We will visit the place and cathedral in this look at two UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Seville, Spain.
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The Alcázar is the royal palace of Seville, renowned as one of the most beautiful buildings in Spain. There was previously a Muslim fortress on this site about 1,000 years ago, which was entirely rebuilt in the 1300s and 1400s after the reconquest of Spain. Today the Alcázar is an outstanding example of mudéjar architecture, which is that special blend of Muslim and Spanish styles that displays very elaborate ornamentation. For the next several hundred years the complex expanded and grew into one of the grandest palaces in Europe. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, it is one of the most popular attractions in Spain and a must-see while you are in Seville. Our visit includes the Alcázar gardens with their labyrinths of flower-lined walks, and glorious date-palms, bananas, orange tress and citron groves. It really is a pleasing spot within the palace enclosure. The Alcázar is situated just next to the Cathedral so it is very easy to find.
We walked through the Alcázar with a local guide, which is always a great way to learn more about a place – you don’t have to go fumbling for books or walking through without understanding what you’re looking at.
The gardens are a most pleasing spot within the enclosure. They form a delicious presence, where the orange and citron diffuse their fragrance, and magic fountains spring up suddenly beneath the traveler’s feet, sprinkling with a cooling dew. The gardens actually open up earlier than the palace, so if you are up first thing in the day and you want to get a head start, take a walk in the gardens and then you can be first in line for entering the Alcázar Palace.
And then you can walk up steps to the second level, which gives you a beautiful panorama view over the gardens as you stroll along through the arcaded hallway. Parts of the second floor are still utilized by the royal family today as their private residence and official rooms for functions.
The cathedral of Seville is the world’s largest Gothic church. By any standard, the cathedral is unbelievably huge and amazingly beautiful. There are so many tall columns holding up the lofty ceiling 130 feet above the floor that it seems like you are strolling through a vast, indoor stone forest.
This grand church is located of course in the center of the historic Old Town with several prominent landmarks next to it: the Archives building and the Archbishop's Palace. Situated on a broad plaza, it's also located right next to the Alcázar Palace.
This site has been for millennia Seville’s main religious setting. Before the cathedral was constructed this was the location of one of the most important mosques in the Muslim world and 2,000 years ago it was the scene of an important Roman temple.
The entrance brings you first into the gorgeous patio courtyard. This courtyard is called Patio de los Naranjos, as in "patio of the orange trees" which are growing here. Formerly it was the courtyard of the original mosque on the site that was used for cleansing, for the worshipers on their way in, for ablution. This courtyard and the Giralda Tower, that we will see, are the only two remaining features of the original mosque.
Walking up the Giralda is one of the most interesting and fun things you can do while in Seville: not only will you gain great views over the vast cathedral and surrounding rooftops of the old town, but you will also have the unusual experience of walking up all those ramps that wind round and round inside the square tower.
The space of the top of the Giralda is a lovely promenade. You walk all the way around the tower to get your different views looking in all the cardinal directions, 360° panorama spread out down below all around you.
The view from its upper galleries is another one of those sites that one can never forget, with the city spread out below as a map with white, closely-packed houses looking like toys. And one looks down into patios, rooftop pools, on brown and yellow tiles, along narrow streets that wind like dark thread and then across all the housetops.
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