The Alcázar is the royal palace of Seville, renowned as one of the most beautiful buildings
in Spain.
There was previously a Muslim fortress on this site about 1,000 years ago, which was
entirely rebuilt in the 1300s and 1400s after the reconquest of Spain.
Today the Alcázar is an outstanding example of mudéjar architecture, which is that special
blend of Muslim and Spanish styles that displays very elaborate ornamentation.
For the next several hundred years the complex expanded and grew into one of the grandest
palaces in Europe.
Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, it is one of the most popular attractions
in Spain and a must-see while you are in Seville.
The visit includes the Alcázar gardens with their labyrinths of flower-lined walks, and
glorious date-palms, bananas, orange tress and citron groves.
It really is a pleasing spot within the palace enclosure.
The Alcázar is situated just next to the Cathedral so it is very easy to find.
We walked through the Alcázar with a local guide, which is always a great way to learn
more about a place – you don’t have to go fumbling for books or walking through without
understanding what you’re looking at.
Let’s listen in for a minute.
Guide: “We are inside the Alcázar, sometimes it is called Reales Alcázares.
The word Alcázar is an Arabic word that means Royal Palace.
We are now in the oldest Royal Palace of Europe which is still in use.
Since the 13th century until nowadays this has always been the official residence of
the Royal family of Spain, here in Seville, in Andalucia.
This is the courtyard from where we can see the several buildings that we have over here:
Gothic Palace, that was the first Palace built by the Christians when they came to Seville,
shortly after the reconquest of Seville.
Then we have the Palacio Mudéjar which was built in the 14th century.
That is the most important one.
And that is the Casa de la Contratación, built in the 16th century.”
The name means "House of Trade" for this building was the main headquarters in Spain for bringing
all the goods and treasures from the New World, which had just been discovered.
This Casa de la Contratación was opened in 1503 and it performed the task of the receipt
of the goods, and technical and judicial activities related to it, including settling lawsuits
between traders and other kinds of government functions that it continued overseeing for
the next 300 years out of this building and what had been vast warehouses all around it.
Now it's a museum as is the rest of the Alcázar that we will be now walking through.
The Alcázar, or “Royal Palace,” was first built as a smaller fortress by the Moors from
the year 913, then enlarged by their Spanish successors.
It is still used occasionally by the royal family.
In 1364 King Pedro I began construction of what would continue growing over the centuries
into one of the most important palaces in Europe, further expanded by Ferdinand and
Isabella, who used it as headquarters for their conquest of the New World, and later
altered by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. It is definitely worth paying the admission
to visit inside this gorgeous palace, preferably with a local guide who can tell you all about
it.
This Doll’s Court is named for these two human figures, which is a rare example in
the otherwise geometric motif.
You then walk through the most beautiful Moorish arches in the entire palace on your way to
the most important room of all, the Hall of the Ambassadors.
This Salón de los Ambajadores is the finest apartment in the palace.
The magnificent half-orange ceiling of carved wood rests on a frieze decorated with the
tower and the lion.
The hall is about 33 square feet and shows a splendid combination of various styles of
Gothic and Renaissance.
The ornamentation is rich and almost beyond the possibility of description – you have
to be here really to experience it.
Most of the ceilings are carved in dark wood in a similar style, some of which looks like
fine lace, especially in the gilded dome of the Ambassador’s Hall built in 1427.
There are chapels and audience rooms and private living areas for the royal family, connected
by chambers, short hallways and small gardens.
The rooms are decorated with elaborate, detailed carvings that cover nearly every square inch
of wall and ceiling.
The mostly geometric and floral patterns are done in the Mudéjar style, meaning it was
created by Muslim craftsmen with their traditional techniques, but during the Christian period.
Muslim decorations generally do not depict any living creatures -- they are mostly geometric
motifs.
Many of the rooms are built around spectacular courtyards, in the Mediterranean tradition.
A typical courtyard is carefully composed of basic elements that work together in creating
a harmonious space, insulated from outside noises by the surrounding walls and often
with a lush garden and fountain in the center.
Most ornamentations throughout the palace are stucco, which is made of plaster mixed
with marble dust and set in place to partially dry but not completely harden, so it could
be easily shaped with hammer and chisel.
The design was planned in advance, then applied to the pliable surface to form a relief sculpture
that would later harden and last for the ages.
The burble of water not only provides a welcome, cool visual relief in this sometimes hot environment,
but creates a relaxing sound that mesmerizes you into a peaceful mood.
Birds chirping amongst the luxuriant vegetation add another dimension to the calm atmosphere.
The gardens are a most pleasing spot within the enclosure.
They form a delicious presence, where the orange and citron diffuse their fragrance,
and magic fountains spring up suddenly beneath the traveler’s feet, sprinkling with a cooling
dew.
The gardens actually open up earlier than the palace, so if you are up first thing in
the day and you want to get a head start, take a walk in the gardens and then you can
be first in line for entering the Alcázar Palace.
And then you can walk up steps to the second level, which gives you a beautiful panorama
view over the gardens as you stroll along through the arcaded hallway.
Parts of the second floor are still utilized by the royal family today as their private
residence and official rooms for functions.
The lush gardens behind the Alcázar Palace offer a serene, green oasis of terraces, fountains,
flowers and exotic trees connected by a series of long walkways, with benches for you to
relax on while enjoying the views.
You could spend a couple of hours strolling through this verdant mix of Moorish, Renaissance
and 19th century landscape architecture.
The gardens do open earlier than the palace, so you could start your visit here ot save
it for the end and enjoy the gardens on your way out.
GUIDE: “We are going to see several trees like this one.
This is a kapok tree, similar to the cotton, and it has these beautiful flowers, and they
flower now at this time of the year, at the very end of the summer.”
Alcázar is an Arab word meaning “fortress” but this sprawling complex obviously became
more of a pleasure palace than a military installation.
King Pedro brought in Moorish craftsmen from Muslim-occupied Granada, who applied many
of the same techniques they used in construction of the Alhambra.
The surviving section of Pedro’s original palace is one of the finest examples of Mudéjar
architecture still surviving in Spain.
When finished with the palace and gardens, walk across the plaza for a visit to the other
most important site in town.
In the next segment we will take you into Seville’s crowning glory, the world’s
largest Gothic Cathedral.
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