I've been collecting photographs of the many, many weather vanes in the Nutfield area (Derry and Londonderry, New Hampshire). This week I just had to post a special weather vane I saw in Seville, Spain. Do you know the famous building where this weather vane may be found? Scroll down below to see the answer...
Do you know the location of weather vane #17?
This weather vane is found a top the Giralda Tower at the Cathedral of Seville. This tower was not built as a steeple or belfry, but as a minaret for the Muslim mosque which stood here in the 1100s. In 1218 the mosque was consecrated as a Catholic Cathedral. Parts of the mosque were incorporated into the Gothic building, and the minaret, orange tree patio with fountains, and arabic arches are still there. There is a ramp leading all the way to the top of the Giralda, so a man could ride a mule up to the top to call the Muslim worshippers to prayer. The Giralda Tower is 97 meters high (which I calculated to be about 320 feet). The word "gira" in Spanish means "turning" and so the tower is named for the weather vane- La Giralda translates to "the turning one".
In the main entrance to the cathedral there is a small patio with this copy of the weather vane. Or is it the original, with a new copy on top of Giralda Tower? I don't know the answer to this because there was no sign or person to answer questions. This weather vane is huge, at least 12 to 15 feet tall. The figure is called Giraldillo ("little Giralda") and represents Faith Victorious. The large paddle to catch the wind seems to be typical of smaller weather vanes I've seen around Spain. According to several websites the belfry and weather vane were added in 1528.
Seville Cathedral at Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seville_Cathedral
Click here to see the other weather vanes in this series
---------------
Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo
thank you for showing us!
ReplyDeleteAloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
> < } } ( ° >
><}}(°>
< ° ) } } > <