Burial Place of Ferdinand and Isabella
 
 
The Cathedral of Santa Maria stands in the central part of Granada. It is a popular tourist attraction guarded by gypsies and pickpockets. (At least that's the impression we got from Katy's warnings.)

We visited the cathedral without any untoward results. Actually we did have one member of our group who got his pocket picked--but that happened in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, just as his Saga vacation was beginning. Bummer!

The cathedral contains the Royal Chapel which has a pair of crypts over a single sepulcher. One crypt marks the burial place of Ferdinand and Isabella. A second crypt honors two of their progeny: Johanna the mad, and a male offspring whose name I can't remember. In the burial vault, there's also some sort of minister who managed to be entombed along with them (THERE's real influence!)--so beneath the crypts there are a total of five coffins. Here's what the royal crypt looked like.

 
I've always wondered what it was like beneath crypts--down where the coffins are. At the Royal Chapel the burial vault was open for viewing. Surprisingly the coffins were very plain. I had expected something ornate--equivalent to a sarcophagus for an Egyptian pharoah, or at the very least, like the coffin of a Chicago mobster. But each body was in a very simple container. (The minister's coffin is off to the side, and not visible in this photo.)

 
In a museum room to the side of the actual chapel there was a display of various royal possessions. The exhibit had paintings by famous artists, including a Botticelli, and the royal crown, sword, and sceptor.

 
Our visit to the Royal Chapel concluded our sight-seeing in Granada. Early the next morning, we drove along the Costa Del Sol to a lodging place that was convenient for boarding the ferry to North Africa.

 

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