the balconies, the Muezzin, in
Mahometan times was accustomed to present himself at each of the hours
appointed for prayer, and to pronounce the sentences ordained by that
religion for calling the people. The half-story at the summit is
ornamented with a row of arches, supported by pilasters.

On the top of the tower were seen originally, four gilded balls of
different sizes, one over the other, diminishing upwards; the iron bar
on which they were fixed, was struck by lightning, and gave way, leaving
the balls to roll over; since which period they were never restored to
their place.

The additional buildings were not erected until the seventeenth century.
They are not in themselves inelegant, with the exception of the portion
immediately rising from the old tower, and containing the bells. This
portion is of the same width as the tower, and appears to weigh it down
with its heavy effect; on the summit of the whole, at about three
hundred feet from the ground, is a colossal statue of bronze,
representing Faith, holding in one hand a shield, and in the other an
olive-branch. By means of the shield, the statue obeys the movements of
the wind, and thus gives the name of Giralda (weather-cock) to the
tower.

An interior tower, rather more than twenty feet square, runs up the
whole height of the Moorish portion of the building; between which and
the external walls an easy ascent is contrived on an inclined plane. The
necessity of introducing light throughout the ascent accounts for the
different elevation of the windows and ornaments of the different sides;
but the architect has so managed this difficulty, that no bad effect is
produced in the external view. At the lower part of the tower the ascent
is sufficiently wide to admit of the passage of two men on horseback
abreast; but it becomes narrower as it approaches the summit. Queen
Christina is said to have been drawn up in a small carriage. The walls,
both of the inner and outer tower, increase in thickness as they rise,
and as the ascending plane decreases in width: a plan which appears
opposed to the principle usually adopted by modern architects.

It is known that Geber was the architect of the Giralda, but no
certainty exists respecting its date. The Spanish antiquarian Don
Rodrigo Caro supposes it to have been erected during the reign of
Benabet Almucamus, King of Seville, shortly before the appearance in
Spain of the Almoravides; but this is no more than a conjec