Seville is the greatest city of the Spanish south, and famous for its women (flamenco), oranges, colour and festivals. the Feria de Avril (April fair) was due to start and we watched the building of the main entrance, the Portada and the hundreds of individually decorated marquees. The city is big and colouful with largest cathedral in the world, Santa Maria de la Sede de Seville built in the 1400s; a huge Gothic medieval shipyard from the 13th century; Palace of San Telmo which started as an orphanage for children of Spanish sailors but ended up a palace; the ornate stone Royal Tobacco factory built in the 1750s was the second largest building in Spain and before it closed employed 4000 women and had a moat around it; and the Plaza de Espana, built in 1928 for the Iberian-American exposition, is a vast semicircular complex with fountains, monumental stairways and a mass of tilework.
However the bit we enjoyed the most was wandering through the old jewish quarter, the Barrio Santa Cruz with narrow tortuous streets, brilliantly whitewashed houses festooned wit flowering plants, little courtyards and plazas with gardens and tiled chairs, even a little spice shop.
However the bit we enjoyed the most was wandering through the old jewish quarter, the Barrio Santa Cruz with narrow tortuous streets, brilliantly whitewashed houses festooned wit flowering plants, little courtyards and plazas with gardens and tiled chairs, even a little spice shop.
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