More Sevilla and Real Alcazar

The photos included are all in the Alcazar - the top photo is the entry gate with the what may be the original walls, the next 3 are in various rooms inside. The third is a close up of the tile above the doorway behind the arch in the second photo. The fifth is a relatively poor view of the garden but it seems like the best single photo which shows a very small piece of the garden. When I get some collages together it will give a better indication of the extent and beauty of both the rooms and the gardens.

Remember, you can see a larger version of any photo by clicking on it.

According to one source the original building of the Real Alcazar was built in the 10th century on the orders of the King, Abd al-Rahman III, as the Governor's house or palace on the site of an old Basilica which had been dedicated to St. Vincent. Here again there are different stories about the history. A different source suggests that most of the buildings were actually built (by Moorish workmen it's true) for King Pedro the Cruel of Castile in the 1360's when the Moors had already been driven from Spain and Portugal. Pedro, with his mistress Maria de Padilla, allegedly lived in and ruled from the Alcazar. He embarked upon a complete rebuilding of the palace, employing workmen from Granada and utilising fragments of earlier Moorish buildings in Seville, Cordoba and Valencia.

In any case, over the centuries the Alcazar has undergone extensive expansion, demolition, reconstruction, more expansion and additions ultimately to include extensive gardens dedicated to all manner of groups and the whole influenced in its design by the period in which the particular part was built (medieval, renaissance, etc.). Through all of this, according to one source, it has remained a "Royal House", a dwelling of the ruler and continues to be occupied at least intermittently by the Royal family of Spain.

The Real Alcazar truly defies description; even the pictures can only begin to describe it (and even they cannot do justice).

It is an extensive maze of gardens, buildings and rooms all connected through beautiful archways and all exquisitely decorated; the gardens with all manner of plants and the rooms with sculptures, colourful and intricate tiles covering walls, arches, ceilings, reflecting pools and floors. There is far too much to see and take in in this fascinating place and too little time.