5. LA CATEDRAL

 

After the christian conquest in 1489, the main muslim mosque was turned into a christian church being the first cathedral. In 1522 a huge earthquake pulled down most of the old city buildings including that first cathedral.

As a result, a new cathedral was built here, in an area that previously was a large esplanade. The first stone of the new building was placed in 1524, so very soon we'll celebrate the 500 anniversary of that event. Around the new cathedral it was built the 16th century city.

As you can see, the cathedral, built in Gothic-Renaissance style, is not very high nor has big windows or big towers. The decoration is very simple. The reason why is because for centuries the cathedral was also a fortress where the population could find shelter in case pirates coming from northern Africa attacked the city.

At the bottom of the tower you can find a few lion heads. Could you count how many lion heads are there?

Write down the answer on your notebook.