El Arenal, Seville

The El Arenal district lies on the east bank of the Guadalquivir river and to the west of the district of Santa Cruz. The two main historical sites of the district are the Torre del Oro, the Golden Tower, a 13th century Moorish watchtower, and the Real Maestranza, Seville's bullring, the second most important in Spain after the one in Madrid. 

The Museo des Bella Artes was the main attraction for us. We walked through this district three times, the first time to visit the museum, and the other two to gain access to Triana, the district across the river.

It was a pleasant walk from our hotel down to the river through narrow streets and beautiful buildings

These palm trees are so tall

The Plaza del Museo is a quiet, peaceful square which gets transformed on Sundays as there is an art fair there every week

 The museum, a former convent is an impressive building

as are the two huge old trees 

with these  impressive roots. I did not manage to find out what these trees are.

A lot of flowering jacaranda trees are also to be found here

Plaza de Armas and its commercial centre is a busy thoroughfare, not far from the museum

the river is on the edge of the square,  with views of Triana and the Sevilla Tower, an office skyscraper

There are quite a few bridges that connect the two parts of the city, the Puente Cristo de la Expiracion is one of the biggest.

The river walk is very pleasant

with a park next to it

a tranquil place, with lots of people sitting by the river

Another of the many bridges

boats cruize up and down the river 

the flowering jacarandas everywhere

a much smaller bridge, much more pedestrian-friendly

Triana across the water

a monument to the men and women who have fallen

We were nearing the Golden Tower

but first, a replica of the Nao Victoria, the first ship to circumnagivate the globe which departed Seville in 1519 and returned in 1522.

Amazing sky

The Torre del Oro, the Tower of Gold, iks a dodecagonal military watchtower which was erected in the first third of the 13th century in order to control access to Seville via the Guadalquivir river. Its name comes from the golden shine it projected on the river, due to its building materials which are a mixture of mortar, lime and pressed hay. It served as a prison in the Middle Ages. 

We did not visit the Tower, nor did we visit the bullring.

Instead, we took the boat that took us along the river

and then we sat here and had a cool drink.