Today was all about the sights and sounds of this old city which is at the same time young and modern. We also said despedida to Vic and Robyn who are starting their journey home to Australia via Madrid (one night, Helsinki for two nights and a night in Singapore).

Those remaining (Dave, Pip, Steve and me) began our day of touring at the Cathedral of Seville with Isabelle and it unexpectedly turned out to be just the four of us. The Cathedral was built at the site of the Great Mosque of Seville which had been built by the Moors who had occupied Seville previously.

Like many other monuments the Cathedral is a fantastic combination of architectural styles. The Cathedral’s history started in 1172 as the Almohad mosque, the mosque was dedicated in 1182 but was not completed until 1198. Only 50 years later in 1248 when Seville was conquered by Ferdinand III the the mosque was converted into the city’s cathedral. In July 1401 it was decided that a new cathedral would be built to replace the very grand mosque. The building of the Cathedral took 106 years, it is massive and and so not at all surprising.

“Let us build a church so beautiful and so grand that those who see it finished will, take us for mad.”

There are a couple of things that took me particularly by surprise with the Cathedral. The first was that Christopher Columbus is buried here, well 250 grams of him 😃. Apparently there was quite a bit of discussion between Seville and Cuba as to where he was buried. The government of Seville made a decision to send said remains off for a DNA test and the tests when compared to a direct descendant of Admiral Columbus came back with a 98% match factor. Our guide advised that the Cubans hadn’t been down the same route as they are confident that Admiral Columbus resides with them. Given that the remains were moved a number of times whats not to say that he also has remains in Cuba. Poor guy he travelled the world while living and also after he had died.

The other thing that tweaked my interest is the Giralda Belltower (which is incidentally very beautiful), the bottom probably three quarters is the original Minaret of the mosque constructed by the Moors ( this was one of the things that survived the 1401 rebuild) but what has been done is that an additional section has been added to it making it about 100 metres tall. We had seen the design of the Minaret in Marrakech as well. The Belltower is really worth a look and here comes the really interesting part is that you go up more than 30 ramps to get to a couple of small flights of stairs. Why ? Great question 😃 because the Sultan who ordered the original building ordered the builders to install 35 ramps so that the muezzin could ride a horse (must have been a small one) to the top to recite the Adhan (call to prayer ) five times a day. It was relatively easy and the views were extraordinary.

A quick lunch and then we headed to Alcazar of Seville, Alcazar means castle and is derived from the Arabic word Al-qasr meaning fortress or palace. This Alcazar is the oldest Royal palace still in use in Europe, the royal family still use the upper floors of this beautiful place and I can’t blame them – although the constant stream of tourists must get aggravating when they are in town!

Originally the Alcazar was built as a fortress to protect the Muslim authorities way back in 913. This place al-Mubarak “ The Blessed” became the centre of the city, for government business and writers and poets, and when you are walking the halls you can understand why.

Over the years as the power force of Seville changed work has been completed to the Alcazar beautifully and so again we see blended architectural periods throughout this building. The baths, courtyards and large gardens are exquisite, my photos don’t do the justice.

And it is very easy to transport yourself to some of the Game of Thrones scenes that were filmed within this Alcazar. The Water Gardens of the seven kingdoms was filmed here ruled by Doran Martell, and it is as beautiful as it looks on the our tv screens.

For our last night in Seville we wandered just a few metres from our accomodation to a great little place for pizzas, local beers and Tinto Verano ( my new fave drink). It was a great way to finish off a lovely stay in another wonderful city.