Seville Cathedral Tickets

Prices and what each rate means

Buying online is a euro cheaper than the ticket office, and the difference in queueing is larger than the difference in price.

These are the official rates in force since 1 January 2026. Resellers charge a little more but usually add free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead and a guide in your own language, which is the trade-off worth thinking about if your dates might move.

The free slots, and why counting on them is risky

They exist, they are real, and they are gone weeks before you get there.

Two windows are free for everyone: Sundays from 16:30 to 18:00, holidays excluded, and Monday to Friday from 14:00 to 15:00. Both are booked online only and both have a strictly limited daily capacity, which in practice means they are released and taken well in advance — often several weeks. There is no queue you can join on the day to get in for nothing.

So the honest advice is this: if your dates are fixed and far off, try for a free slot the moment they open. If you are deciding your week in Seville a few days ahead, treat the free entry as a lottery ticket rather than a plan, and budget the 13 €. Paying also buys you the choice of hour, which matters more than it sounds in a building this size.

What the ticket covers

A mosque that became a cathedral without ever fully erasing the mosque.

When Seville returned to Christian rule in 1248 the Almohad mosque was simply consecrated and used as it stood. A century and a half later an earthquake damaged it, and the chapter decided to start again: work ran from 1401 to 1506 and produced the largest Gothic cathedral in the world by volume. What they did not do was demolish everything — the minaret became the bell tower and the ablutions courtyard became the Patio de los Naranjos, both still standing and both included in your ticket.

Inside, three things justify a slow walk: the main altarpiece, the largest carved retablo in the world, covered in gold leaf across forty-five scenes; the tomb of Christopher Columbus, carried by four heralds representing the kingdoms of Castile, León, Aragon and Navarre; and the sacristy and chapter house, the latter elliptical, which is rare, with a Murillo set into the vault.

Hours, the tower and practical points

The Giralda always closes an hour before the cathedral does — plan the climb first, not last.

The ramps are the detail nobody expects: there are no steps at all, because the tower was built so the muezzin could ride up on horseback five times a day. That makes the climb far gentler than a normal bell tower, though in summer the top is very hot. Dress code applies — shoulders and knees covered — and the calmest hours are the first after opening and the last before closing.

Frequently asked questions