nothing extra to buy for the tower.
• The Court of the Orange Trees, the courtyard of the mosque, through which you leave.
• The Church of El Salvador, a large baroque church about ten minutes' walk to the north, built on the site of an earlier mosque. It has long been sold together with the cathedral, and far fewer people go.

Entry is for a set time, and at busy periods the day sells out.

How the Giralda climb works

The tower was raised between 1184 and 1198 as the minaret of the great mosque, a sister of the Koutoubia in Marrakesh. Its builders did not put stairs inside. They built ramps: thirty-five of them, wide and gently sloped, turning around the core of the tower, so that the man who gave the call to prayer could go up on horseback.

For a visitor that has practical consequences.

• There is no lift, and no other way up or down.
• It is easier than a staircase. You walk uphill for about ten to fifteen minutes. The ramps are numbered, so you always know how far you have come, and windows on every side let you stop for breath and for the view.
• Only the last stretch is steps: a short flight from the top ramp up into the bell chamber.
• The same ramps serve both directions. In the middle of the day people going up squeeze past people coming down, and the bell chamber itself is crowded.
• The bells are real. They hang just above your head and they ring.

The bell chamber and everything above it are Christian additions of the 1560s, by the architect Hernán Ruiz. On the very top turns a bronze figure of Faith that works as a weathervane. The people of Seville called it the Giraldillo, from the verb for turning, and the tower took its name from it. A full-size copy stands outside the cathedral, so you can see how big it is.

The Court of the Orange Trees, the courtyard of the old mosque, from the Giralda. Photo: Jebulon, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

Seville from the Giralda. Photo: Benjamin Smith, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What to look for inside

• The tomb of Columbus. Four figures larger than life, dressed as heralds of the kingdoms of Castile, León, Aragon and Navarre, carry his coffin on their shoulders. The monument was made for the cathedral of Havana and came to Seville in 1899, after Spain lost Cuba.
• The high altar. Behind a tall iron screen rises a wall of carved and gilded wood with dozens of scenes from the life of Christ. The Flemish sculptor Pieter Dancart began it in 1482 and it took three generations to finish. It is usually called the largest altarpiece in Christendom.
• The paintings. The sacristies hold works by Murillo and Zurbarán, and Goya's canvas of Seville's patron saints, Justa and Rufina, with the Giralda between them.

The tomb of Columbus, carried by the heralds of four Spanish kingdoms. Photo: José Luiz, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What is sold separately

• The rooftop visit. The cathedral runs guided walks over its roofs, among the buttresses and pinnacles. They have their own ticket, fixed times and limited places. A general ticket does not include them.
• The Alcázar. The royal palace is across the square, a different monument with a different owner, ticket and line.

Reading the partner's listings

• A cathedral and Giralda ticket is timed entry to the church and the tower. The partner's plain ticket also lists the Church of El Salvador.
• A ticket and audio tour with a city walk adds commentary in the partner's app on your phone, inside the cathedral and on a walk through the centre afterwards. Bring earphones.
• An audio tour marked "without a ticket" is commentary only. You buy your entry separately.
• The audio tour of the cathedral, the Giralda and the Alcázar covers three monuments and includes a ticket to none of them. It is a guide for people who already hold their tickets.

These are the tickets and audio tours our partner sells for Seville Cathedral and the Giralda, with today's prices:

• on WeGoTrip Museum Tickets & Passes Seville: Cathedral & La Giralda Ticket and Audio Tour with a City Walk 2 – 3 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom1,977 L
• on WeGoTrip History & Heritage Sevilla: Cathedral, Giralda & Alcazar Audio Tour 3 – 3.5 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom818 L
• on WeGoTrip History & Heritage Seville: Cathedral & La Giralda Audio Tour (Without a Ticket) 2 – 3 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom795 L
• on WeGoTrip Sevilla: Seville Cathedral and Giralda Tower Ticket Book on WeGoTripfrom1,880 L
• on WeGoTrip Art & Museums Seville: Setas de Sevilla Ticket and City Highlights Audio Tour 2 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom2,181 L
• on WeGoTrip History & Heritage Seville: Pearls of History Audio Tour 2 hours Book on WeGoTripfrom454 L

Sold and delivered by WeGoTrip. You book on their site at their price; Viaqui may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.

Practical notes

• Allow an hour and a half for the cathedral and the tower together, and half an hour more for El Salvador.
• Go up the tower first if you arrive at opening time, before the ramps fill, and see the church afterwards.
• This is a working cathedral. On Sundays and feast days visits start later, after the morning services, and chapels can close without notice.
• Dress as you would for any church in use: shoulders covered, no beachwear.
• In summer the ramps are warm by midday. Bring water.

Hours change with the season and the church calendar. The current ones are on our pages for Seville Cathedral and the Giralda.

From here

You come out through the Court of the Orange Trees on the north side. The Alcázar of Seville is two minutes away across the Plaza del Triunfo, and between the two stands the Archive of the Indies, which keeps the papers of Spain's American empire. Behind the Alcázar wall begin the lanes of the Santa Cruz quarter, the old Jewish district. For the rest of Seville, or to see what lies around it, open the attractions map of Spain.

Cover photo: Heinz Joerg Kretschmer, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.