The wooden crocodile in Seville Cathedral, a gift from the Egyptian sultan to Alfonso X

In Seville Cathedral, the largest Gothic church in Europe, there hangs a crocodile. There are, of course, many treasures and relics there, such as paintings by Velázquez, Goya and Murillo and the sarcophagus of Christopher Columbus, but the crocodile is the most memorable of them all. Not a real one, alas, but a wooden effigy, accurate by medieval standards. It hangs by the gate named in its honour, the Gate of the Lizard.

The crocodile was brought in the 13th century as a gift to King Alfonso X from the Egyptian sultan. When the reptile died, it was made into a stuffed specimen, though not altogether successfully: by the 16th century it had rotted, and the croc was replaced.

Incidentally, among the Egyptian gifts were an elephant's tusk, which still hangs nearby, and a live giraffe.

Report a translation error

September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

The wooden crocodile in Seville Cathedral, a gift from the Egyptian sultan to Alfonso X

Read more

September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s