Parque Prado de San Sebastian, Seville

Situated near the Plaza de Espana and the Maria Luisa Park, originally designed for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition, Parque Prado de San Sebastian is located on the site of the ancient hermitage of San Sebastian, built in the 13th century, which gave the park its name.

The park is the former site of the quemadero, the platform where many victims of the Inquisition were burned to death. The last execution took place here in 1781.

We loved this park.

Structured on two levels with paths, fountains and symmetrical waterfalls, this is a real oasis in the middle of the city.

Long, shady avenues,

on either side of these series of fountains





one after the other, this is part of the first level.

Waterbirds love it around here.

We loved wandering around here.

This is the second level, and we could not quite understand why it is so barren with yellow sand on the ground, and we wondered if there was a special reason for this. The yellow barrenness is broken by the tall palm trees and the flowering yacarandas - the blue is so vivid, and does not come out in photographs.

The yellow is almost blinding

Everywhere around the park, the ground is dotted with the fallen petals of the jacaranda flower.

The cafe/bar was a welcome shaded resting place, and we sat here for lunch twice.

There is also a second section of the cafe which is out in the open.

A wonderful place and a must when visiting Seville.

 

Montjuic

Montjuic is a broad, shallow hill on the edge of  Barcelona. It has been the site of various fortifications, including the Castle of Montjuic which dates back to the 17th century. The area was also associated with political imprisonments and executions and was significant during the Spanish Civil War.  The hill was also chosen as the site for the 1929 International Exposition which led to the construction of several buildings, including the Palau Nacional and the Estadi Olimpic. The Estadi Olimpic was intended to host an anti-fascist alternative Olympics in 1936, in opposition to the 1926 Olympics. These plans were cancelled due to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The hill is now home to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, the Fondacion Miro and various parks and gardens. 

The top of the hill can be reached using the Funicular de Montjuic, a funicular railway that operates as part of the Barcelona Metro and then the Montjuic Cable car, a gondola lift.

We decided to take the metro to Plaza del Espagna, one of Barcelona's biggest squares and the junction of several major thoroughfares. There was building work going on around the fountain that dominates the square.

The square is surrounded by majestic buildings

and two tall towers flank the road that leads to the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya.

From here we decided to take the bus to the top of the hill and then to walk back down. 

Unfortunately we missed the stop at the top of the hill where the castle is situated but got off the bus here, by this statue.

We started exploring one of the many parks on the hill

which is gorgeous

very good views from here

including of the Sagrada Familia.

Our destination was the Fondacion Miro

which is situated on this wide avenue, half way down the hill

We spent a very pleasant three hours here

 

and then moved on

We really wanted to explore some of the parks on the way but kept going as our next destination was the Mies Van der Rohe pavillion, something I had been looking forward to all week - I was desperate to see it again as it is one of my favourite buildings in the whole world.

So we just peered through the various gates and moved on

the Ethnological Museum

one of the gardens of the area

We got to a plateau

that afforded excellent views of the city

The ornate Palau Nacional which houses the Museum Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, an excellent museum but unfortunately, we did not have time to visit 

and now we would start our descent to Placa d'Espagna - for the purposes of this post it would have been much better if we had done this the other way around, as the magnificence of the Palau and the fountains leading up to it would have been spectacular, but there you go...

leading up from the Plaza del Espagna to the Palau Nacional is a series of fountains - when we arrived, they were all on, water cascading in various directions. On our return, they were all off - so frustrating. Here, for instance, water would have been exploding all the way up the wall

An  escalator like the ones we saw in Garcia, there to help people get to the top

looking back to the Palau - the fountains still turned off

The four columns there to remind people of the dictatorship of 1928

further down, another fountain that looked magnificent when the water was turned on

looking back at the four columns and the three fountains at their feet

we had reached the park at the bottom of the hill, and in the distance we could see the pavillion designed by Mies van der Rohe

It was such a pleasure seeing this iconic building again and we spent a considerable amount of time here. (Post will follow)

We then walked around the park

and by then the fountains were back on

The fountain at the centre of the square which was designed by Josep Maria Jujol, a collaborator of Antoni Gaudi looked spectacular

the four columns

water cascading from everywhere

heading towards Placa del Espagna

looking back at the Palau and more cascading water

more water as we neared the Placa

we had reached the magnificent buildings that surround the square, and we took the metro back to Las Ramblas.