Description
Seville Giralda Fine Art Photograph
Courtyard of Oranges, Seville Cathedral, Spain
Seville Giralda fine art photograph. Commonly referred to as La Giralda, The Seville Cathedral’s iconic bell tower was originally constructed as a minaret by Islamic rulers of Spain during the Almohad dynasty. Inside the tower are ramps rather than stairs which allowed workers to ride donkeys to the top of the minaret to call the faithful to prayer. The Minaret was completed in 1198 utilizing stones from Seville’s original Roman wall as well as reclaimed stones from the nearby walls of the former Abbadid Palace.
After the christian conquest of Seville in 1248 the city’s mosque and minaret were converted to a Cathedral and Bell Tower. These conversions were completed in 1568 by Hernan Ruiz the Younger, giving La Giralda a total height of 342 feet. The name, “La Giralda” is actually a reference to the sculpture on the peak of the tower. “La Giralda” is derived from the Spanish word, Giraldillo, which means, “Weather Vane”. The 4 meter tall bronze sculpture on the top of the tower, thought to have been inspired by Athena, weighs over 1,500 Kg and rotates about a vertical axis with the wind, thus the feminized term, La Giralda! Visible from much of Seville, La Giralda is the city’s most prominent emblem.
La Giralda, the Capture
One of my prominent goals in creating a fine art photograph is to capture the essence of a place. This is no different with travel photography than it is with landscape photography. During my recent travels, I was fortunate to capture beautiful and very representative photos of Montepulciano, Italy, the Roman Bridge of Cordoba Spain as well as Alhambra in Grenada Spain. While enjoying the beauty of Seville with my family, I quickly realized that La Giralda was the essence of Seville. La Giralda and…. Orange trees. Our guide noted that the city of Seville has over 45,000 oranges trees. Despite most of them not being palatable, they are widely loved and are representative of the city and its Mediterranean climate. When I visualized this scene in the Courtyard of Oranges with La Giralda elegantly framed by colorful citrus fruit, I was ecstatic! I knew I had found the essence of La Giralda in Seville!
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