Higher Technical School of Architecture
Seville
Monuments and heritage
Seville Cathedral is the gothic monument par excellence. Built in the 15th century on the site of an Islamic mosque, it is the third biggest temple in the world after Saint Peter´s in Tome and Saint Paul´s in London. All that remains of the original mosque is the Orange Tree Counrtyard (Patio de los Naranjos) and the minaret, known as the Giralda. It has five naves and twenty-four chapels, containing 500 works of art from the city´s most prosperous era. One of the most interesting features is the enormous main altarpiece, the biggest in the world, with an extensive structure and iconography. The choir and retrochoir feature over a hundred seats and the image of the Immaculate Conception by Martínez Montañés. The Royal Chapel features the Virgin of the Kings, the patron saint of the Archdiocese, and the uncorrupted body of King Saint Ferdinand III. Another outstanding feature of Seville Cathedral is the sepulchre of Christopher Columbus.
The Giralda
The Almohad Emir Abu Yakub Yusuf ordered the Giralda, which was to become an emblem of the city, to be built in 1184, although it was the Emir Abu Yusuf-al Mansur who completed it, with the construction of the upper part of the minaret, which was subsequently destroyed in 1356 in an earthquake. The top section of the tower was rebuilt in the 16th century in the Renaissance style in five stages: the Bell Stage, featuring the Lily Terrace, the Clock Stage, the Well Stage, the Star Stage and the Carambola Stage, plus the weather vane representing the triumph of faith, known as the Giraldillo. It is almost 100 metres high and decorated with balconies, horseshoe-shaped windows under multi-lobed arches and sculptural relief. Inside the tower, however, there is just a simple 34-flight ramp, affording acces to the top of the tower for an impressive view of the city.
The Royal Alcazar Palace
The history of the Royal Alcazar Palace spans a long period from the Reconquest of Seville in 1248 by the King Saint Ferdinand III to the times of the Castilian kings. It was Peter I, called “Peter the Just” by some and “Peter the Cruel” by others, who gave the old Moorish Alcazar its definitive appearance, when he converted it into a sumptuous Mudejar palace. More reform work was carried out in the 16th century, enhancing with architectural elements and sculptures the magnificent gardens, with such evocative names as the Grotto Gardens (Grutesco), the Dance Gardens (Danza) and the Labyrinth Gardens (Laberinto). The Courtyard of the Dolls (Patio de las Muñecas), the Courtyard of the Maidens (Patio de las Doncellas) and the Ambassadors Hall (Sala de Embajadores) transport visitors to the world of the thousand and one nights, with their magical allure and ornamental lavishness.
"Casa Pilatos"
The sumptuous palace known as Casa de Pilatos was built by Fadrique Enríquez de Ribera on his return from Jerusalem in 1519. Many of the architectural features of this impressive house were imported from Genoa, including the entrance portico and the columns and fountain in the main courtyard features a collection of twenty-four busts of roman emperors and busts of charles V and Cicero. The beautiful decorative tilework is by the Polido brothers, carried out between 1535 and 1538. A staircase covered by a wooden dome with an intricate interlaced design by Cristóbal Sánchez leads to the upper floor.
"Real Maestranza"
The Real Maestranza Bullring is the most highly acclaimed bullring in the world. Its elegant proportions and graceful design are characteristic of the spirit of Enlightenment that reigned the time of its creation. Vicente de San Martín commenced the stonework in 1758 and completed it ten years later. Alterations were carried out at the end of the 19th century and at the beginming of the 20th century. The Neo-Baroque Virgen del Rosario Chapel was inaugurated in 1956, and the Bullfighting Museum is an exhibition showing the best of Seville´s bullfighting traditions, including the interesting artictic heritage of the Real Maestranza de Caballería.
"Parque María Luisa"
María Luisa park is the city´s most emblematic gardened area. In 1893, the Infanta María Luisa Fernanda, the widowed Duchess of Montpensier, donated halft of her San Telmo Palace gardens, where Alfonso XII had courted her daughter Mercedes, to the city of Seville. In 1929, on the occasion of the Ibero American Exhibition, a veritable museum of plant species with beautiful pathways and arbours was designed by French Landscape architect Nicolas Forestier. The Result is a wonderful park redolent of romantic associations, where the regionalist spirit of Andalusia is clearly palpable.
The Plaza de España was designed by regionalist architect Aníbal González as the Square of Honour for the 1929 Ibero.American Exhibition. It is semi. elliptical in shape and has a canal with a marble balustrade running around it, separating the buildings from the central part of the plaza. There are four brick and tile bridges over the canal, representing the regions, and an impressive palace building, divided into as many sections as there are provinces in Spain and flanked by two superb towers, forms the contour of the plaza. The centrepiece of the plaza is a magnificent circular fountain.
