Catedral (part 2)

On returning to ground level, the audioguide took me around the many of the 80 chapels and major sights.

These include the tomb of Christopher Columbus (in Spanish, Cristóbal Colón), who was commissioned by Queen Isabella in Seville to navigate across the Atlantic Ocean, discovering what became known as the Americas. The remains of Columbus were returned to Seville in 1898, having been taken from Valladolid (where he died in 1506) to a monastery in Seville, then to what is now the Dominican Republic (where he wanted to be buried), before being moved to Cuba in 1793 when France took over the island of Hispaniola (both the Dominican Republic and Haiti). The four supporters of the catafalque represent the kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Navarre and Aragon.

Columbus’s eldest son Diego, also a navigator, is also buried in the catedral.

At 3pm (because this is the hour Jesus died on the Cross), an announcement led us in a short time of prayer, in Spanish and English, before inviting us to pray, whilst quietly contemplating any image of Jesus that we could see before us.Read more