Santa Cruz District, Sevilla

Discreetly located in one of the narrow streets of Santa Cruz, this two storey building is one of the most important of Baroque in Seville. It has a peculiar courtyard with high level arcades. Built in the 17th century and originally a residence to priests, it houses today Velasquez centre.

Contrasting with the narrow streets of the quarter, this small square is one of its the larger spaces. In the centre of the square, the cross of Cerrajeria, a remarkable metalwork from the 17th century marks the place of the former church of Santa Cruz

The landmark of Santa Cruz is the beauty of the inner pateos, decorated with flower pots. In winter it looses something, because the "pateos" are closed and with less flowers.

Time to enhance the iron works in doors and windows.

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This is the most picturesque part of the city. Here you'll find narrow cobbled streets, whitewashed houses, gardens and squares. Although a tourist destination, there are places here to sit & relax and watch the world go by.

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Not to be missed, the narrow streets, the interior "pateos", flowers everywhere, cast iron windows, I mean... Spain at its best.

It deserves two different visits: in the afternoon, protected from the sun, to feel colours and shapes, and by night, to "live" the city, and watch "flamenco" in one of the many "tablaos".

Well... this was my vision in summer.

I've been there again in winter, and... less flowers, closed "pateos", but always pretty.

Built in 1915 for the insurance company la Adriática, its namesake building is a beautiful example of neo-mudéjar architecture in Seville. Its location on a triangular piece of land where avenida de la Constitución meets calle Fernández y González gave the building its unusually thin shape and strategic location. The tip of the triangle is crowned with a dome over Islamic style windows and azulejos tiles. Today, el Edificio de la Adriática serves as an office building, while the ground floor houses la Confitería Filella, a popular dessert shop. The building was designed by one of Seville's most renowned neo-mudéjar architects, José Espiau y Muñoz, whose notable works include the legendary Hotel Alfonso XIII.

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The first thing we did on Monday, our only full day in Sevilla, was to walk to the old downtown location of La Giralda bell-tower, Cathedral and the Real Alcázar. It was another beautiful day as we reached the area, with Sevilla's trademark La Giralda tower standing proud in the sunshine.

With construction first completed in 1196 after twelve years of hard work, only three Moorish minarets of that era remain in the world today - with the other two both located in Morocco at Marrakesh and Rabat. Originally, the two functions of this minaret were to call the believers to prayer at the mosque that stood at its feet and to serve as a watch-tower for the city. One of the amazing things about La Giralda is that access to it's highest reaches is not by stairs but instead by means of a series of 35 ramps inclined gently enough to allow two guards on horseback to pass each other (I guess walking up would be tough while loaded down with weaponry)! As far as the exterior goes, each of the four sides of the tower has a different pattern of intricate brick work to marvel at.

Much to the dismay of the Moors, the tower along with all of Sevilla fell to Christian forces in 1248, only 52 years after this work of art had been completed. The four original copper spheres that marked the top of the tower were later destroyed by an earthquake in 1356, so these were replaced by a Christian cross in 1400 when work started on construction of today's Cathedral to replace the original Moorish mosque.

The present highly decorated Renaissance-style upper floors of the tower as well as the smaller 'steeple' were added between 1560-1568 as it became the bell-tower for the Cathedral. The Giralda now takes its name from the weather vane (or 'giraldillo') that was also added to the top of the tower at that time.

We had a lot to see, so decided not to make the climb up the tower, despite the fact that it is reported to provide great views of both the Cathedral and the rest of Sevilla as you make your way to the top.

Actually, this pretty little plaza was located across the street from where I parked our rental car in a public garage and it stood between me and our hostel a few minutes walk away. I had never heard of it before, but was impressed by it's mini-botanical gardens decorating the long rectangular centre of Plaza Cristo de Burgos.

This part of Seville has been settled for hundreds of years but the modern history of the plaza began when a large cleared space was made in 1818 and later modified to its present shape in 1940 before the addition of the botanical trees and shrubs in 1983. The largest trees include those of the Fig, Palm, Banana and Orange species with decorative shrubs linking them. The small statue is a bronze bust of Nino Ricardo (1909-1972), who lived nearby and became Spain's most respected flamenco guitarist. The plaza also contains a few children's amusement contraptions and various benches where citizens and visitors to Sevilla can just sit down to relax for a while. We did some relaxing in the plaza too because, at the far end of the plaza closest to our hostel, we found Taberna Coloniales - one of Sevilla's most famous tapas bars (see my 'Restaurant' tips for details)!!