L L.
Yelp
The crowning site in Cádiz, IMO, mostly because of the Bell Tower views!
6€ pp will get you inside, plus looooong audio guide, plus crypt, plus bell tower. * * * Views from bell tower are worth every cent. * * *
My hs Humainities teacher (now a docent at the PMA) was OBSESSED with cathedrals, so he had us visit every cathedral inside 7 countries, throughout our Euro trip with him. From this, I can say that not all cathedrals are highly ornamental like this one. Romanesque aren't as decorated, nor are even Gothic. This one is Baroque, so it was just crazy fretwork on every square inch of the walls, floor, ceiling, windows―just everywhere! And on every medium, too, stone, wood, metal, tapestry, etc. And somehow, it is not too much. Somehow, it comes together in harmony, and that is the magic of Baroque style, IMO. As my teach, Mr. W, would say, Baroque music mimics the material aesthetics, with that ornamented harmony.
So upon entering, you start your audio tour, and it leads you down the nave, and around all the radiating chaples, explaining their histories and the relics or artwork in each one. Then it guides you through the crypt downstairs. The explanations are interesting but extremely long and detailed, and frankly, we got to the point where we skipped a lot because it was too time-consuming for our schedule.
Random, but there is all this netting going on up in the domes, with some kind of detritus caught in it. Looks like bird or bat activity, or both. YUK! Messed up my pictures!
:-(
When satisfied with your audio, turn it in at the front, and head outside to the adjacent entry for the bell tower. Have your bar coded receipt ready for them to scan at that window, and up you go. It is a winding ramp, not stairs, but that is small consolation, it is a HARD climb! The tower is 40 meters (131ft) high, but the walking distance, 'round and 'round, is 72 meters. But, alas, the view at the top―WORTH IT!
:-)