Hard to find the words to describe Sevilla.
A city of about 750,000 people - fourth largest in Spain. A city of history, wealth and beauty, both visual and aromatic - the fragrance of orange blossoms seems to be everywhere (the area of Sevilla produces bitter oranges used for making marmalade).
We have no books on Sevilla or Spain so I have to go by my memory.
The city is a major port situated on a major river, the Guadalquivir, that was once navigable from northern Spain to Sevilla - no longer, though Sevilla remains an important port city. It was in Sevilla that Queen Isabella met with Columbus on his return from his second trip to North America. This meeting allegedly took place in the Real Alcazar (more about this amazing place later).
Our first stop was at the Plaza d'Espana - the Plaza and the building, now a government building, were built in 1929 when Sevilla hosted a Fair of the Americas. At the time of the Fair this beautiful building, adjacent to the Maria Luisa Park, housed displays of Spanish technology. According to our guide Princess Maria Luisa of Spain (Spain still has a King and royal family) apparently loved this city, was married here and lived here in Sevilla. When she died she willed the property on which the plaza and park are located to the city. (However, from what I can learn of the Princess so far, she was not married in Sevilla and never lived there, so I am not sure what the real history is.) In front of the Plaza building is an extensive large open space paved with white and black stone patterns with a large fountain near the centre. There is a "moat" around the building and it is crossed by two beautiful arched bridges decorated with blue and white tiles on the railings and balusters and more colorful tiles along each side of the bridge. And there are tiled areas over large parts on the outside of the entire building - some beautifully decorative but also several creating exquisite pictures, likely of historical significance, relating to a number of Spanish cities.
The first three photos are from the Plaza d'Espana.
From here we moved to an area of the city which is "pedestrianized" near what appears to be the centre of the city and the cathedral and our main area of interest, the Real Alcazar. Here we parted with the tour guide and the rest of the group. We walked to the Cathedral of Seville, a Gothic structure occupies the site of a great mosque from the 12th century. The total area of the Cathedral covers 11,520 square metres and new calculations, based on cubic measurements, have now pushed it in front of Saint Paul's in London and Saint Peter's in Rome, as the largest church in the world - and it is large. There is a tall cathedral tower which allegedly is in the place of the minaret which was part of the original Mosque on this site built by the Moors.
The cathedral is adjacent to the Real Alcazar, the original building of which was also built, according to one source, by the Moors in about the 10th century.
The last two photos are of parts of the cathedral - the last is the tower which is part of the minaret of the mosque that was originally on this site.
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