Alcazar de Seville

One beautiful Saturday I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to walk through the Alcazar. Below is a brief history of it's existence but it is even more amazing in person than it is in photos. During the summer months, they have concerts every night in the gardens. On July 13th, I went with two of my friends to a Spanish-like opera but with only one singer and two people on the instrument: spanish guitar an a very old version of the spanish guitar. If you are ever in Seville in the summer, you must go to a concert!! Plus, they are cheap. Only like 4 euros to get in and you have your own seat. Just get there like an hour early, walk around and then go to your seat whenever the concert starts :) 


The Alcazar is a fortified palace of which the construction was ordered by Abd Al Ramn III in the year 913. Because of it's beauty it was chosen as residence by many monarchs in the centuries that followed. 

It now is the residence of His Royal Majesty Juan Carlos when he visits Seville. Pedro I, "the cruel" (1350 to 1369), made significant additions to the palace which is one of the most important examples of Mudejar architecture in Seville.

The numerous rooms, patios and halls vary in architectural styles from the Islamic to Neoclassical. The beautiful gardens and fountains are especially worth visiting.

Today, the upper levels of the Alcazar are still used by the royal family as the official Seville residence and are administered by the Patrimonio Nacional.

Interesting zones within the Alcazar (*disclaimer some of the photos are of the descriptions and some are not. I posted them because I thought they were beautiful, regardless if they were of the description or not.)

Salon de los Embajadores (The Ambassadors Room): The magnificent dome of the Ambassadors Room is decorated with gilded cedar wood sculptures.

Arcos de Herradura (Horse Shoe): The Ambassadors Room is decorated with tiles and complex plaster work. It has three semetrical arcs each with three horse shoes.

              (This is not the Horse Shoe room but is an example of the type of beautiful decorating.)

El Patio de la Montera (The Hunting Patio): This was the meeting place of the court before the hunt took place. The faade of the palace of Pedro I is a unique example of Mudejar design.

El Patio del Yeso (The Plaster Patio): This beautiful, ornate garden full of flowers and streams maintains elements of the almohade architectural style of the Moors from the 12 century.

Patio de las Doncellas (Patio of the maidens): This patio was decorated by the best architects in Granada. Patio del Crucero is above the ancient baths.

Salones de Carlos V (Rooms of Charles V): The rooms and chapel of Charles V are decorated with tapestries and coloured tiles from 16 Century.

El Patio de las Muñecas (The Patio of the Dolls): This patio with its bedrooms and adjacent corridors was the heart of the palace. It takes its name from the two tiny faces that decorate its arcs.

The Gardens of the Alcazar Palace

Jardin Inglés (English gardens). These gardens are modelled on those of the British Isles from 18 Century. The door to the Alcoba is of Islamic origin. The park was built in 1909 and the main gardener of the Real Casa de Campo, Juan Gras, was put in charge of planting the flowers. However, there are doubts as to whether his radical style fits in with the surroundings.

Jardin de los Poetas (The Garden of the Poets) The design of this garden is similar to that of the Forestier thanks to the influence of Joaquin Romero Murube. It's most emblematic feature is the two ponds that were inspired by the Arabs and Romans.

Jardin de la Vega Inclan (Garden of Vega Inclan) This is a well designed garden inspired by the Damas even though it lacks the refinement that had once existed. This garden consists of 20 mostly square flower beds that are separated by paths and fountains. These gardens took their inspiration from Islamic culture and the Renaissance.

Jardin de la Alcubilla (Garden of the Reservoir): This garden existed during the time of Charles V.

I want one as a pet!! :) 

How to..

MAKE YOUR OWN SANGRIA!!

Ingredients: 

1 bottle of red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rioja Reds, Zinfandel, Shiraz)

1 lemon chopped 

1 orange chopped

2 pears chopped

2 Tbsp of sugar

1 shot brandy

2 cups ginger ale or club soda

Preparation: 

Pour wine into the pitcher and then add the chopped fruit and add the brandy. Let mixture chill overnight in the refrigerator. Add ginger ale or club soda just before you are serving. 

To serve right away. Use chilled wine and pour over ice!! 

Additional ideas: 

Sliced strawberries or peaches, handful of fresh blueberries, raspberries or kiwis, or a shot or two of gin, brandy or rum, a cup of ginger ale or citrus soda :) 

Seville: Cathedral

My favorite thing to do here in Spain is to simply walk. Walk for hours and observe everything that is going on around me. The buildings here in Europe--in Spain--are absolutely breath taking. Each facade is years upon years old. I love looking at each building and comparing it to the building next to it on the left and right. Each seems to have its own personality. I like to think that that is what the first owner/ builder was like. Age and time had only made each building more unique and more beautiful. On my walks that I love, I walk straight to the center every time. Regardless of where I am going; even if it is out of the way, I walk towards the center. It is like I am gravitating towards some intense magnet and I have finally come to realize that this magnet is the Cathedral. It is breathtakingly beautiful. I am not just saying that because I am here in Spain but I am saying this because everything I look at it, I seem to loose my breath. Call me a helpless romantic, but I always seem to be in awe that hundreds and hundreds of years ago humans were capable of building such grandeur. It makes me wonder what we would do now without all of the construction tools and instruments we use--interesting huh? Well this is the history of the cathedral...

Thanks to sacred-destinations.com for the history of the Seville Cathedral: 

Seville Cathedral was built on the same large, rectangular base-plan of the mosque it replaced, but the Christian architects added the extra dimension of height. The result is an astonishingly large building that breaks several size records. Measured by area, Seville Cathedral is the third largest in Europe after after St. Paul's Cathedral in London and St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, but measured by volume, it surpasses them both.

The total area covers 11,520 square meters. The central nave (the longest in Spain) rises to 42 meters and even the side chapels seem large enough to contain an ordinary church.

Two parts of the mosque were thankfully preserved in the cathedral: the Moorish entrance court (Patio de los Naranjos); and the Giralda, originally a minaret, converted into a bell tower. 

The cathedral is entered via the Puerta de San Cristóbal on the south side, just inside of which is the tomb of Christopher Columbus (Cristóbal Colón). Columbus was originally buried in the cathedral of Havana, on the island he had discovered on his first voyage in 1492. But during the upheavals surrounding the Cuban revolution in 1902, Spain transferred the remains to Seville.

A monumental tomb was sculpted for the explorer's new resting place in Seville. Sculpted by Arturo Melida, it was designed in the Late Romantic style and is held aloft by four huge allegorial figures representing the kingdoms of León, Castile, Aragón and Navarra. There have long been doubts about the authenticity of the remains in Columbus' tomb, and DNA tests are currently underway to find out if they really are those of the explorer.

The huge interior of the cathedral, with a central nave and four side aisles, is lavishly decorated. Gold is everywhere. But at the same time, there is a sense of overall simplicity and restraint in decoration, for the grand monuments are confined to the side aisles and the huge nave is left mostly empty.

In the center is the great box-like structure of the coro (choir), which contains elaborate 15th-century choir stalls.

The coro opens onto the Capilla Mayor, which is dominated by an incredible Gothic retablo (reredos or altarpiece). The supreme masterpiece of the cathedral was the life's work of a single craftsman, Fleming Pieter Dancart. Composed of 45 carved scenes from the life of Christ, it is carved in wood and covered with staggering amounts of gold. It is the largest and richest altarpiece in the world.

Other notable works of art in the cathedral include 15th-century stained-glass windows and the iron screens (rejas) closing off the chapels. During Corpus Christi and Immaculate Conception observances, altar boys with castanets dance in front of the high altar.

The grandiose Sacristia Mayor, designed in the Plateresque style in 1528, houses the treasury. Among the displays are silver reliquaries and monstrances, artworks by Goya, Murillo, and Zurbarán, and a collection of skulls. Don't miss the keys presented to Fernando by the Jewish and Moorish communities on the surrender of the city: sculpted into the metal in Arabic script are the words, "May Allah render eternal the dominion of Islam in this city."

The northeast corner contains the domed Capilla Real (Royal Chapel), which is not always open. Built on the site of the original royal burial chapel, it shelters the body of Fernando III (El Santo) in a rich, silver shrine. The tombs on either side belong to Fernando's wife, Beatrice of Swabia, and his son, Alfonso the Wise.

To the left of the Capilla Real is the entrance to the wonderful Moorish minaret, La Giralda, which now functions as the cathedral's belltower. It is well worth climbing to the top.

These last two photos were from the top of the bell tower!! Can you saw gorgeous?? Que bonita!!! It was absolutely beautiful. Definitely climb to the top if you are able to visit :)