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Plaza de Espana, Seville
Seville, or more correctly, Sevilla, is the heart and soul of Andalucia. Home to flamenco, bullfighting and many wonderful buildings it offers the visitor a wide variety of sites and sensations. On the one hand it is a modern bustling Spanish city with one foot very much in the 21st. century, but on the other hand it's long and varied history means that it's other foot is firmly placed in the past.
SANTA CRUZ The best place to begin any trip to Seville is in the barrio Santa Cruz which is the old Jewish quarter. Here you are immediately enchanted by the amazing labyrinth of narrow winding passageways with tall ancient buildings towering above you, so closely that if you leaned out of a window you could shake hands with someone on the opposite side of the "ancha," or passageway. The one great advantage of these narrow streets is that there is little traffic and the close proximity of the tall buildings keeps it cool even in the fiercest Sevillian summer heat, a great advantage when you are wandering around hopelessly lost looking for your hotel!! You will notice whole troupes of tourists, map in hand, trying to find their way out, Hampton Court maze has got nothing on barrio Santa Cruz! So be warned, go armed with a very good street plan. THE CATHEDRAL AND GIRALDAThe pride of Seville is the Cathedral, the largest gothic building in the world, and the third largest Church, with it's accompanying Giralda. This was originally built by the Muslims as a minaret to the Great Mosque. However on the fall of the Muslims the Mosque was converted into a Christian Cathedral and the minaret adapted to become the bell tower whose top is adorned with a weather vane in the shape of a female form representing fate. From the top of the Giralda there are stunning views over the whole of the city. THE ALCAZAR
The nearby Alcazar also started life as a Moorish building, in this case a fortress but it was later taken over by the Christians and became home to King Pedro the Cruel of Castile and his mistress Maria de Padilla who in the 1360's lived in and ruled from the Alcazar. However he kept the Moorish influence by undertaking much renovation work, employing Moorish workmen from Granada and utilising fragments of earlier Moorish buildings in Seville, Cordoba and Valencia. It is a magical place to visit on a summer's night when it is floodlit. THE PLAZA DE ESPAÑA & THE 1929 IBERO-AMERICAN EXPOSITION
Not far away you will find the impressive Plaza de España: a huge semi-circle with buildings continually running around the edge accessible over the moat by numerous beautiful bridges. In the centre of the courtyard there is a large fountain. The walls of the Plaza are lined with tiled alcoves, each representing a different province of Spain. Originally constructed for the Spanish-American exposition in 1929 it has now fallen into disrepair but is still worthy of a visit as you can see from the picture above. Lavish buildings were constructed around the city to house the exhibits from Peru, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela. These buildings are now used as council buildings, museum buildings and even a flamenco school. They have also been featured in a number of films, including Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, among others. If you are interested in history you should visit the 'Archivo de las Indias' (Archive of the Indies). It holds a huge collection of material relating to the accidental “discovery” and subsequent conquest of the Americas in 1492. Columbus’ original intention was to travel westwards to India however instead of arriving in India he discovered a whole “new world” FERIA DE ABRILThis fiesta, held 2 weeks after Easter paralyzes Seville for a whole week. The schools are on holiday, businesses shut down, the city is asleep, while the fairgrounds are abuzz with activity from noon to night - and beyond. Nowadays it is a fiesta of serious drinking, dancing, eating and socialising which often carries on throughout the night but if you want to know more about this impressive fair click here. Seville is a wonderful city to visit, not only are there so many wonderful tourist sites to see but here you can really experience the Spanish love of life. While you are there be sure to try as many tapas bars as possible, take in a flamenco, or more correctly “Sevilliana”, show and try the excellent cuisine.
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