Seville Old Town might be small and compact but it’s monuments are the exact opposite! They are large and on a scale of opulence that Rosie has never seen before in one place. Prepare to be blown away by the what you are about to see today.
First thing this morning we are off to the Plaza de España! A majestic homage to Spain built as the showpiece of the 1929 World Exposition. This huge impressive and grand semi-circular building was built to house Spain’s industry and technology exhibits.
The scale is immense and the red brick was just starting glow in the morning light. It was still pretty light on tourists as we had beat the buses but with the scale of this site Rosie thinks it doesn’t matter how many are visiting here, it will never get crowded. The sun was shining and casting the most perfect reflections .
Except on this bridge…everyone wanted to be on it. Think we might have a wander over the other side of the pavilion. So we strolled along the front of the building. A busker was dressed as a native American Indian and playing the pan pipes, he was really good and the haunting music carried so well in this huge area.
Entering the building we walked up the stairs to the top terrace and the site just opened up before us, this is only half of it! The rest of the semicircle is behind us. The beautiful colonnaded walkway is just stunning and captures one of the two towers on each end just perfectly.
Along the outside walls of the Plaza are tiled alcoves, each representing a different Provence of Spain. Each alcove has a pair of covered bookshelves which held info on that province during the expo. A map is inlaid on the ground in front of the alcove to show where the province is located in the Country. Every province has an exquisite tiled picture outlining a famous time in history of historical event relating to the area that are so beautiful.
Visitors from those provinces seek out their alcove to have a picture taken in them and the popular local province is always full of people!
Rosie even found a Pot of Gold here in the Plaza…she truly believes that Pot of Gold is Seville itself. It was so nice wandering back into town, we had a coffee and breakfast on the way in the sunshine, it was so relaxing.
Ok, Rosie and The Operator are now in the right frame of mind after that beautiful early morning stroll and breakfast, to brave the Cathedral…well, there wasn’t a lot to brave really, it was still early and we had already bought our tickets yesterday remember.
The Seville Cathedral is enormous, huge ornate and sky scraping. Awe inspiring in its scale and majesty. Rosie is not exaggerating, you can see some part of the cathedral from every part of town. The area it takes up is huge if you are walking around it and it just towers overhead.
On the street you are totally dwarfed by the huge Puerta de la Asuncion doors. These huge doors are only opened once a year at Semana Santa (Holy Week/Easter Time) so that the huge Holy Throne (float) can be carried out for the Easter parade.
In 1248 the Spanish King captured Seville from its Arabian rulers and started to transform their mosque into a church, this incredible church. This exit gate of the cathedral is one of the few remaining elements of the original mosque, hence the design.
Rosie and The Operator were sure glad we had bought our tickets here in advance, the queue was long and sinuous. Smug? Why yes we are! There is nothing like walking past a long line of people and knowing every eye is on you enviously.
Seville Cathedral is the world’s largest Gothic cathedral. It was completely rebuilt between 1434 and 1517 after the original was damaged by an earthquake. At the time of the rebuild the cities ecclesiastical authorities were quoted as saying, ‘let’s construct a church so large that future generations will think we are mad!’
Inside the cathedral, in true Gothic styling, the church is tall, gloomy and austere. These statues are holding the Tomb of Christopher Columbus who died in 1506. There is a bit of controversy as to whether his bones are there at all as his body was moved from place to place so many times over the centuries. A DNA test done in 2014 however, comparing the bones of his brother, confirms Christopher Columbus is indeed resting in this tomb that holds his name.
There are so many chapels holding amazing masterpieces (including a Goya or two) branching off the main nave. This one, the Sacrista Mayor was full of light and silver. This silver monstrance, which is a receptacle where the holy host is displayed sits under a beautifully carved cupola where the light comes through so softly and illuminates the dull silver….all 475kgs of it!
The Chapter house is next door. It is a circular room with a stunning carved dome and the Murillo Masterpiece La Inmaculada set high above the Arch Bishops throne. This room was built in 1560s as a venue for meetings of the cathedrals hierarchy.
Camilla Mayor is the biggest and most spectacular alter piece Rosie has ever seen. It was started in 1424 by a Flemish sculptor and finished by others in 1564. It’s made out of wood and gilt and has over 1000 carved biblical figures on it.
The sad thing about the alter is that it is set behind jail bars that you have to thread your camera through and brave the crush of hundreds trying to photograph it to get a pic yourself which detracts so much from the beauty and serenity of it. Fighting with the hordes of tourists for your turn also detracts from the fact you are in a church!
The beams and ceilings just soar above you, the space is so vast.
The Giralda (Bell Tower) is seen from every part of Seville. It is 104 metres tall and still has the minaret of the original mosque which was constructed in 1198. The Minaret part of this tower is considered the most perfect example of Islamic architecture in Spain, this original Islamic part of the tower extends up until the bell tower which was added by the Christian’s in the 16th Century.
We climbed the tower to the top for the views over the city, no steps for us though, there are 35 ramps to walk to get to the top. Ramps!? Yes, it was such an easy walk, the ramps were built was so the guards could ride up on horseback…not to sure where you would park the horse once you got to the top though. The Operator did assure Rosie that there was actually a horse sized parking bay at the top, well, well.
Looking over the city and the Patio de Los Naranjes (Patio of the Oranges) which holds 66 orange trees and was the mosques main courtyard was quite something.
The ramps did make for a very civilized ascent and descent of the tower with the horse width ramps just perfect for tourists walking up and down. Once again Rosie and The Operator were coming down when the bulk of the visitors seemed to be going up, yus!
Rosie and The Operator have well fallen into the groove of Spanish eating times easier than expected. The Spaniards go out for dinner between 9.30-11.30 and believe us, the restaurants and bars are packed at this time of night with such a great buzz.
On the way home from dinner we have one for the road at 1030pm in a local bar, standing outside, on the roadside with 20 others because the bar is full we reflect on what a perfect place Seville is. It is one of those towns that you will want you to come back to because of its vibe, beauty and ease of lifestyle.
The view of the cathedral tower from our terrace was stunning and just the icing on the cake of our time here, who knows Seville, Rosie and The Operator may be back. But for tomorrow, we are heading to Cordoba.
