Sevilla, Spain

Occurred: March 12th

When we woke up in the morning to start our day in Seville we first got on the bus and they started showing us different congress buildings. I have no idea which one this is, it is the best picture that I took through the bus window, so I put it up. Bonus- its a pretty building. 

So our first stop on the field trip in Sevilla was the Plaza de España located in Maria Luisa Park. (after the bus tour) It was built in 1928 for the Ibero-American Exposition in 1929. It is a prime example of Renaissance style in Spanish architecture. And whats really cool about this was that a movie was filmed here!! Can you guess which one?  

here is the outside of the Plaza

this is the first thing that you see when you enter the plaza and look to your right. BEAUTIFUL. 

around the entire plaza there are tiled alcoves each of them representing a different province in Spain.

amanda, me, allison. 

this is the alcove of Huelva. where Christopher Columbus sailed from!

maria, becca, allison, lisa, amanda, dinah, me, lindsay.

the fountain in the center of the plaza.

me.

amanda, allison, me standing in one of the towers looking over the plaza.

picture of the center building looking outwards towards the fountain. 

SOOOO. did you guess which movie its from? give up? please, watch. 

After the tour of the Plaza, we made our way to the entrance of the Alcázar of Sevilla. The Alcázar is the  royal palace and it was originally a Moorish fort.  When we were walking in the actual palace (not the gardens) ire really reminded me a lot of the Alhambra. While we waited in front of the door there were bikes to rent there, like what they want to do in Chicago so everyone of course was sitting on them and pretending to ride them around. 

Here is some history of the palace: The Almohades were the first to build a palace, which was called Al-Muwarak, on the site of the modern day Alcázar. The palace is one of the best remaining examples of mudéjar architecture. Subsequent monarch have added their own addition to the Alcázar. The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as the official Sevilla residence and are administered by the Patrimonio Nacional. 

so this is allison, amanda, and me waiting to go into the Alcázar 

this was there right when we walked in.

and this is the entrance door to the Alcázar right when you get.

the outside of the palace...so pretty. 

me.

Estante de Mercurio. (still in the palace)

Estante de Mercurio. 

Patio de las Doncellas. Meaning ¨The Courtyard of the Maidens.¨ 

Interesting history: the name comes from the legend that the Moors demanded 100 virgins every year as tribute from Christian kingdoms in Iberia. The story of the tribute may have been used as myth to bolster the Reconquista movement, but it may have had some truth to it in the sexual abuse of Christian women by powerful Moors. 

doesn't it look like a mini Alhambra? 

this is the ¨door¨ that we walked through once we exited the palace. 

Then the tour moved onto the Cathedral... Here are some pictures I took on the way. 

The Cathedral in Sevilla occupies the site of a great mosque in the late 12th century. Later on, Christians added the extra dimension of height and now its central nave rises to 42 meters! The total area covers 11,520 square meters and new calculations, have now pushed it in front of Saint Paul's in London and Saint Peter's in Rome, as the largest church in the WORLD and the third largest cathedral in the world!

here is a picture of the outside, obviously i couldn't get the entire cathedral in one shot!

the entrance to the cathedral. 

the tomb of CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS!!!  

The next two pictures are of the altar. It is the largest and richest altarpiece in the entire world. The lifetimes work of a single craftsman, Pierre Dancar, comprised 45 carved scenes from the life of Christ. This is the ultimate masterpiece of the Cathedral and is also considered to be one of the finest examples of Gothic woodcarving anywhere. 

After the Cathedral we had some free time to do what we please. Here are some pictures of the streets of Sevilla. 

Of course, we had to make a stop at Starbucks. 

Having been to Sevilla for the past couple weekends, Allison and I wanted to go walk by the river again. So Amanda, Allison, and I did just that. As we were walking along we saw people paddle boating and we obviously had to do that. 

allison, amanda, me. 

me.

were pretty sure that someone was living under this bridge. 

here is the path along the river...imagine this with flowers..

Puerta de León.

farther away view of the cathedral. 

me.

here is the plaza that the cathedral is in. 

there were horse carriages and amanda started feeding them her apple.

 tree.