What to Visit in Seville, Andalucia
Must Do's in Southern Spain's Famous Provincial City
Jun 1, 2009
The famous Spanish Writer Miguel de Cervantes called La Giralda the 'giant of Seville' and this giant or bell tower belonging to the cathedral is certainly one of the most impressive sights on the city skyline.
This is the starting point of what to see or what not to miss in Seville city.
The Cathedral and La Giralda
The tower reaches an impressive 70 metres in height from which the city just has to be seen. The whole cathedral with its later addition is a fine mixture of Moorish architecture with remaining cloister of the patio de los naranjos and the later Christian additions which took over a century to build.
It is the largest Gothic builidng in Europe and the third largest church after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London.
Archivo de Indias
Built in 1598 with the wealth flooding in from the Americas, it was originally used as a merchant exchange until King Carlos III decided to use it as a store for documents relating to Spain’s New World possessions, at the time when boats could still navigate the river Gualquivir up to Seville.
It is still today used as a working library with 8km of shelves, 43,000 files and 80 million pages of original documents including a journal of Columbus and letters written by Miguel de Cervantes.
Flamenco Dance Museum
This is a fairly recent museum that present the art form of Flamenco. There are evening performances, a gift shop and dance classes available.
Torre del Oro
Today this Golden Tower plays host to the Naval Museum, it was originally one of a pair situated on either side of the River as one of the main defence barriers, a huge chain would have been slung between them preventing the passage of any boats or ships.
It is thought to have been covered with gold tiles, hence its name Tower of Gold or Golden Tower.
Plaza de España
This enormous semicircular Plaza was revamped from the grounds of the 17th Palacio de San Telmo to make a huge fairground area for the Ibero-American exhibition in 1929. The arcades are supposed to represent each of the 50 provinces of Spain.
Reales Alcazares
This is the Royal Palace of the Moors and later the Christians and is still used for the Spanish Monarchy today when they reside in the city. It’s more like a series of smaller palaces in a complimentary fusion of different architectural styles.
This is one visit that needs plenty of time available to enjoy every nook and cranny.
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