Seville is a wonderful city! It is only 1.5 hours away and a very easy drive. Parking was easy too being nicely close to the city center for an easy walk along the river. Seville is the capital of Andalusia and is the 4th largest city in Spain. It is 50 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, but still has a fully functional river port on the Guadalquivir River. In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville when he became the first to circumnavigate the world. During the time of the discovery of the Americas, Seville became incredibly wealthy. While it's old town is beautiful, the rest of the city does not feel run-down. There are many 'modern' features including bike lanes with bike share stations along with electric street cars which look no older than 15 years. We definitely plan on visiting again! On this visit we went to the Parque de Maria Luisa, Plaza de Espana, the Cathedral and walked around the Bullring and Torre del Oro. Second to the Alhambra Generalife gardens, the Parque de Maria Luisa was very extensive with beautiful mature trees. The Plaza de Espana and Maria Luisa Gardens were built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. Also for the 1929 Exposition, many of the streets were rebuilt to create the grand vistas and boulevards. The construction of the Plaza de Espana uses beautifully detailed painted tiles everywhere. The bridges over the moat represent the four ancient kingdoms of Spain. Next we went to the Seville Cathedral which is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the third-largest church in the world. St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican is the largest. Seville Cathedral has the burial site for Christopher Columbus. It was built on the site of a mosque, so the bell tower, orange grove and side entry gate are still in the Moorish style. The cathedral was built in the time of Seville's great wealth from the Americas so it's purpose was to be grand and impressive, mission accomplished!
Torre del Oro
Full view of the Plaza de Espana
Tomb of Christopher Columbus
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