The Cathedral area in Seville

This post is literally just an overview of the area where most of the sights of Seville are: the Cathedral; the tower of Giralda; the Real Alcazar, which our guide book says is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. We did not manage to go inside any of them: tickets were sold out 10 days before for both the Cathedral and the Palace. It never occured to us to pre-book let alone so much in advance.

So, we walked around the square during our second full day when we intended to visit these sights, and then on other days we would walk through this area on our way to other places.

The Catedral de Santa Maria de la Sede, or, Seville Cathedral, is one of the largest churches in the world. After its completion in the early 16th century, it supplanted Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral in the world, a title the Byzantine church had held for a thousand years. 

The Cathedral occupies the site of a great mosque built in the 12th century. Eclipsed by the Christian construction, La Giralda and the Patio de los Naranjos are the only lasting legacy of the original Moorish structure.

Given that we could not go inside, we circled the building, admiring the imposing doors

looking closer

It's a large square, with the tram running through it and a lot of pedestrians

 

and lots of horse-drawn carriages for the tourists.

There was a fair on one side of the square, and we had a look

Another imposing entrance

major avenues run through the square, 

most of them lined with flowering jacaranda trees

All these imposing entrances that we could not access!

This extremely long queue, is the queue of people who had tickets, waiting to be allowed in

The convent which is by the Cathedral

We got to the Giralda, the bell tower. Its height is 105 metres. This is the former minaret of the mosque that stood on the site under Muslim rule. It was converted into a bell tower after the Reconquista.

We were able to go inside one of the side chapels of the cathedral which was open to everyone,  the Monasterio de la Encarnacion MM Agustinas

We were also able to go inside this building, the Diputacion Sevilla, Casa de la Provincia and had a look at their temporary exhibition

Jose Luis Fernandez, F.171, 1980

Eduardo Sanchez-Beato, Peligrosa Trama, 2021

This one shocked us. Apparently the title translates: Dangerous Plot. Seville is such a religious city, so, yes, they must find it blasphemous?

looking closer

Jose Luis Romeral, Atentado, 1992

We moved on towards the palace, Real Alcazar, home to Spanish kinghs for almost seven centuries. Apparently it's set in a huge paradise garden, and is a celebration of Mudejar architecture. We were allowed through the arch

 

into the Patio de Banderas

We circled the area and were told that the tickets were sold out for ten days,

and moved out of the large square, into the narrow streets that surround the Cathedral and Palace

Through this delightful square

where all the benches were inlaid with ceramic mosaic

It's odd: I really liked this square, and yet we never spent any time in it, we just walked through it. I wanted to eat here, and yet we never managed it.

Instead, some days we  would end up here, Hosteria del Laurel, one of my favourite places for lunch, where I would have artichokes, each artichoke with a prawn on top of it. Delicious!

Then, through the narrow streets again,

which would then become wider as we neared the main shopping area

turn into wide avenues

and eventually we would reach our hotel.

It was very disappointing not being able to see the Cathedral and Palace, but there is so much more to Seville than the main tourist sites, that in the end it did not matter at all. We had such a good time while we were there.

Santa Cruz, Seville

We spent a week in Seville in May. This was our second visit to the city. Our first visit was a long time ago, and it was during Holy Week. I don't remember much about what we did during the day that week, but I have very vivid memories of the evenings where all the Christian processions would very slowly march all around the city: the huge floats, so heavy that people could only carry them for a few minutes on their shoulders and then they would have to stop so that others could take over; the Nazarenos, dressed in their long robes with pointed caps on their heads which hide their faces and necks.

This time we stayed in the Santa Cruz district, which is the primary tourist neighbourhood as it's home to some of Seville's best-known sights: the cavernous Gothic Cathedral with its landmark Giralda, as well as the splendid Alcazar with its royal palaces and lush Jardines del Alcazar.

It is s very picturesque part of the city, a maze of narrow streets and old buildings. 

This image of Jesus carrying the cross was something I noticed almost straight away, but it is one of many, so after a while, one stops noticing. This is a very religious city, full of churches, convents,  images like this on buildings and banners of religious images hanging from balconies.

The city's architecture is a reflection of its history, and is a rich tapestry of Roman, Moorish, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Mudejar and modern styles.

I loved these balconies

and the ironwork covering the windows.

We would walk along here, going north,  every evening as it's on the way to our favourite bar where we would have our pre-dinner drinks

This church was on the way

 

Sometimes we would walk through this passage

Through this small square

some of these streets are so narrow.

Religious imagery, everywhere

I saw this sign outside the building above and went inside to investigate as there were always lots of men hanging outside

It's a soup kitchen - it looked very well-run and welcoming.

Lots of bars in this area.

This church is by the square we were heading towards

and then we would arrive. The whole square was taken up by our bar and a much smaller restaurant

and by the evening it would be packed

and there would always be people queueing, waiting for a table.

Still moving north from our little square, we would end up here, on the edge of Santa Cruz, where it borders with La Macarena,  at the Metropol Parasol (post to follow)

We spent quite a lot of time here during the week - it's a very vibrant square with lots to do and see

and I will be posting about it later.

Moving south from the Metropol Parasol

Seville's main shopping area is to be found.

and this is also where one of the University buildings is situated.

The shopping area is as mixture of wide streets

and narrow ones.

Religious imagery everywhere

At the other end of Santa Cruz, on the border with the other side of La Macarena  district, lies the end of the Alameda de Hercules avenue.  There will be more about this tree lined avenue in future posts

From here, we would walk along the Amor de Dios street, to get back to our hotel.

It's a narrow street with some interesting shops and bars

including this cinema.

On the ground floor of this building

The graffiti shop is situated.

I saw this multi-coloured display from the window and wondered what it was, so we went in

Amazing.

I had never seen a graffiti shop before.

Love this balcony.

Eventually we would get to our hotel.