English and the World · Spain · 40 · Seville · A1–C2 · A1–A2 free
A minaret that became a bell tower, a cathedral built to make people think its builders were mad, a wall of gold, a crocodile on the ceiling, and the tomb of Christopher Columbus. Choose your level.
The Giralda
The Giralda is the symbol of Seville. It is about 104 metres tall. The bottom part is more than 800 years old: it was the minaret of a great mosque, built by the Almohads between 1184 and 1198. The top part, with the bells, is from the 16th century.
On the very top there is a bronze statue that turns in the wind. In Spanish, “to turn” is girar, so the statue is called the Giraldillo, and the tower is called the Giralda.
Inside the tower there are no stairs! There are 35 ramps, so you can walk up easily to the top. From there you can see the whole city.
The Cathedral
Next to the Giralda is the Cathedral. It is one of the biggest churches in the world. The builders started it in 1401, and they finished it about 100 years later.
Inside, there is a huge altarpiece covered in gold: it is about 20 metres high! There is also the tomb of Christopher Columbus. Four big statues carry his coffin on their shoulders. They stand for four old kingdoms of Spain: Castile, León, Aragon and Navarre.
Outside, there is a beautiful courtyard with orange trees. It was the courtyard of the old mosque.
🦉 Want more? Sophia explains every kind of question, from How tall? to tag questions, in A Question of Order (Philo & Sophia, Lesson 18).
Language: How … ? questions
| Question | Asks about | Example answer |
|---|---|---|
| How tall / high is it? | height | It’s about 104 metres tall. |
| How old is it? | age | It’s more than 800 years old. |
| How long did it take? | time | About 100 years. |
| How many ramps are there? | number (countable) | There are 35. |
| How much does a ticket cost? | price, amount | It costs … euros. |
| How big / How far … ? | size / distance | It’s one of the biggest in the world. / It’s a ten-minute walk. |
⚠️ We say It’s 104 metres tall and It’s 800 years old, not ✗ It has 800 years (as in Spanish tiene 800 años).
Read the texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end.
Choose the best answer.
1. What was the bottom part of the Giralda first?
2. Why is the tower called the Giralda?
3. How do you go up the Giralda?
4. Who carries Columbus’s coffin?
Write the missing word: tall, old, long, many or much.
5. How is the Giralda? About 104 metres.
6. How is the bottom part? More than 800 years.
7. How ramps are there? 35.
8. How did it take to build the cathedral? About 100 years.
Choose the best answer.
9. Which sentence is correct?
10. Which question is correct?
11. “___ is the altarpiece?” “About 20 metres high.”
12. “___ is the Alcázar from the Cathedral?” “Two minutes on foot.”
Go there!
Visit: buy your ticket online; it includes the Giralda. Walk up the ramps first, before it gets hot, then visit the Cathedral, the tomb of Columbus and the Courtyard of the Orange Trees. Look up as you leave by the Door of Forgiveness! The Alcázar is just across the square.
Your task: write six How … ? questions about a famous building in your town, and answer them.
It tells how an Almohad minaret became a Renaissance bell tower, how a mosque became the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and how Columbus’s remains travelled from Valladolid to Santo Domingo, Havana and back to Seville, with the DNA evidence and the Dominican claim, plus grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.
It tells how an Almohad minaret became a Renaissance bell tower, how a mosque became the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, and how Columbus’s remains travelled from Valladolid to Santo Domingo, Havana and back to Seville, with the DNA evidence and the Dominican claim, plus grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.