Plaza Espana

On our last full day in Seville we visited the lovely Plaza Espana, a surprisingly modern construction, built in the 1920s as an exhibition space - you can read more about it here.

It was lovely weather, 25 degrees Celsius, and such a beautiful place to wander around.

All around the edge of the Plaza buildings are beautifully tiled booths, each representing a city or area of Spain...

The pomegranate is the symbol of Granada...

Even the balustrades are beautifully decorated, I love how the blue of the paint matches the blue of the water...

The horse and carriages stop off here to admire the view...

All too soon it was time to get on the plane and fly home...

Hoping we can return again one day, if you ever get the chance to visit Seville grab it with both hands!

Just to round up my week of posts on Seville, I hope you enjoy this video below made by the Sevilla Tourist Board, watching this convinced me that the city was well worth a visit - and how right I was!

Helenxx

Walking through the streets of Seville

Seville is a very pedestrian friendly place to visit, no big hills to negotiate, and wonderful things to see around every corner.  The old town district is known as Santa Cruz, we were fortunate enough to stay in the centre of this area.  Here are few of the things DH and I came across on our many walks...

We had a lovely cup of Moroccan mint tea, with pastries in this charming little square...

I love these narrow streets, so typical of the region...

Lively cafes lined the larger squares, this one was right outside our hotel...

These lovely fellows could take you on a tour of the city...

Seville is known for skilful use of tiling to create stunning images...

Seville is a very religious, Catholic city, religious imagery is everywhere...

Many shops sell religious artefacts, including these rather scary looking costumes worn by the penitents on Easter parades...

There were some lovely shops selling yarn...

and flamenco dresses...

In the evening the streets come alive with people going shopping and having a great time with family and friends...

Everything is beautifully lit...

How we loved wandering these streets - and our walks provided some super exercise too!

Helenxx

La Giralda, a Mosque and a Catedral

Hello again.  Seville is like many of the places in Al Andalus, the Moors ruled there for several centuries and when the Christian kings of Spain took over many parts of the original mosques were often retained as a basis for the new catedrals.  The same is true in Seville, when the main mosque building was swept aside for a gothic cathedral, the minaret (known as La Giralda in Seville) and the courtyard, together with a small amount of the old prayer hall, were retained.  It is possible to climb the minaret (now a bell tower) by means of 38 ramps, these were used by the muezzin who made the call to prayer - he had to climb the tower 5 times a day to call the faithful to prayer, so he would use his horse to make the journey.  This makes, for those of us visiting today, a truly manageable climb to quite a dizzy height!

Here are some photos of our visit to this amazing place...

As you enter the Catedral, you are met by a replica of the Giralda weather vane which sits atop the tower...

 quite a striking woman I am sure you will agree...

Great footwear...

Inside the view is one of gothic architecture...

This screen is made of solid gold...

Here is where Christopher Columbus is laid to rest...

I don't know why but the tomb reminded me of The Lord of The Rings imagery...

now, off to climb this beautiful structure...

inside the structure was reassuringly solid, those Moorish architects sure knew how to create buildings that would stand the test of time...

Luckily there are windows on each floor, an excuse perfectly legitimate reason to stop and admire the view - its not often that one is face to face with a gargoyle...

Birds eye view of the courtyard of the mosque...

Views across the rooftops...

Here is the Parasol Metropol in the distance...

Once back on terra firma we spent some time in the courtyard of the old mosque, a beautiful, peaceful place where the faithful would wash and prepare themselves for prayer...

a lovely place to stand/sit back and admire the beautiful minaret/belltower...

After all that activity we found a charming little café for some well earned refreshment...

Back soon I hope with some photos of our many walks around the charming old town.

Helenxx