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Published: September 6th 2014
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Seville is yet another fabulous Spanish city with its own distinctive personality and style. Whereas Córdoba was the centre of power during the height of Islamic rule, Seville really came into its own once Ferdinand III conquered the region for the Catholics. So Seville's buildings are Catholic and regal but there is still a strong Islamic influence in architecture and gardens.
The Cathedral was built to impress: it is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world, with a gold altarpiece of 1000 scenes covered in 2000 kg of gold leaf. The bell tower, Giralda Tower, which we walked up has a ramp so that guards could ride their horses up! Our favourite part was one of the smaller chapels, the elegant round chapter house.
But even more impressive than the Cathedral is the Alcazar Real, the Royal Palace of Seville. It is an amazing mixture of Isla ice and Christian architecture, with the most beautiful Oriental style plasterwork, tiles, inlaid ceilings and layers of arches. Best of all are the beautiful courtyards like something out of Arabian Nights and the vast gardens in many different styles, planted over hundreds of years, each of them so relaxing and refreshing with
gazebos, fountains and different sorts of plantings. There is a French style formal garden, an English garden with rows of English trees, a poet's garden with roses and more. The old Almohad wall from the original structure was retained and turned into a kind of viewing gallery for the gardens which is just delightful. the Spanish royal family still lives here in private quarters on the upper floor when in Seville. The Madrid Palace is grander inside but if I were Spanish royalty I would live in Seville and hang out in the courtyards and gardens every day.
Modern Seville has its own wonders, specifically the Metropole Parasol, a vast modern timber structure over the Plaza de la Encarcion, which is nicknamed The Six Mushrooms of the Encarcion. It has its own wonderful story. The site, an old marketplace, was slated for development as an underground car park but when they started digging they found Roman ruins. So they turned the underground area into an Antiquarium and set up a competition for what to do over the top, which resulted in the Parasol. Danny and I both loved it, though it has been very controversial. The Antiquarium was interesting,
though it still smells of fish from the fish salting factory it contained about 1700 years ago and the view from the top was great to get a sense of Seville and pick out its many churches. But we just loved the creative structure which is like an adventure playground for grown-ups.
Seville's other big claim to fame is flamenco so tonight we went to a fabulous little flamenco show in an intimate venue called Casa de la Guittara. We were a little unsure how we would enjoy it as some of the flamenco we have seen (or particularly heard) on the streets has been pretty gruelling but this was great, amazing intricate guitar, and fabulous dance at an impossible speed.
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