A Trip to Seville: The Cathedral

One of the highlights of our trip to Seville a couple of years ago was the gothic Cathedral.

 

 

 

It's a beautiful building - and a huge one!

The story goes that the local clergy said "let us build a church so beautiful and so grand that those who see it finished will think we are mad". The end result is the third-largest church in the world and it impresses with scale and detail. I've visited a lot of churches and cathedrals over the years but I've never been anywhere quite like this.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's me and my mum by one of the huge doors:

 

The Cathedral was built on the site of a former mosque, and the minaret was converted into a bell tower. The tower - know locally as La Giralda ("she who turns"), after the weather vane at its top - can be spotted from all over the city.

 

There's a replica of the weather vane in the courtyard as you enter the Cathedral:

The outside of the building is pretty amazing, but it's well worth paying to go inside - there's just so much to see, it is a really special space.

We spent ages exploring the (vast! spectacular!) interior of the Cathedral and dropping our jaws at all the treasures and incredible craftsmanship, then we climbed the bell tower...

... for wonderful views over the rest of the building...

... and out over the city.

It's a long climb, but a gentle one and - when we visited, at least - a slow one as it's so busy. It's also it's quite a wide space so doesn't feel claustrophobic in the slightest (unlike some towers I have climbed!!).

And of course, once you've climbed to the top and back down you'll definitely deserve to treat yourself to a delicious coffee or an ice cream from one of Seville's many cafes.

Planning a trip to Seville? You might also enjoy my posts about the Mushrooms, the Plaza de España, and the Alcázar.

A Trip to Seville: The Alcázar

My mum and I spent a few days in Spain a couple of years ago, exploring the city of Seville. I was slightly overwhelmed by how beautiful the city was and took a lot of photos. I finally edited them a few months ago (to make a photo book for my mum) and am slowly blogging about all the wonderful stuff we saw on our trip.

Today I'm sharing some photos from our visit to the Real Alcázar - a palace that's a World Heritage Site but still in use today by the Spanish royal family.



Parts of the palace were built in the 1300s, and it's been added to over the centuries. Between the gorgeous buildings and courtyards of the palace itself and the extensive gardens there is so much to see!

   
This is one of those places where you keep saying "wow" under your breath every time you enter a room, or turn a corner. The palace is filled with beautiful detail...

... and the gardens overflow with lush greenery.

 

   
If you're a Game of Thrones fan, you might recognise the Alcázar as one of the locations used in one of the recent series!

You can see why they chose it, can't you? It's like something straight out of a storybook.

It was really wonderful exploring the rooms, courtyards and gardens of the Alcázar and imagining all the people that have lived in and visited this special place over the centuries.

My photos hardly captured how gorgeous it was, and just looking at them again is making me want to book another flight to Seville.

Want to read more about my trip to Seville? Check out my posts about visiting the Metropol Parasol (aka "the mushrooms") and the Plaza de España.

A Trip to Seville: Plaza de España

Time for another virtual visit to Seville!

On our final day in the city, we visited the Plaza de España.

 

This is a large, semi-circular space, built in the 1920s for an international exhibition (world's fair) held in the city. It's now mostly government buildings and, of course, is a big tourist attraction.

The Plaza de España is located at the edge of the Parque de María Luisa (Maria Luisa Park). We got a little lost and ended up walking through quite a bit of the park to get the the Plaza. It was lovely walking down these shady avenues on such a hot day.

The Plaza itself is huge and very theatrical. I've never been anywhere quite like it. Apparently it was used as a location in one of the Star Wars prequels which seems very fitting as this is a very fantastical space.

 

There are buildings all around the curve of the semicircle, with archways and balconies galore.

 

In front of the buildings is a curved canal, where you can rent charming little rowboats  The canal is crossed by four bridges decorated with colourful ceramics.

Aren't they lovely? There are also 48 alcoves (one for each of Spain's provinces) decorated with ceramic tiles- you can just make them out in this photo.

Sadly I was feeling a little under the weather on the last day of our trip, so we didn't spend as much time as we'd hoped looking round this unique space but I'm really glad we got the chance to see it.

This might have been our last day in Seville, but I've still got more photos to share with you guys soon. In the meantime, if you missed it, you can read about my visit to Seville's Metropol Parasol, aka "the mushrooms".

A Trip to Seville: The Mushrooms

A couple of years ago, I took a short trip to Seville with my mum. I'd never been to Spain before and was enchanted by the beauty and character of the old city. I took loads of photos during our trip and then (as they so often do) they just sat in my hard drive gathering virtual dust.

This Christmas I finally got my photos edited so I could make a photo book of our trip for my mum - it was a surprise gift and a big hit! And now I am finally getting around to blogging about my trip. I hope you guys will enjoy the photos, and maybe they'll inspire you to take a trip of your own to Seville?

First up, one of the newest additions to the Seville skyline: Metropol Parasol, know locally as "las setas" (the mushrooms).

The mushrooms are a modern, wooden structure built in what used to be a car park but is now a public square. In the basement you can visit some Roman ruins (which were discovered when the city first decided to redevelop the car park) and up the top you'll find a restaurant.

The main attraction though is the walking route all around the top of the structure, from which you get some fabulous views out over the city.

 

Brash, modern designs like this are not everyone's cup of tea - especially in such a historic setting - but I rather love the quirky, organic shape of the mushrooms and the contrast between old and new.

I also love going up high and getting an overview of a new-to-me place and Seville was looking really gorgeous in the sunshine!

Slightly different to my usual Nice Days Out, huh?

I'll share some more photos from our trip sometime soon :)