In Seville, the Alfonso XIII hotel would be our home for the next several days. This historic and handsome building was refurbished in 2012 in the Andalusian style. It is stately and beautiful.

This photo shows a portion of the gallery which frames the courtyard square.

Read more about the the Alfonso XIII hotel HERE

One of the first things we like to do whenever we arrive in a new city is to “drop our bags” and take a walk around the town. This gives us a lay of the land, so to speak, and an idea of what we might like to investigate during our visit.

As we walked in and around the area near the hotel, we came across architectural accents and gardens that drew our attention.

This fountain and street lamp combination at the Square of the Virgin of the Kings (Plaza Virgen de los Reyes) seemed to be a popular resting or meetup place and hub for points of interest.

There were so many fascinating buildings in the central area of Seville, that it was hard to capture all of them.

Bordering the Plaza Virgen de los Reyes is the Archbishop’s Palace which has served as the residence of episcopal bishops and other dignitaries. You can probably spend weeks visiting all of the historic buildings in this area of Seville. For now, however, you can read more about the history of the Palace HERE

Horse drawn carriage rides are available at the square outside the archdiocese seen here in front of a statue of the Madonna and child.

Although the sun was lending only a bit of light and shade covered most of the wall, the facade of the Convent of the Encarnación with a ceramic depiction of the Virgin Mary against gold tones was impressive. It is located near the Square of the Virgin of the Kings.

Coming from the modern western world, the older styles and colors of many buildings easily caught my eye.

The Seville Town Hall is situated around the Plaza del Triunfo which hosted a statue commemorating the confirmation that Mary was born “free of original sin” and serves as a centerpiece for a local celebratory feast. It is sometimes mistakenly called the Monument of the Immaculate Conception.

As we walked around the vicinity of Alfonso XIII hotel, we took some sneak peaks at places we were scheduled to visit on other days. This was our fist view of the entrance to the Alcazar.

Christopher Columbus (Christobel Colon) has a strong connection to Seville which was the port from which he and his sailors set forth to the New World more than half a century ago. There are references to, and reminders of Columbus all around town such as the Columbus monument in the Murillo Gardens (below).

It seems that I am getting a bit ahead of myself regarding Christobel Colon; more about him “later!” The gardens have beautiful wide paths and many plants, fountains, etc. to view during a leisurely stroll.

One of the items we noted on our list of things to visit was the Hospital de los Venerables. Once a hospice for priests, it now serves as a museum for a select group of paintings and other historic and artistic elements. Time did not permit us to go inside, but many note that this is a “must see” if you visit Seville.

The beautiful buildings, many with ornate balconies, served as architectural exclamation points punctuating the surrounding avenues.

Towering above most of the streets around the center of town were aspects of the Seville Cathedral (Catedral de Sevilla). There is no wonder about this as it is the world’s largest Gothic Cathedral according to several sources. Below is a quick look at the Giralda or bell tower.

We returned to the hotel to freshen up before heading out for a quick bite on our own. While walking along some of the nearby side streets, we came across San Marco, a rather romantic Italian restaurant where we enjoyed a nice dinner and a toast to the town.

On the return to our accommodations, we enjoyed a night time view of the famed Giralda of the Catedral de Sevilla.

After our busy initial day in Seville, we were eager to get some rest to be fresh for our next foray.

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Continue reading about our trip to Portugal and Spain.

 

Read more Hiking and Exploration posts HERE

 

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