Hello fellow travelers! Seville is a beautiful city in the south of Spain. It is the capital of the largest autonomous community in the country, Andalusia. It is also the 4th largest city in the country.
About the city:
Seville is the capital city of the largest autonomous community in Spain, Andalusia. Seville is located on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir River. The mythical founder of the city is Hercules (if you’ve ever studied Greek mythology you will recognize this name).
Plaza de Espana
Seville’s Plaza de Espana is located in the Parque de María Luisa. The unique feature of Seville’s Plaza de Espana is its provincial alcoves. These alcoves represent each of Spain’s provinces. There are 11 autonomous communities and 50 provinces located in the country.
Photos of the plaza
A bust of Francisco Jiminez de Cisneros, a Roman Catholic cardinal and twice regent of the Spanish monarchy.
Plaza de Espana Alcoves
Seville
Seville is surrounded by Huelva to the west and Cadiz to the south. It is also bordered by Malaga to the southeast, Cordoba to the northeast, and Badajoz to the northwest.
One of the alcoves in the plaza.
Canaries
The alcove of the Canary Islands
The province of Burgos. Satander is to its northwest. Alava is to its northeast. Logroño is to its east. Soria is to its southeast. Palencia is to its west.
Barcelona
Barcelona is surrounded by Gerona to the northeast. Lerida borders Barcelona to the northwest and Tarragona borders Barcelona to the southwest. To the southeast lies the Mediterranean Sea.
Alcove art of Barcelona
Balearic Islands
An alcove showing the Balearic Islands
Badajoz
Badajoz borders Caceres to the north. Huelva lies to the southwest. Seville is to the south. Cordoba sits to the southeast. Ciudad Real is located to the northeast. Badajoz also borders Portugal to the west.
Avila
Avila is a province in Spain. Fun fact: it is the province that our tour guide was from. It is surrounded by Salamanca to the west. It is bordered by Caceres to the southwest. Toledo is to the south. Madrid lies to the southeast. Segovia is to the northeast.
Almeria
Almeria borders Granada to the west. Murcia borders it to the northeast and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.
A painting in Almeria’s alcove that depicts the Conquest of Almeria.
Alicante
Alicante, which shares a border with Murcia to the southwest and Valencia to the north. The province also shares a border with the Mediterranean Sea.
Albacete
The province of Albacete. It borders Jaen to the southwest. Cuenca lies to the north of Albacete. Murcia is located to the south. Valencia is to the northeast.
A full view of a provincial alcove.
Gerona
Gerona borders Barcelona to its southwest and Lerida to its west. France creates its northern border and the Mediterranean Sea makes up its southeastern border.
Alcove art of Gerona. This depicts the third siege of Gerona during the Napoleonic Wars.
Granada
The provincial alcove of Granada. Granads is bordered by Jaen to the north. Cordoba lies to the northwest. Malaga is to the west, and the Mediterranean is to the south. Almeria is to the southeast, while Murcia is to the very east.
Guadalajara
Guadalajara borders by Madrid to its southwest. It borders by Zaragoza to its northeast and Soria to the north. Cuenca is to the south, Teruel to its southeast, and Segovia to its northwest. Another fun fact is that Guadalajara in Mexico gets its name from the same province and city in Spain.
Alcove art of Guadalajara.
Guipuzcoa
Guipuzcoa borders Alava to the southwest, Vizcaya (Biscay) to the northwest, and Navarra to the south. The Bay of Biscay bordered Guipuzcoa to the north.
Huelva
Huelva borders by 3 other provinces. Badajoz is to the northeast. Seville is to its east. Cadiz is to its southeast. Portugal makes up Huelva’s western border, and the Atlantic Ocean makes up its southern border.
Huesca
Huesca is bordered by Zaragoza to the southwest and Lerida to its southeast. France makes up its northern border.
Jaen
Jaen is bordered by Cordoba to the southwest. Granada is to the south. Ciudad Real lies to the north, and Albacete is located to the east.
Another piece of alcove art
Plaza de Triunfo and Plaza Virgen de los Reyes
The Plaza de Triunfo and the Plaza Virgen de los Reyes are two adjacent squares in Seville. Three of Spain’s UNESCO sites are located in these squares. Those sites are the Seville Cathedral, the Alcazar palace complex, and the General Archives of the Indies.
A painting of one of Spain’s kings and the Queen consort.
Stepping into the two Plazas
Seville Cathedral
The Seville Cathedral (Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See) is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. It is also the second largest finished cathedral in Spain. Cordoba’s Mosque-Cathedral takes first place. When the Sagrada Familia is finished in 2026, the Seville Cathedral will become the 3rd largest cathedral in Spain. It will remain the second largest Gothic cathedral in the world. The cathedral is also considered one of Spain’s 12 Treasures.
The exterior of the cathedral
La Giralda, the cathedral’s bell tower
A beautiful tabernacle
A view of the cathedral organ pipes
Christopher Columbus’s tomb. There are unverified assumptions of where Columbus’s final resting place was. Columbus’s body was first exhumed from the Convent of St. Francis in Valladolid. Valladolid is the city in Spain where Columbus purportedly died. His remains were later moved to another place in Seville: the monastery of La Cartuja. Columbus’s remains, as well as his son Diego, were buried in Colonial Santo Domingo, in present day Dominican Republic. In 1793, Columbus’s remains had allegedly been moved to the island of Hispaniola. This is because Columbus became the first governor of the Indies. It is near impossible to distinguish whether the remains in the cathedral are truly his. Additionally, the authorities located in Santo Domingo refused to have the remains at Colonial Santo Domingo tested.
The final resting place of a bishop in the cathedral.
A statuette of Christopher Columbus after he purportedly discovered America.
The Vision of Saint Anthony of Padua
The grave of a cardinal.
Guadalquivir River
Sugar skull installments along the river
Maestranza
A statue of Curro Romero, a famous Spanish bullfighter. This statue is located outside the Maestranza, a bullfighting ring located in Seville. Bullfighting is a controversial sport. This is due to its near animal cruelty by provoking the bull until it charges at a matador. The matador then kills the bull.
A statue of Princess Maria de las Mercedes of Bourbon, also known as the Countess of Barcelona.
Flamenco dancing at the Tablao Flamenco El Arenal
A video of flamenco dancers. I love how fast they move and how their dance radiates passion.
Food
La Quinta Braseria
La Quinta Braseria was the first restaurant we ate at after arriving in Seville. The meal included a variety of tapas. We had bread with tomato jam and Parmesan, deep fried eggs, and Russian potato salad. There were also other delicious foods. For dessert, we had creme brûlée.
Catalina la Barra
Catalina Barra was the second restaurant we went to, after visiting the cathedral. It is a small tapas restaurant. We had Iberian ham, tuna with tomato, eggs andf shrimp, beef with potatoes, and some Magdalenas.
Have you ever been to Seville?
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