cathedral and royal chapel (capilla real)

建行小姐的回复让我有些沮丧。好在今早拜访的是我一直期待已久的皇家礼拜堂而且外面天气实在是好（此行西班牙的阳光是我最大的救赎），所以过了一会儿心情也慢慢平复下来了。　　相比历史上赫赫有名的英国伊丽莎白女王、维多利亚女王以及沙皇俄国的叶卡特琳娜女皇，伊莎贝尔女王 （《伊莎贝尔》电视剧第一季正在热播）可能非常默默无闻，可是如果稍稍了解一下西班牙的历史，就会发现这是一位对欧洲史具有巨大影响的人物。在她的一生中，做到了1) 通过与阿拉贡的国王 Ferdinand联姻，近乎统一了西班牙。她在当时还只是Castile和Leon的王位第一继承人。但是通过有选择地与 Ferdinand联姻，她获得了Aragon的支持。她与Ferdinand也算是近亲，他们的结婚证还是波吉亚红衣大主教（《波吉亚家族》电视剧也在热播）帮忙搞定的。2) 她与 Ferdinand并称“天主教双王”，并且在结婚时非常清楚地限制了 Ferdinand对于Castile 和Leon的继承权，保证了自己王国的政治独立性和最大利益。3) 她和 Ferdinand一起扫清了在Andalusia 的剩余穆斯林势力，成功收复Granada。4) 她资助了哥伦布的美洲探险，使西班牙成为了第一个跨越欧洲及美洲大陆的帝国。5) 通过有意识地与欧洲各个国家联姻（最有名的当属她的女儿Catherine of Aragon 与亨利八世的婚姻），使她的孙子Charles V (Carlos I)成为了欧洲大多国家的合法王位继承人。如果说百年后英国人为他们的“光荣孤立”外交政策感到自豪的话，那么亨利八世同样试图获得在欧洲大陆影响力而一无所获的主要原因之一就在于当时即使英国与法国联合也无法与西班牙抗衡。伊莎贝尔为她的子孙们留下了辉煌的基业。西班牙的霸权直到法国著名的战略家黎塞留主教横空出世才逐渐衰弱，最终让位于太阳王路易十四。但是伊莎贝尔及其子女的人生也并非完美无缺。她的大女儿胡安娜（Castile的继承人）因为丈夫的早逝而精神崩溃（电影《疯女胡安娜》就是关于她的故事）被她的父亲Ferdinand取代摄政。伊莎贝尔在世时追求的Castile政治独立无疾而终。她的长子早逝，使她在晚年如维多利亚女王一样只穿黑衣。她的女儿Catherine of Aragon最终还是被亨利八世抛弃，郁郁而终。不过无论是Catherine还是她的女儿Mary Tudor (血腥玛丽）都和伊莎贝尔一样是性格坚毅、拥有出色政治能力的女性。前者在亨利八世出国作战时，把国家治理得井井有条，即使面对国王的逼迫（亨利八世在那个时期绝对可以算上杀人数目较多的君主），也毫不退缩，绝不放手婚姻以及更重要的——女儿的继承权。而Mary Tudor果然也不负期许，最终成功复辟。虽然她以焚烧反对天主教的异端而留下血腥之名，但是不可否认的是，直到她死她的王位也不可撼动。因为Mary跟西班牙的Felippe II (Carlos一世的继承人）没有子嗣而最终让伊丽莎白女王获得了王位从而使英国摆脱了西班牙的控制，但是伊丽莎白女王一生未婚的原因之一也不得不说是在当时国内外政治压力下为保王权独立的无奈之举吧。和我最初的设想不同，伊莎贝尔的埋葬之所并没有设在金碧辉煌的教堂。恰恰相反，Capilla Real (内部不允许拍照)仅占大教堂一角，可以说非常朴素。在祭台前设有她、她丈夫Fernardo、她的女儿胡安娜及其丈夫的石墓。而在下面的耳室中，可以看到他们简单的棺椁（包括早逝的葡萄牙王子菲利浦）。在旁边的圣器室，可是看到她的朝服、王冠、十字架等。在塞维利亚Real Alcazar的时候，我在二楼也曾看到她当年的祷告室。作为一位非常虔诚的天主教徒，她把哥伦布从美洲带来的第一块黄金献给了塞维利亚大教堂。这里是她最终的埋葬之所，但却不是她本来希望埋葬的地方。她死时，选择埋葬在Alhambra。如果她的丈夫希望葬在别处，她也愿意移棺。最终，他也选择了Alhambra。埋葬在Capilla Real是后来她的孙子Charles V的决定。皇家礼拜堂小小的侧门

一路上的教堂，还是很喜欢这里的风格，很漂亮，很壮观，royal chapel可看性一般，因为不信教，更多的是游客的观点。两者是连在一起的，但是需要分别买票进入。

Not really worth the 4 euros entrance as there are lots of free sights just as impressive but if you're into architecture and churches it's ok.

This was a 3rd or 4th cathedral in Spain and when we wandered in, we noticed something a little odd, it was in the shape of a + rather than a cross. After wandering around a while, we commented that it was a little bigger than average but nothing too special. So we continued walking down the street we were on and realized that there was another entrance thinking that we may have missed something we walked in and were dumbstruck. The place we had been was merely a side chapel! And that side chapel was bigger than all the other cathedrals we had seen. The real thing was incredible. Huge doesn't begin to describe it. 2 Massive organs, each bigger than any other we saw, dominate the middle of the cathedral. The brilliant white of the walls only serves to highly the stunning scale of this magnificent cathedral.

you have to pay twice to visit these places. The royal chapel was very impressive with a very interesting leaflet. Of course, kids enjoyed the royal tombs and the crowns and scepters. The cathedral was less interesting in my opinion but I'm not a great fan of this architecture. We did not visit the museum though.

Beautiful and breath taking cathedral. A massive undertaking of a church. Fairly well preserved and definitely worth seeing. Close to central town and an easy walk from most places.

Downtown, 100 mts away from the central Minibuses departure point, even if you´re not a religious person, don´t miss the Cathedral (free entrance) and the Royal Chapel (4€/pax), specially the last one. Keep in mind that both were ordered to be built by the Queen Elizabeth "The Catholic" and his husband King Fernando, both very religious people and wealthy. It´s really visible the restoration works done, so it´s a spetacle of "golden art everywhere". At the chapel, lies the majestic tombs of these kings,as well as King Felipe and his wife (Felipe was also king of Portugal, during the first time Portugal lost his independence to Spain).

How can you go to Granada and not see this wonderful cathedral. Absolutely magnificent...would recommend you have the audio guide..all the written descriptions are in spanish.

Again if you like Cathedrals this is a must. The inside is breathtaking and the entire space is so well preserved. The place is accommodating for strollers only if your child likes this kind of thing or is asleep.

The cathedral was large and lavishly decorated, but we enjoyed the royal chapel even a little more. Los Reyes Catolicos, as well as Juana the Mad, Philip the Fair, and young Price Michael, are entombed in the chapel, which is adjacent to but not accessible directly from the cathedral.

The Scale of this Cathedral is huge. The height is unbelievable and dominates everything around. It oozes history and must have terrified the ordinary citizen in the medieval times. Present day seating area only uses a fraction of the space inside. You are talking big here.

We went to the 12.30 Sunday mass said by the Archbishop. The cathedral is lovely and despite being a tourist attracted tourists were kept out of the way while mass was said.

I liked it for its massive proportions. From the outside, but mostly from the inside.As you enter, you find yourself in this massive space, a huge room, rather light, with massive space, and sky high vaults. And, surprisingly enough, being from that time, not over decorated.

You can't take pictures so buy a postcard of the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella. You absolutely must go there. I wish I could describe it, but you must see it. Much like Christopher Columbus's resting place in the cathedral in Seville.

Buty the postcards for the souvenir as you will never capture the images. Totally befitting royalty, I was gobsmacked.