The story of this place
The Giralda began in 1184 as the minaret of the Almohad Great Mosque of Seville, its 35 interior ramps built wide enough for a muezzin to ride up on horseback. When Seville fell to Ferdinand III in 1248 the mosque became a cathedral; in 1401 canons resolved to raise a church 'so great that those who see it will think we were mad,' and Seville Cathedral became the largest Gothic church on earth. A Renaissance belfry topped the old minaret in 1568. Inside, four bronze kings shoulder a tomb said to hold Christopher Columbus—DNA testing in 2006 confirmed at least part of him lies there, having crossed the Atlantic even in death.