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In 1312 the King Ferdinand IV died in Jaen. At first it was decided to bury him in Seville or Toledo, the main cities, but finally it was decided tom bury him in Córdoba, because of its situation and because it was very hot in that period of the year. His heir, Alphonse XI, expressed his will some years afterwards. He wanted to be buried next to his father; when this one died in 1350, his relishes are put into the Royal Chapel of the Cathedral of Seville but after twenty-one years they are moved to Córdoba, in 1371, as he wished.
Precisely when he is moved to this chapel, the works had just ended; this fact is reflected on a wainscot: “Este es el muy alto rrey d. Enrique. Por onra del cuerpo del rrey su padre esta capiella mandó facer. Acabose en la era de 1371 (This is the very tall king Don Henry II. By honoring the body of the King, his father, he commanded to do this chapel in 1371).": this is the highest king Henry II. His father ordered to build this chapel, having ended it in 1371. the relishes of the kings were moved to Church of Saint Hippolyte Collegiate by Philip V. Nowadays is possible to visit both sepulchres, in fact they are put at the top of this church. The chapel has got a squared plan, it is vertically developed on the al-Hakam II mosque arches, being added to the occidental side of the Villaviciosa Chapel. The level of the floor is slightly higher than the cathedral floor, being put into the subsoil of the crypt which keeps the walls of the buried people to the top of the chapel you can get through a staircase which came from the added side of Villaviciosa Chapel. Unfortunately this entrance was destroyed in XIX Century. In addition to this the northern and the southern side were closed, changing the initial configuration.
Before beginning the description it is important to say that it was decorated in mudejar style, which was en vogue at that period in the Royal House. This style was used for the Main Entrance: the Pardon Door. There is a skirting board, in gypsum, which is full of geometrical decorations, with laces, rhombuses, crests, and which goes around the perimeter of the chapel and on which there was the decorations of four walls:
An original wainscot of gypsum with the shields of Castile y Leon, with lobulated arches. From the same wainscot start five polylobulated arches disposed in an irregular shape, from which it is developed a rhombus shape with atauriques. In the middle of the wall there is a niche covered with an embroidered arch, which keeps a wooden statue of Ferdinand III the Saint.
In the west wall there is a horseshoe arch, with two ancient entrances of the XIX Century. You can also see the inscription related to Henry II, dated in 1371: “Este es el muy alto rrey d. Enrique. Por onra del cuerpo del rrey su padre esta capiella mandó facer. Acabose en la era de 1371 (This is the very tall king Henry II. By honoring the body of the King, his father, he commanded to do this chapel. It ended in 1371)".
The minor sides, the northern and the southern, have a similar shape. The lateral sides of the arches have gypsum decorations with leaves, on this one there is a mocarabe wainscot. Both walls are decorated with blind embroidered arches, decorated with rhombuses, put on lion sculptures.
The rest is crowned with a dome constituted by eight embroidered arches, four of them are perpendicular to the walls, whereas the others are diagonal. In this way, every side is divided into four equal parts, into which there different arches to illuminate the chapel. A great number of these arches were discovered in the XVIII Century, but there are other rests of horseshoe arches which composed it.
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