The Cathedral of Seville, or Catedral de Sevilla, is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third largest church in the world. It is located in the city of Seville, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. The cathedral was built to demonstrate the city's wealth, as it replaced the former mosque, which had been built in the 12th century. It is renowned for its size, its architecture and its interior decoration.
The interior of the cathedral includes the central nave, two aisles, a transept, several side chapels, and a large cloister. The main altar is adorned with a large reredos, a gilded altarpiece, and a high relief of the passion of Christ. The cathedral also houses a museum of religious art, including several paintings by Murillo and Zurbarán.
After its completion in the early 16th century, Seville Cathedral supplanted Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral in the world, a title the Byzantine church had held for a thousand years. The Gothic section alone has a length of 126 m , a width of 76 m , and its maximum height in the center of the transept is 42 m . The total height of the Giralda tower from the ground to the weather vane is 104 m.
Seville Cathedral was the site of the baptism of Infante Juan of Aragon in 1478, only son of the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. Its royal chapel holds the remains of the city's conqueror, Ferdinand III of Castile, his son and heir, Alfonso the Wise, and their descendant, King Peter the Just. The funerary monuments for cardinals Juan de Cervantes and Pedro González de Mendoza are located among its chapels. Christopher Columbus and his son Diego are also buried in the cathedral.