Placa de Espana, Seville

The Plaza de Espana, located on the Maria Luisa Park's edge, was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. It was designed by Aninbal Gonzalez, who combined a mix of 1920's Art Deco and Spanish Renaissance Revival, Spanish Baroque Revival and Neo-Mudejar styles.

The whole complex is a huge half-circle

 

the buildings are accessible by four bridges over the moat, which represent the ancient kingdoms of Spain. 

View of the moat and the whole square from the first floor

In the centre is the Vicente Traver fountain.

As I said in my post on Santa Cruz, I don't remember very much about our first trip to Seville, except for the very vivid and detailed memories of the religious processions during the Holy Week of Easter. 

What I do remember very well is one day when I had very bad period pains and, despite the pain killers, I could not do much. So, I convinced Ken to go for a walk and I stayed in our hotel room, which was in this area. When Ken came back he said, 'come on, I will take you on a boat ride, all you'll have to do is sit'. And that's what we did. I remember walking along one of the avenues in Parque Maria Luisa, then we came to the square, got in a boat and Ken rowed us around the moat. 

There is elaborate tile work all around the square, including around the moat

and on the ground.

We stepped on one of the bridges

and stopped to look: the next bridge with its elaborate ceramic tiling

the building ahead of us

looking closer

ducks in the water

as well as boats

In the colonade fronting the building there were some buskers at the other end of the bridge.

We decided to explore the tiled alcoves that were built under the colonade fronting the building, each representing a different province of Spain and a moment in its history. Today they are used by visitors to either sit and rest, or to take selfies.

The Barcelona alcove depicts Columbus being greeted by the Catholic Monarchs on his return from the Americas. 

He bows to the king and queen while the indigenous people that he enslaved and brought back with him from the Caribbean lay gifts at their feet.

The Madrid alcome depicts the city's resistance to Napolen's troops during the Peninsular War. The image reminded me of a painting by Goya.

Each alcove is flanked by a pair of covered bookshelves.

We looked at all the alcoves

and then started exploring the building itself

It's all so grand

Today the building has been renovated and adapted for use as offices for government agencies. 

We moved on to the first floor

Where we could get panoramic views of the plaza

but also of the building itself

looking down we could see the crowd around the buskers that we had seen earlier

We moved downstairs

through the plaza towards the fountain

past the man blowing bubbles

 

and into the Maria Luisa park for some shade and quiet.

A wonderful day

We had a wonderful time on Saturday. We went to Athens and walked around the areas that surround the Acropolis, the oldest parts of the city: Plaka, Monastiraki, Thisio, Psirri. We walked for hours, saw three exhibitions and had a delicious lunch.

We started with Lembessi Street which is near the Acropolis Museum.

 

Marnerigalerie was our first stop. If you look on the pavement by the railings in this photograph

 



 

 

 

 

you will see this ancient mosaic which has been preserved beautifully under glass

 

 

 



 

the pavement on the side of the gallery building.

 

 

 



As we left Lembessi Street we could see a section of the Acropolis Museum

which you can see here.

 

Pedestrianised Dionyssou Aeropagitou Avenue with the Acropolis on the right is a meeting point, always very busy especially at weekends - people like to wander and look at the sights.

 

 

 

 

We then headed towards Plaka starting with Byronos Street



 

 

 

which is full of shops and some beautifully restored neoclassical buildings

 



 

 

 

Leaving Byronos Street we entered a little square at the end of Lysikratous Street where the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates, erected in 335 BC stands. In 1669 the hollow monument was acquired by a Capuchin convent and used as a library, when it became known as the Lantern of Diogenes.  It's a circular structure raised on a high square podium, and is the first Greek monument built in the Corinthian order on its exterior. Its frieze sculptures depict episodes from the myth of Dionysus.

 



 

 

Behind the Lantern of Diogenes is this neoclassical building with two statues on the roof

 

 

 

By the time we entered the shopping part of Adrianou Street it was raining, but not for long

 

Off White is a new bar



 

 

 

and I really liked the interior

with its beautifully preserved stone walls and painted blue and white ceiling

 

 

 

We walked down Pandrossou Street, arrived at Monastiraki Square (note the gorgeous Byzantine church) and then walked up Athinas Street to Kappatos Gallery where we saw the Martin Creed exhibition.

 

Retracing our steps we came back to Monastiraki square.

 

 



 

There was a political gathering in solidarity with the political prisoners who are on hunger strike. Twenty four people have been on hunger strike since the 2nd of March demanding: the appeal of the so-called 'koukoulonomos' where the police have the right to stop and search anyone wearing a hoodie; the abolition of Type C prisons which are designated for political activists; the abolition of DNA testing without consent; the ending of intimidation of the friends and relatives of political prisoners; and finally, the immediate release of Savvas Xiros, who has been a prisoner for 13 years.

 

A lot of people about, some demonstrators, some bystanders - impossible to tell which is which

 

 

Tzistrakis Mosque dominates Monastiraki Square. An Ottoman mosque, built in 1759, it now functions as an annex of the Museum of Greek Folk Art.

 

 



 

 

We then walked towards Abyssinias Square, where the flea market is

 

 



 

 

Up pedestrianized Apostolou Paulou where you can find all kinds of street sellers on both sides of the street.   We were on our way to Bernier/Eliades Gallery on Eptachalkou Street, a gallery we had not visited before. We wanted to see Robert Wilson's video portraits of Lady Gaga.

 



 

 

 

Another gorgeous neoclassical building painted in stylish grey

 

 

 



 

 

looking closer

 



 

 

 

This is a nice, quiet neighbourhood

 

 



 

I always look closely at the ironwork on the balconies

 

We found Eptachalkou Street where a church dominates

 

 

 

 

 looking closer

 

 

and then, next to it, this tiny church which is perching on a rock. There is also a large crucifix on a second rock

looking closer

the rest of the church does not look interesting at all but we were intrigued by the façade which is built on the rock.

 

 

 

 

Some of the buildings in this quiet neighbourhood are gorgeous

 



 

 

 

here's another one

 

this frieze decoration is stunning.

 



After the exhibition

we passed this little park

 

 



 

and walked to Psirri, a rundown area that became very fashionable a few years ago. The bars and tavernas were very popular for a while, and people used to flock here in the evenings.

 

The square is lovely

 

 

The rain had stopped by then, the sun was out and people were out sitting in the cafes enjoying the sunshine

We saw our third exhibition of the day, paintings by Nikos Kessanlis at the A. Antonopoulou gallery

and then we retraced our steps,

 

 

 

back towards Monastiraki







to Adrianou Street,

 and stopped at Kuzina for lunch

our food was delicious

 

I like this place, and I like the décor, even though we always choose to sit outside

 

 

 

 



note the waitress climbing down the stepladder.

They've refurbished the toilets, and this is where you wash your hands - interesting.

 

 

We then walked up the lower part of Ermou Str. which is quite rundown, but they have started restoring some of the old buildings

neoclassical style again,





this one is not finished yet,





such a shame about all the ugly graffiti tags






the pavements are full of stalls selling everything

 

from books

 

 

to clothes, bric-a-brac





and antiques.

  

We ended up back at Monastiraki Square, and it was time to go home.