The minaret of Seville, or the Giralda,…
March 1198 CE
The minaret of Seville, or the Giralda, completed under the ascetic Almohads in 1198, combines monumental proportions with restrained decoration.
Begun under the architect Ahmad Ben Baso in 1184, other architects continued work on the tower after Ben Baso's death.
The mathematician and astronomer Jabir Ibn Aflah (or Geber) is also often credited with the tower's design.
The tower is completed March 10, 1198, with the installation of copper spheres on the tower's top.
The Almohads build similar towers in what are now Spain and Morocco during this period.
The tower of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh had served as a model for the Giralda and its sister, the Hassan Tower in Rabat.
The Almohad caliph is meanwhile losing interest in the affairs of the Iberian Peninsula; he is in poor health, his objective of retaining a hold over al-Andalus appears to be a complete success, and in 1198 he returns to Africa.
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