Our first step was to cross the bridge again and head back into the historic section of town. Our hostel is situated in the Triana neighborhood across the river and it was very convenient to be able to be away from the action at night yet close during the day when we could just walk over in five minutes.
We wandered east into the Plaza de España and eventually made it to a free science museum where different exhibits chronicling Spanish science and culture are rotated periodically. This time the exhibits featured were some pieces of Peruvian archaeological findings, some examples of different bird wings (dried, real wings), and a wind dedicated to photographs of different vocations of Cuban people in Cuba. It was a good first place to go and the price was definitely right!
We then made our way towards the Cathedral to do what we thought would be a quick pass-through. However, equipped with my Rick Steves guided tour (on my kindle), Brian and I did a truly awesome walking tour. This cathedral was our first since the Italian giants like St. Peter’s, St. Anthony’s, and St. Mark’s, so it was a really great way to compare different structures in the two countries. Besides St. Peter’s and St. Andrew’s (London), the Cathedral of Sevilla is the third largest cathedral in the world. It was build on top of an early Moorish mosque and the builders, according to Rick Steves’ guide, wanted to build a church so big people would think them mad for trying. The cathedral features an ornate altar backdrop like others I have seen in Spain, but which is so giant that I literally could not frame the whole thing with my camera. The organ is surrounded by Cuban mahogany angels so detailed that it seems that they will fly out at you declaring the glory of God. Attached to one of the side chapels, the cathedral’s treasure room holds one of the world’s most valuable crowns, containing over 12,000 tiny jewels (diamonds, emeralds, rubies, etc) cut and placed so that the light absolutely pings off of it. Across the room is a reliquary which is said to hold a piece of the original cross on which Jesus died.
Even more impressive, for me, was the section of the cathedral immediately to the right of the main altar. Supported on the shoulders of knights from the four ruling regions of Spain, Castilla, León, Aragón, and Navarra, the actual remains of Christopher Columbus are interred for all to see. I was blown away not only by the artistry, but by the physical presence of the man who has reached such celebrity status in America. Here are a few pictures of the inside of the cathedral. Afterwards, I will get to the Tower.
In the left hand corner of the church, behind the main alter, a simple passageway extends to the belltower. Built originally as a minaret for the mosque, this tower consists of 35 ramps with only 17 steps at the very top. The ramps were designed for a horse to carry a rider up the high tower five times a day to give the Muslim call to prayer. In comparison to St. Mark’s 460 steps and St. Peter’s 560, I will take the ramps any day. It was also so interesting to think that there could actually be a horse and rider inside of a church/mosque riding up a huge tower. At the top I was able to catch a lot of awesome glimpses of the town as well as the roof of the cathedral. Today, the tower bears a bit of Christian propaganda. The four faces of the tower read “the strongest tower is the name of God” and no building in the city may be taller than the metal figure at the top.
For lunch we decided to get some paella at a nicer restaurant. We knew that what we would be getting would be fresh and well-prepared when the menu stated that preparation time for each dish is a minimum of 30 minutes. At the end of that time I was pretty annoyed that I had to wait that long for my food but it was really worth it to have all fresh ingredients combined and carefully prepared. Our waiter served us at our table by hand and Brian and I enjoyed a very tasty paella mixta of prawns, artichokes, chicken, sausage, and some shellfish called “scarlet shrimp” which I had never seen before. They were much brighter than a boiled lobster and they peeled similarly to a regular shrimp, but they were very good.
Our next stop after lunch was the Alcázar. Meaning “palace” in Arabic, this majestic structure represents a true clash of architectural styles as well as religious practices, living conventions, and even perception of the world around oneself. There were royal apartments, art museums, and even a sumptuous palace used by King Pedro the Cruel and all were on display for the visitors at a great 2euro student rate. The architecture at first was somewhat bland with some nice eastern designs of Islamic geometrical patterns on tiles and arches but it eventually became apparent that this was not just normal art. King Pedro had very craftily hired Islamic architects and decorators to make his palace in the style of the Islamic rulers but incorporating different elements of his own kingdom like symbols of lions and castles. In Islamic art it is very uncommon to see images because Muslims considered the depiction of people or animals as idolatrous. As we moved deeper and deeper into the Alcázar we continued to appreciate the minute details of everything around us, as you can see below
The Arab architects concentrated on pleasing the senses and used temperature as well as varying exposures of light to make their buildings both livable and beautiful in one. It is no surprise, then, that the gardens would be one of the highlights of the entire palace. Stretching on and on, the modern upkeep only accents the genius of these early Arab rulers as places like the Pool of Mercury (the Greek god), the orange groves, and the rose gardens roll on and on with seemingly no end. There were even live peacocks! Here are a few pictures which attempt to do them justice.
After all of this we went back to the hostel to rest and change for a bit and then we wandered out past the cathedral to find a Flamenco show. There is a great local place called La Carbonería which features free Flamenco every night and always, always, has a packed house. Apparently if you make it to the Carbonería you’ve made it big in the Flamenco world, so we were really happy with the results of our journey because it was a really rousing show. Here is a snippet for you to see from my pictures. I took a video but the file is too big for here unfortunately!
It really was a great time and after getting back late to our hostel we crashed in an expectant wait for what we would do the next, and last, half day in Sevilla!
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