80. Southern Spain - Seville

Oooohh!  Seville is lovely! 

We are back in Spain, and as you can see from the map above, Seville is in south west Spain in the region called Andalucia.

I always think the name Andalucia is so romantic and evocative. 

This is the land of sun, shade, courtyards, oranges, bull fighting, flamenco, fountains, stunning tiles and beautiful doorways.  

And Seville is one of its jewels.

We first visited Seville in 2011 as part of our circumnavigation of Spain.  At that time we stayed on one of the wide, riverside boulevards, on the edge of the old town.  This time we stayed in the square of the fine arts museum in the centre, and it was absolutely the best place to be.  Above is our square, filled with shady orange trees, tall palms, cool paving and lots of benches.

Almost next door to our little apartment was a building typical of the city with a paved, arcaded internal courtyard.

The walls of the lobby were tiled like this.

And the outer doors facing the street, closed at night, were elegantly understated.

A few paces around the next corner we found gorgeous buildings like this one in Calle Alphonso XII.

The heart of the heritage area is for pedestrians, bicycles and trams only which makes it extremely quiet and immaculately clean.

There are vast bicycle racks for commuters as well as racks of Velibs for pay-as-you-go use.

The car in this photo is either in a hotel drop-off area or has a disability access pass. There are no car parks.

The historical area is all paved like this - flat, level accessible by everyone - pedestrians, a wide bike lane inside the metal markers and the tram lines.

There are no overhead wires for the tram. It just silently glides along.

It takes on power at each stop by raising its 'antenna' to connect with the overhead charge bar.  In Bordeaux, where the tramway was also free of overhead wires, a third rail system was used; the recharging mechanisms were in the ground and accesssed via a third rail underneath the tram.

It was so hot when we were here in Spring 2011 that we missed visiting the Real Alcázar   the Royal Palace of Seville.

The Alcázar of Seville is a royal palace, originally developed by Moorish Muslim kings.

The palace is renowned as one of the most beautiful in Spain, being regarded as one of the most outstanding examples of mudéjar architecture found on the Iberian Peninsula.

The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as the official Seville residence and are administered by the Patrimonio Nacional.

It is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe, and was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the Seville Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies.

This is the first of the six or seven public reception areas on the ground floor.

A little of the detail of the beautiful ceramics.

One of the doorways into the Courtyard of the Dolls.

The Courtyard of the Dolls is a small courtyard designed to organise the rooms leading to the private chambers of the palace. It owes its name to the dolls heads that decorate the arches closest to the lobby.

The beautiful columns and capitals are of Caliphal and Roman origin. 

The upper two floors were built in the 19th century.

Another of the reception areas. I think this was the one built by Queen Isabella to transact business related to the Americas and the New World.  Later, trade with the Americas picked up a good deal and a separate building was required.

I think this is called the  Patio de las Doncellas and was built by King Pedro I.

The Patio de las Doncellas was used as the set for the court of the King of Jerusalem in the 2005 movie 'The Kingdom of Heaven' by Ridley Scott.

It has a glorious reflection pool surrounded by garden, but very difficult to photograph in the strong late afternoon light.

Detail from the arches in the  Patio de las Doncellas.

In addition to the Ridley Scott movie, the Alcázar was used as a set for Lawrence of Arabia in 1962 and part of the fifth season of Game of Thrones was shot in several locations in Seville, including the Alcázar.

Looking out from the Galeria de Grutesco (Grotto Gallery) to the garden adjoining the Alcázar  and the water spout over the grotto.

Again looking out from the Galerie de Grutesco, a little further along the wall.

Paul in his favourite place - in the sun, next to water.

The gardens have undergone many changes. In the 16th century during the reign of Philip III the Italian designer Vermondo Resta introduced the Italian Mannerist style. Resta was responsible for the Galeria de Grutesco (Grotto Gallery) transforming the old Muslim wall into a loggia from which to admire the view of the palace gardens.

Very Italian. Very elegant.

And another view of the Italian style loggia built over the Moorish wall.  Just gorgeous.

An old summerhouse come garden retreat. The whole garden is planned around sun, shade and water. We visited in the late afternoon of a glorious autumn day but the temperature was still 29° so controlling sun, shade and water is vital for both people, animals and plants.

We left the Alcazar through a second door in the main wall on the square and you can see just how close the palace and the cathedral are.

The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See, is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world. It is also the largest cathedral in the world, as the two larger churches, the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida and St Peter's Basilica, are not the seats of bishops. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the Alcázar palace complex.

We spent a long afternoon here on our last visit, so this day we moved on.  

Beautiful buildings in the cathedral square.  The colours are very emblematic of southern Spain and Portugal - strong, clear and bright yellows, pinks, blues and greens.

And of course white.  You can't go past a fresh, crisp white anywhere - and here it is especially set off by dark Spanish brown, terra cotta bricks and tiles and black wrought iron. And don't forget the orange trees and the cypress. Classic!

I'm unsure what this building was but it had a deep internal courtyard, a cross over the gate and was very busy.  Many people must work there.

The Giralda is the bell tower of the Cathedral. It is the former minaret of the mosque that stood on the site under Muslim rule, and was built to resemble the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, Morocco. It was converted into a bell tower for the cathedral after the Reconquista, although the topmost section dates from the Renaissance. It was registered in 1987 as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

And my closing thoughts are for our boys - Adam, Jack and Henry - doing things the 'old way'.