Plaza de España, Sevilla

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Plaza de España was built for the Iberoamerican Exhibition of 1929.
The plaza is semicircular. A semicircular pond of 200 m diameter is surrounded by the Spanish pavilion, also semicircular.

The pavilion was built by Aníbal González, the most famous architect in Seville in that period. Gothic and Renaissance styles are combined.The main elements are the bricks and the ceramic covering. There are two slender towers on the edges of the building.

In the front of the building, all the provinces of Spain are represented in alphabetical order. Each one has a space, delimited by benches, where a panel made of tiles displays a representative landmark of the history or the folklore of the province.

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This beautiful plaza is located at the edge of Parque Maria Louisa. It was designed by Seville architect Anibal Gonzalez for the 1929 Ibero-American Expo. Today it's used as government offices.

The centrepiece of the plaza is a semicircle bounded by a canal. A covered arcade embraces the plaza. This is decorated with the faces of many great Spaniards. The arcade is also covered in ceramic tiled paintings, each of these represent a historical event from all the provinces of Spain. As the fountain in plaza is illuminated, it's an enjoyable place to visit at night too.

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Found the Plaza Espanya quite by accident, walking back to Santa Cruz from the Park de Maria Luisa.

A massive half-circle it is very large, very impressive.
There is a nice use of ceramic tiling. The different provinces of Spain are each represented by a different mosaic.

Nice place to spend a few minutes walking around.

The building is from the Expo-America in 1929. One cannot enter the building today, it is used for government offices.

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Erected in the decade before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, the Plaza de España was designed for the 1929 Spanish-American Exhibition. Its main building and towers are likely the most beautiful examples of the Moorish Revival style that began in the late 19th century.

In alcoves running around the base of the building are tiled representations of the nation's regions and what they're particularly noted for.

Today the main building houses various government offices.

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The Plaza de España is one of Seville's most beautiful buildings. It's huge half-circle with buildings and numerous beautiful bridges. In the centre there is a large fountain. On the wall there are many tiled alcoves that represent all spain provinces.

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The monumental semi-circular edifice, Plaza de España, was built in 1929 for the Ibero-American Exposition. This grand expression of barroco sevillano architecture, designed by one of Seville's most celebrated architects, Anibal González, was the focal point of the Exposition. The magnificent Plaza de España is located in Parque de María Luisa, a park that was created and landscaped specifically for Exposition. While many of the structures in the park were later rehabilitated into museums and other functions, the Plaza de España seemed to remain vacant for use only in special events. It has, however, been featured in numerous films, among them Star Wars Episode II and Lawrence of Arabia. For more photos of this masterpiece, take a look at the Travelogue: "Plaza de España".

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The statue of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar or El Cid as he became known as, is found in the Plaza de Espana. Born in 1044, El Cid was a national hero of Spain from the battles fought by the Muslims and Christians. He seized the kingdom of Valencia in 1094 and ruled there until he died in 1099.. El Cid has been immortalised in songs, folk tales and plays and he is revered still in Spanish history.

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In colourful alcoves all along the front of the Plaza de Espana building are tiled pictorial murals representing each of the Spanish provinces and significant parts of their history. One in particular in blue and white tile is of Christopher Columbus trying to persuade the Spanish rulers to underwrite his voyages.