Spain & Portugal – Seville Part 2 – The Travelling Watson's

Garden terraces of the Royal Alcazar of Seville.

For part 2 of Seville we start with the Royal Alcazar of Seville, the Royal Palace. It is still inhabited by the royal family when in Seville, making it the oldest still habituated palace in Europe.

On the way to the palace we found this bloke. He was worth a few coins.

The entrance to the palace grounds which are very extensive.

The palace started as an Islamic era citadel in the 10 C and was continuously developed as dynasties came and went with different styles. The main style that has been faithfully preserved is the Mudejar style which is Moorish based and this dominated the palace. It is this feature that makes this palace so refreshingly different from the endless Gothic, Roman and Baroque relics on display.

The front courtyard in which the hunting parties would assemble.

Admiral’s Hall. Its a strange feeling to walk the tiles that Christopher Columbus walked 500 years ago.

One of the rare rooms with some gold decoration. The lack of gold and silver glitz is also very refreshing.

Part of the very extensive gardens.

The Mudejar style decoration, so intricate and beautiful. This style is used on about 75% of the palace on show.

The detail in a wooden door.

Doors about 5 m high.

Another spectacular door.

This terrace overlooks a huge garden of at least an acre.

That’s it for the palace. A brilliant 2 hour visit of exquisite wonder. I would put it well in front of the cathedral as the No. 1 attraction in Seville. This is an absolute Must See if you ever get a chance.

The Parque de Maria Luisa began in 1849 as a private palace garden. In 1911 it was re designed with a mixture of Moorish and Andalusian styles. In 1929 a number of significant buildings surround the Plaza de Espania built in the park to host the Ibero-American Exposition.