Stunning, But Not Sunny, Seville

Seville, Spain is one of those beautiful cities you could visit again and again and still not see all you wished to experience! It is a city with a very high “WOW” factor. As but one feature, all of the streets are lined with orange trees (used in Britain to make bitter orange marmalade). Our excursion in Seville focused around four major highlights + a Starbucks where we enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and shelter from the rain. 

Palace of San Telmo

Hotel Alfonso XIII (5 star hotel)

The immense Roman Catholic Saint Mary of the Sea Cathedral, better known as Seville Cathedral, is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third largest church in the world. Built on the site of an ancient Muslim mosque, it was constructed from 1402 – 1506 to “demonstrate the city’s wealth” as a major trading center. The Cathedral is also said to be the final resting place of Christopher Columbus . . . but then there are seven to ten other places in Spain that make the same claim. As you can see by the photos that follow, the exterior is quite ornate with extensive carvings, flying buttresses, towers and ornate doors.

 Royal Alcazar or Alcazar of Seville is a royal palace that was originally founded as a Moorish fort in 913 and has been expanded or reconstructed many times over the last eleven centuries. Today Alcazar is a magnificent palace, intricately decorated with horseshoe arches, marble columns, and gorgeous, extensive gardens that contain numerous fountains, grottos, and full hedge mazes.

Plaza de Espana using a Renaissance Revival style of Spanish architecture was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American World’s Fair of 1929. The complex is a huge semi-circular brick building, with a tower at either end (tall enough to be visible around the city) with tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain; tiled fountains; pavilions; brightly colored ceramics; ponds; benches; ornate bridges; paintings; orange trees and flower beds along with numerous buildings constructed for the exhibition.

Casa Pilatos, an Andalusian palace, served as the permanent residence of the Dukes of Medinaceli and is said to be one of the finest examples of Andalusian architecture of 16^th century Seville. However, it is easily missed because its nondescript front blends in with other neighborhood buildings. Although it may be plain on the outside, the opposite is true of the interior with its courtyard, floor-to-ceiling tiled rooms, and the intricate craftsmanship evident throughout. 

Intricate carved inlaid ceiling