Istanbul : Weekend around Geneva : Paris and Nîmes : Barcelona and Cádiz : Granada : Córdoba : Mérida and Cáceres : Salamanca, Avila & Segovia : Madrid & Valencia : Art in Paris : Art in Spain

The main towns of Andaluçia, renowned for their beautiful Moorish and Mudéjar buildings are Seville, Granada and Córdoba and I planned to visit all three. I discovered when booking accommodation that it was festival week both in Seville and Córdoba. I was hoping to taste lots of sherry in Andaluçia and maybe see some flamenco, but sadly did neither. Non-alcoholic beer and café con leche became my tipples of choice on this trip.

Seville

I arrived in Seville early in the afternoon and found I had a long walk to my hotel. On the way I decided to visit the Casa de Pilatos, a ducal palace renowned for its exquisite Mudéjar (a style combining Christian and Moorish elements) embellishments. It was gorgeous and a fitting start to my tour of the heritage of the Moorish occupation of Spain.

My hotel was in one of the very narrow streets (so narrow one had to huddle in a doorway if a car passed) in the north of the old town. On the way there I passed a strange wooden umbrella/mushroom structure filling a square. I am not sure of its purpose.

Fiesta

I also saw lots of women dressed in colourful flamenco costume and remembered that this was fiesta week. When I left at 6.30am a day later I saw them coming home, often carrying their shoes, having danced the night away. Bars/cafes were open then to provide a reviving drink and snack. Attendance at the fiesta is by invitation and it takes place on the edge of town, so I did not see the horses or any of the dancing sadly. Fiesta goers, however, were to be seen in smart carriages traversing the centre of town near the cathedral.

Plaza de España and Parque de Maria Luisa.

The next morning I hastened to buy a ticket for Alcázar, choosing to go at 2pm. I then wandered down to find the Plaza de España and Parque de Maria Luisa. Bougainvilleas, grown as street trees, caught my eye. The Plaza de España is a grand semi-circular structure built for the 1929 Iberico-American Exhibition. It is very impressive, but a bit sad in a way. Perhaps the scale is too grand for the site. The adjacent park was delightful with water features. I think Seville may be suffering from drought as some were not filled. I realize I did not see it all and may have missed some good bits.

Alcázar and Cathedral

After lunch, I visited the Alcázar. This is the royal palace in Seville (the royal family still occupy part of the first floor when they visit Seville) and occupies the site of the original Moorish palace. Today it is famous for the Mudéjar palace built by Pedro 1 in 1360 and the gardens. It was lovely and well worth a visit. I then walked across the square to visit Seville’s enormous cathedral, one of the largest churches in the world. This was built on the site of a mosque. The minaret was spared and converted into the bell tower known as La Giralda.

The cathedral has many chapels (Wikipedia says 80), an incredibly ornate gilded altar, a beautiful chapter house full of treasures, and houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus. After exploring the interior of the cathedral, I climbed La Giralda. I found this easy as it has ramps which horses could climb, instead of steps. The view from the top, under the bells, was stunning, but netted in, so one could not take good photographs.

Coming out from the cathedral, I was careful to notice the small stuffed crocodile above the exit door which leads to the only other remaining part of the old mosque, the courtyard with orange trees (Patio de los Naranjos). This is a lovely space and I joined many others perching on the edge of a fountain and enjoying the scent of the orange blossom and afternoon sunshine.

The river and supper

To complete my stay in Seville, I went in search of the river, traversing the narrow streets near my hotel. I spotted in the distance, what I had first seen from the top of La Giralda, and have discovered since must be the Alamillo bridge. It is an interesting structure with a long beam pointing up into the sky at an angle. I wish I had had time for a closer look.

As I had the previous evening, I enjoyed supper at a restaurant nearby, although I was the only person eating food at that hour. I had a variety of tapas, including Russian salad, aubergine with goat’s cheese and ham croquettes (the first and last seem to feature on most tapas menus). I was not brave enough to try the Iberian lizard with mojo picons listed! Then I went to bed as I was to catch an early train to Granada.

Read about Granada or click on an image to open the gallery.