Seville, Spain

We drove one and half hours from Cordoba and arrived in Seville.  Seville was Spain's largest and richest city in the 17th century.  Today Seville is the fourth-largest city in Spain. 

Plaza de Espana was built for the Ibero-American Exhibition of 1929.  Plaza de España has been used for some of the scenes of George Lucas' STAR WARS Episode II:  Attack of the Clones.

Old Seville is bisected by its grand boulevard, Avenida de la Constitucion.  It was made into a pedestrian boulevard in 2007. 

Los Reales Alcazares was originally a 10th century palace built for the governors of the local Moorish state.  Today it still functions as a royal palace.  This is a Christian ruler's palace, built in the Moorish style.



The Sevilla Cathedral was built on the site of the main Mosque.  The Christians kept the mosque's minaret and turned it into a belltower.  They also kept the Patio de los Naranjos to be used as a cloister. 

The Sevilla Cathedral is the third largest church in Europe.  St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican is the largest, the next largest is St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and then the Sevilla Cathedral.  The cathedral is the largest Gothic church. 

The mosque on the site was torn down in 1401 during the Reconquista.  It took the Christians 120 years to build the cathedral.

The Giralda is 330 feet tall and is one of most beautiful and admired towers in the world. 

The spiraling ramp inside the tower was designed for horseback riders who rode up five times a day for the Muslim call to prayer.

Views from the top of the Giralda Belltower: