West from Seville to Cádiz

Peering skywards at the Giralda, I try to mentally time travel to its construction in the 12^th century, but unlike in Córdoba, Granada, or Almería, that leap of time and faith isn’t easy. For a start, the minaret is now crowned by a spinning statue of, yes, Faith, planted by the conquering Catholics beside their cavernous cathedral built over the mosque. Not only that, despite this iconic tower (in which the muezzin would canter heroically up a ramp on horseback to deliver the call to prayer), Seville’s Moorish past is overlaid by a heavy cloak of baroque frills and flamenco flounces. Even the dazzling Mudéjar interior of the neighboring Alcázar somehow lacks soul, not surprising given that King Pedro of Castilla gave it an extensive makeover. Then there is the Torre del Oro, an Almohad military watchtower once attached by a chain to a twin fort across the river to create a kind of garrote for enemy ships. Yet even this ingenious Moorish monument later gained a baroque penthouse—olé!