The commonest mistake with Seville Cathedral is turning up at 9am expecting to look around. From 8am to 10.30am every day the doors are open for worship only, and the paid visit starts at 10.45am Monday to Saturday and 2.30pm on Sundays. Seville Cathedral is the largest building in the city’s old town, and its cultural visit always starts with the Giralda tower before moving into the nave. A general ticket costs 13 euros online, a euro less than at the window, and the full tour comes to about 75 minutes. Two parts stay locked on that ticket: the choir and the roof terraces.
What can you see inside Seville Cathedral?
A general ticket, 13 euros online, covers the Giralda climb, the nave, Columbus’s tomb, the Main Altarpiece seen from outside its chapel, the Sacristía Mayor, the Chapter House and the Patio de los Naranjos, in about 75 minutes. The choir, the roof terraces and the Royal Chapel each need a different visit.
When you can walk around, and when the cathedral is for worship
Seville Cathedral is a working church first, and the Cabildo publishes two clocks. Worship-only hours run from 8am to 10.30am daily, with no sightseeing, and the paid visit runs from 10.45am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and from 2.30pm to 7pm on Sundays, with last entry at 6pm.
Sunday is the day to watch. The 1pm Mass is said at the high altar, so the cathedral only opens to visitors at 2.30pm. During any service, the Cabildo’s rules forbid sightseeing inside the building, and it warns that hours can change without notice for worship, so check the day’s agenda when you book.
Two Masses suit visitors from abroad. There is a Mass in English on Saturdays at 5pm in the Capilla de la Antigua, and a Mass in French on Sundays at 5pm in the Royal Chapel. Attending is free and has nothing to do with a ticket. The Royal Chapel, or Capilla Real, opens for worship from 8am to 1.30pm daily and again from 5pm to 7pm on weekdays, but never as part of the paid visit.
Fixed closures happen too. From 4 to 7 December, for the International Congress of Brotherhoods and Popular Piety, the cultural visit is cut to the Giralda and the Fons Pietatis exhibition, and on 8 December there is no cultural visit at all. Holy Week runs on its own hours, which the Cabildo sets every year.
Where to go in, where you come out and the nearest stops
Window tickets enter by the Puerta del Príncipe on the south side, and online tickets by the Puerta del Lagarto. Every visit ends at the Puerta del Perdón, which opens onto Calle Alemanes, and a scanned ticket does not let you back in, so plan the visit in one go.
The Archivo de Indias stop on TUSSAM’s T1 tram is 156 metres from the cathedral, the C5 bus stops at Plaza de la Contratación, 215 metres away, and Puerta de Jerez on metro line 1 is 471 metres away. From the airport, the EA bus stops at Paseo Cristóbal Colón (Torre del Oro), 454 metres from the cathedral. A TUSSAM single ticket is 1.40 euros, paid on board. The cathedral has no left-luggage room, so drop bags at the hotel before you queue.
The order that works inside, from the Giralda to the orange court
The Giralda goes first because the Cabildo built the route that way: the tower has its own entry check and you climb straight away, up 34 ramps and 17 steps. From the bottom of the tower you are at the east end of the church, and the 12-point plan the information desk hands out free makes a clean anticlockwise loop from there.
- Main Altarpiece, at the crossing. The Cabildo calls it the largest in Christendom, nearly 30 metres high, with 44 reliefs and more than 200 figures. On the general ticket you see it from outside the chapel.
- Chapter House and Sacristía Mayor, in the south-east corner. One holds Murillo’s Immaculate Conception in its oval dome, the other the great Arfe monstrance. Allow 10 minutes for the pair if time is short.
- Columbus’s tomb, by the Puerta del Príncipe. Window-ticket holders pass it on the way in; online-ticket holders reach it here.
- Capilla de la Antigua and the choir, south-west and centre. The choir has 117 carved stalls and the two great organs, viewed from outside unless you book the guided visit.
- Patio de los Naranjos, the old courtyard of the Almohad mosque, and the exit through the Puerta del Perdón.
With 75 minutes in total and the climb taking a good share, the north aisle is the part to drop if you are running late. The 138 stained-glass windows the Cabildo counts are visible all the way round at no extra cost.
What the standard ticket leaves out, and what each extra costs
The 13-euro general ticket leaves out three things: the inside of the main chapel and the choir, the roof terraces and the Royal Chapel. Each has its own visit and its own price, and none replaces the general ticket’s Giralda climb.
| Visit | What it adds | When it runs | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rooftop tour | Roof terraces and passageways, ages 9 and up | 10am and 10.30am October to May; 9am, 9.30am, 8.30pm and 9pm June to September | 20 euros online, 21 euros at the window |
| Guided cathedral and Giralda | Main altarpiece from inside the chapel, and the choir | Monday to Saturday 9.30am to 5pm, Sunday 12.30pm to 6pm | 20 euros online plus 1 euro fee, 21 euros at the window |
| El Evangelio de Madera | Royal Chapel and the altarpiece lit up at 10pm, no Giralda | Saturdays, 8.30pm to 10.30pm | 20 euros |
| Audioguide | Commentary on the general route | During the paid visit | 5 euros, or 4 euros as an app |
For a first visit, the general ticket is enough; the guided visit earns its extra 7 euros if you want to stand inside the main chapel and the choir, and it runs in English as well as Spanish. The rooftop tour suits anyone over 9 without vertigo or heart and breathing problems, and its summer evening slots dodge the heat of a city where August’s daily maximum averages 36.0°C. Its insurance covers only visitors under 70, and bad weather cancels it with a refund or a new date. The Saturday night visit sits among Seville’s monuments that open after dark.
Dress code, bags, photos and buying from the right seller
The cathedral’s rules ask for modest dress with shoulders covered, hats off and quiet inside. Photos are allowed without flash or tripod, water is the only drink allowed, and suitcases and large backpacks stay out because there is nowhere to leave them. Wheelchairs are lent free, though the Giralda takes no wheelchairs or pushchairs.
Buy only from the cathedral’s own sales channel. The Cabildo de la Catedral de Sevilla warns against unauthorised resellers, a common scam around Seville’s big monuments, and late arrivals get no refund. Prices, free categories and the free Sunday slot are covered in Seville Cathedral and Giralda tickets, and the rest of a first day around the cathedral is in what to see in Seville in one, two or three days. Leaving by Calle Alemanes puts you at the edge of the Santa Cruz quarter.
Frequently asked questions about Seville Cathedral inside
How long does it take to see inside Seville Cathedral?
The Cabildo, which runs Seville Cathedral, puts the general visit with the Giralda climb at 75 minutes and its guided visits at 90 minutes. Your ticket time is an entry time only, so outside July and August a 5pm slot still leaves two hours before the 7pm close.
Is Christopher Columbus buried in Seville Cathedral?
Yes. Seville Cathedral holds the Columbus mausoleum designed by Arturo Mélida, next to the Puerta del Príncipe in the south transept. That is the door used by visitors with 14-euro window tickets, so for them the tomb is one of the first things they pass.
Is there a Mass in English at Seville Cathedral?
Yes. The Cabildo lists a Mass in English every Saturday at 5pm in the Capilla de la Antigua, inside Seville Cathedral. Mass is free and separate from the paid tourist visit, which is not allowed in the nave while a service is under way.
The tower comes first and the courtyard last. Which ticket you buy decides what lies in between.