Archive for July 28th, 2009
Seville, the Vibrant Capital of Andalucia
Seville, or more correctly,Sevilla, is the heart and soul of Andalucia.
Home to flamenco, bullfighting and many wonderful buildings it offers the
visitor a wide variety of sites and sensations. On the one hand it
is a modern bustling Spanish city with one foot very much in the 21st.
century, but on the other hand it’s long and varied history means
that it’s other foot is firmly placed in the past.
The best place to begin any trip to Seville is in the barrio Santa Cruz
which is the old Jewish quarter. Here you are immediately enchanted by
the amazing labyrinth of narrow winding passageways with tall ancient
buildings towering above you, so closely that if you leaned out of a window
you could shake hands with someone on the opposite side of the “ancha,” or
passageway.
The one great advantage of these narrow streets is that there is little traffic
and the close proximity of the tall buildings keeps it cool even in the
fiercest Sevillian summer heat, a great advantage when you are
wandering around hopelessly lost looking for your hotel!! You will notice
whole troupes of tourists, map in hand, trying to find their way out, Hampton
Court maze has got nothing on barrio Santa Cruz! So be warned, go
armed with a very good street plan.
The pride of Seville is the Cathedral, the largest gothic building in the world,
and the third largest Church,
with it’s accompanying Giralda. This was originally built by the Moslems
as a minaret to the Great Mosque. However on the fall of the Moslems
the Mosque was converted into a Chrisitan Cathedral and the minaret adapted
to become the bell tower whose top is adorned with a weather vane in the shape of a
female form representing fate. From the top of the Giralda there are
stunning views over the whole of the city.
The nearby Alczar also started life as a Moorish building, in this case a fortress
but it was later taken over by the Christians and became home to
King Pedro the Cruel of Castile and his mistress Maria de Padilla who
in the 1360’s lived in and ruled from the Alcazar. However he kept the Moorish
influence by undertaking much renovation work,
employing Moorish workmen from Granada and utilising fragments of earlier
Moorish buildings in Seville, Cordoba and Valencia. It is a magical place
to visit on a summer’s night when it is floodlit.
By contrast the Casa de Pilatos is a beautiful renaissance building,although
it goes without saying there is still with some Spanish Mud jar influence,
is a wonderful old house full of antique furniture, paintings, silverware, plates etc.
It is open daily to the public except when members of the Royal Family
and sundry aristocrats are in residence as they stay there when they
come to Seville.
Seville is just a wonderful city to visit, not only are there so many
wonderful tourist sites to see but here you can really experience the
joyous Spanish love of life. Be sure to try as many tapas bars as possible,
take in a flamenco, or more correctly sevilliana, show and
try the excellent cuisine.
Article submitted by Ruth Polak the owner of http://www.costadelsol-vacationrentals.com A web site specializing in holiday villas and apartments on the Costa del Sol and in Rural Andalucia. You will also find a wealth of information about Spain and Andalucia, in particular.
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July 28, 2009
