Mosaics, gardens and courtyards galore. Explore the breathtaking Alcázar.
Seville, Spain is famous for its Alcázar. I had been looking forward to seeing the Alcázar for ages, which really deserves its own post. The Alcázar complex is huge and a whole post is needed for this famous landmark.
The Alcázar of Seville was built by the Christian monarchs after the city was reconquered from Muslim rulers who once controlled most of the Iberian Peninsula. The Christian palace was built on the ruins of the grand Muslim palace (symbolic, perhaps?) starting in the 13th century. The Alcázar is a combination of a bunch of styles creating a unique architectural style. While the Muslim palace was destroyed, the Christian monarchs still incorporated Islamic ornamentation and patterns. In addition to the Islamic elements, Gothic and Romanesque styles can be found and the 16th century added Renaissance designs. In the 18th century, Baroque styles were then added on top of all that. The Alcázar is such a random mishmash of different styles and I love it.
The Alcázar is still a working royal palace, but the palace only uses one section of the building as formal state rooms. You can still visit these with an extra tour. It’s pretty neat, but I don’t have any pictures since the Spanish Royal Palaces are weird like that. Oh, there is also a splendid garden. So much to see here.
The Alcázar’s main entrance is the Puerta de León (Gate of the Lion). Make sure you have your ticket before you try to enter.
All the randomly styled palaces all conjoin making the Alcázar a bit confusing to explain. The middle part is the Palace of Pedro I, the most well-known; on the right is the Casa de Contratación; and the yellow one on the left wasn’t labeled. The acting royal palace is the second floor of the Palace of Pedro I.
The entrance of the Palace of Pedro I.
One side of the entrance hall. Most of the rooms have a doorway in the center and two wings, which makes it very hard to photograph. This decoration is typical. A large decorative arch will span the room on each side of the main doorway. There will be more intricate details in rows along the ceiling and possibly halfway down and then finishing in tiles.
You pass through the other side of the entrance hall for more of the palace. Many of the rooms are weirdly narrow.
The style of these rooms is called Mudéjar, a style used by Christian Iberians that incorporated Islamic designs.
I wonder if any of these details were reused from previous Islamic buildings.
The Maidens Courtyard was the center of the public area of the palace. It has been restored to its 14th century appearance.
All the archways around the courtyard are topped with this fanciness.
Some of the corners have these weird, but gorgeous feature.
Yep, that’s the ceiling of the gallery. Just so fancy.
Just look at this door.
The very dark Carlos V Ceiling Room.
Everything is so fancy.
The ceiling in the next room. I wish they made more ceilings like this.
A very gold room.
Entrance to the Royal Bedroom. Super fancy.
The alcoves of this room would have had curtains for privacy.
Fancy ceiling.
Small courtyard leading to more bedrooms.
The Prince’s Suite.
The Chamber of the Catholics Kings Ceiling. That ceiling is spectacular.
I’m really digging the green.
The archway leading to that golden Hall of the Ambassadors.
The very hard to photograph Hall of Ambassadors. This was the throne room of King Pedro I. You can look out over this room from the acting royal palace.
Now that’s a ceiling!
Skipping ahead to the very yellow Gothic Palace, built by Alfonso X “The Wise” in the 13th century.
The lovely little chapel of the Gothic Palace.
A hallway of wonderful tiles.
Now for the gardens. You leave the Palace of Pedro I and enter this courtyard garden.
Another of many fountains.
Not sure what this fountain would be called.
I love all these tiles.
The Ladies’ Garden, with the Fountain of Fame, which is a musical fountain. You can even walk along the covered passage above the fountain, the Grotto Gallery.
The Pavilion of Carlos V was built to celebrate the marriage of Carlos V and Isabella of Portugal. It is also tiled under the porch.
Such a lovely garden.
Covered sitting area, perhaps?
The gardens just keep going!
The Puerta de Marchena leads back to the Alcázar.
And finally, the Alcubilla Courtyard.
The Alcázar is just simply amazing. You can easily lose a few hours wandering around the palace grounds. If you find yourself in Seville, check out the Alcázar, just remember to book your tickets ahead of time to avoid waiting in line.
Check out my next post where I will be exploring more of Seville’s palaces.
or
Start at the beginning of my travels around Spain!
