Trip Report
Chapter 4
The Tour
Lisbon, Seville, Cordoba
Lisbon Arrival: Wednesday, October 12
As mentioned previously, our flight from Barcelona to Lisbon was about 45 minutes late and the “first class” seats were certainly not what we call first class, but other than that it was a good flight.
Close to Lisbon, where the Tagus river empties into the Atlantic
We had some nice views as we approached the city of Lisbon. In the photo above, Lisbon would be on the far side of the river and a little out of the photo to the right. Although we didn’t know it at the time, we also got some good views of several sites we would visit over the next several days.
There were several interesting sights along the waterfront.
We landed, claimed our luggage (no customs/immigration since we were traveling between EU countries) and found the greeter for our transfer to the hotel. He got us to the small van (we were the only passengers) which would take us to our hotel, the Lisbon Lumen hotel. We were here a day prior to the official start of our tour so perhaps that is why we got a very nice room, at least as far as its location was concerned. It was a nice room and had a small balcony that looked out over an open area that was surrounded by large walls. This was significant because one “feature” of this hotel was its nightly “Light Show” and our balcony gave us a ring-side seat.
After settling into our room, we headed out for a walk and soon found some of the monuments we would visit the next few days as well as the Avenue da Liberdade (Liberty Avenue), a wide pedestrian plus vehicle avenue with lots of trees and artwork. After a good walk, we decided to call it an early evening and found a surprisingly good little restaurant almost across the street from the hotel. This evening, for some reason, there were two performances of the daily light show, so we got a good look. You can get an idea of the light show from the photo below, or even better, from this short video sample.
All the walls are actually white: color and designs are from the light show.
Lisbon: Thursday, October 13
The first thing we were scheduled to do was to have a tour group meeting at 6:00 PM, so we had all day to explore. Of course, we took another walk. We headed back over to the large round-about with the statue we had seen the day before and looked a little closer. The statue was of Marques do Pompal, the ruler of Portugal from 1750 - 1777 who was very revered as the “rebuilder” of Lisbon after a devastating earthquake and resulting fires in 1755. The city was essentially destroyed and the Marquis do Pombal led the effort to rebuild Lisbon in a new, more modern style which was very successful. Many of those buildings are still standing and in use today.
Notice the lion at the Marquis’ feet, suggesting his bravery and strength.
You can’t see it in the photo above, but there is a square (Marquis do Pombal Square) and a large round-about around the statue with a lot of traffic going around it. Speaking of the roundabout, I saw something in Portugal and Spain that I had not noticed elsewhere: the larger/busier round-abouts had had traffic lights controlling the entry into the round-about. To me, this negated some of the advantages of the round-about, but perhaps they had gotten so big/busy that some additional control was necessary.
From the Marquis do Pombal square, we headed south along the “Avenida da Liberdade” (Liberty Avenue), one of the largest and busiest avenues in Lisbon.
Notice the extensive tile artwork in the walkway.
Despite the avenue being busy, it was a very pleasant place to walk since the walkway was wide and well separated from the vehicle roadway. For much of the distance, there was a walkway “paved” with tilework of many different designs. No plain concrete sidewalk for this avenue! The main part of the avenue was a little over a mile long with this section terminating in another square with another monument in the center. The Liberty Avenue continued in a smaller version and without trees on past this square, about another mile to the waterfront area, but we did not explore any further.
Restorers Square is lined with historic and interesting buildings.
The “Prace dos Restauradores” or Restorers Square in one of central Lisbon’s more interesting plazas with its collection of ornate and art deco buildings. The obelisk in the center is the Restauradores obelisk which commemorates the independence of Portugal from Spain. The pink building is the fancy Palacio Foz and just beyond it is the art deco Eden Theater, which has been transformed into an exclusive hotel.
After looking around this square for a while, we headed back up Liberty avenue, toward Marquis do Pombal Square and the large open park beyond. It might help here to provide an aerial view of the area (courtesy of Google Earth) so you can better picture the positioning of the various landmarks.
Eduardo VII Park, Marquis do Pombal Square, Liberty Avenue
In the aerial view above, Marquis do Pombal Square is almost in the center, with the monument in the middle of the circle. Eduardo VII park (to be discussed next) goes out toward the upper left and Liberty Avenue leads to the lower right. The Lumen hotel was just a little out of the view to the upper right.
Looking up the grounds of Eduardo VII park
We circled around Marquis do Pombal Square and entered the large park just on the other side. This park is named Eduardo VII park for King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, who visited Portugal in 1903 to strengthen relations between the two countries and reaffirm the UK – Portuguese Alliance. Prior to Edward’s visit, the park was called Parque da Liberdade (Liberty Park). In 1945 Portuguese architect Francisco Keil do Amaral redesigned the park to its current configuration. Between the tree lined avenues and the several large parks in Lisbon, there is a wealth of open, green space. For a better idea of the extent of this park, check this video which starts at the top of the park and ends looking at Marquis do Pombal Square and Liberty avenue in the distance.
We wandered around the neighborhood a little more and finally headed back to our hotel for a light lunch and quiet afternoon. We did check out the rooftop pool area at the hotel and rested there for a while.
Rooftop pool area at the Lumen
At 6:00 we went to the hotel lobby where we were to meet Andrea, our tour manager, and the rest of the tour group. Everyone grabbed a glass of wine and settled in to hear Andrea explain many points of the tour and how things were going to work. He seemed very friendly and certainly knowledgeable as a native of Portugal who has be leading tours for over 20 years. I decided we would be in good hands.
Andrea, standing on the right.
He had everyone introduce themselves and where they were from and we had a good representation from all over the USA. Although several members were originally from somewhere else, everyone lives in the US now. After the meeting and getting instructions for the next morning, we all headed to the hotel restaurant for the included “Welcome Dinner”.
Part of the buffet in the restaurant
The restaurant put out a fairly good selection of foods and the quality was good. The service was a bit spotty but that might have been because the 29 of us descended on the restaurant at one time, probably overloading their staff. After dinner we looked around the hotel a little with some of the other tour members (they did not know about the nightly light show) and then called it a night.
Lisbon and Sintra: Friday, October 14
In the morning, we headed to the Lumen restaurant for a leisurely breakfast, then joined the rest of the tour group at 9:00 to board the bus and start our tour. Our first stop was somewhat familiar to Susan and I: we were back to the Eduardo VII park, but this time we were at the other end of it. Although the day was a bit hazy, we did have a good view from here.
Once again, Eduardo VII park, Marquis do Pombal Square, and Liberty Avenue
We were on what is called the “Viewing Platform” where we had that good view of the park and beyond, as well as several statutes and monuments at this end of the park. Probably the most significant monument was a somewhat abstract piece of art that is called the “April 25 Monument”. The significance is that April 25, 1974 is the date of the bloodless revolution that signaled the end of the Portugal dictatorship and the beginning of democratic rule. Our local guide admitted to not understanding the significance of the actual artwork as it related to the historical events. I asked him if he knew what the significance was of the fact that the moon was directly over the peak of the monument. (Look closely at the photo below.) He looked, saw the moon over the monument and was at first at a bit of a loss for words, then realized that I was joking just a bit.
The 25th of April memorial, with the moon directly overhead.
After getting some more of the history of Eduardo VII, the Marquis do Pombal, and the reasons for the park and monument, we got back on the bus, drove down to and around the Marquis do Pombal square round-about, and then on down Liberty Avenue. The guide pointed out one factor that we had noticed when walking the avenue: just about every luxury or high-cost shop or product was represented on this avenue. Cartier, Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and many others of the ilk are represented here.
We continued on down Liberty Avenus, past the Restorers Square, and on down to the river front where we stopped and unloaded from the bus for a walk to the Lisbon Cathedral, a couple of blocks from the waterfront. As we approached the cathedral, it certainly was not as big and impressive as some cathedrals we have seen (or would see on this tour) but it is the oldest church in the city, having been built in 1147. It has been added to and renovated several times so is now somewhat of a mix of architectural styles, but it is still amazing to me that anything like that could be built 875 years ago.
Not as ornate as some, but still impressive
Back in the bus, we rode along the waterfront for a while, heading mostly west, toward the Atlantic ocean. We passed under the main bridge crossing the Tagus river called the “April 25 Bridge”. Does that name sound familiar. Also visible across the river, and past the bridge in the photo below, is the “Sanctuary Christ the King” statue. It was completed in 1959 and was largely inspired when Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon visited Rio de Janerio and saw the “Christ the Redeemer” statue overlooking that city. We will be crossing that bridge the next day.
April 25 Bridge and Sanctuary of Christ the King statue
The Tower of St Vincent, commonly called the Belem Tower because it is in the community of Belem, resembles a small fort but was apparently never used in a military manner. It was completed in 1519 and served as a primary embarking and disembarking point for ships traveling to and from Lisbon. It was in service in this manner during the great period of exploration seeing many of the famous explorers pass through its doors. Because of this use, it became known as the Gateway to Lisbon, and Lisbon was an important port for the exploration of the New World.
Torre de Belem: Tower of Belem
Around the area of the tower was a popular park and several other reminders of Portugal’s interesting past. One interesting monument to me was a replica of an old bi-wing airplane.
The monument is an exact replica of the ‘Santa Cruz’ Fairey bi-plane flown by Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral in an historic transatlantic flight. What is most interesting is that it is located at the almost exact place where they took off from. Coutinho and Cabral were the first pilots to fly the 8,400km across the South Atlantic Ocean. At one point a storm forced them to ditch into the ocean, they had to change planes so it was not until 79 days later that they would reach Rio de Janeiro. There was a map of their flight at the base of the monument and their flight required something like 10 or 12 “hops” to complete.
In the middle of the park was a ticket booth that was unusual in that it was covered with mirrors (clean mirrors) on the outside. I couldn’t resist the opportunity so Susan and I stood in front of the mirrors while I took a photo of our reflection in the mirror.
It worked better than I expected.
Another short ride back up along waterfront and we arrived at the “Monument of the Discoveries”. It was constructed in 1960 and is intended to celebrate the explorations and discoveries of the early explorers.
I thought it appropriate to view the monument through a forest of sailboat masts.
For some years after its completion, it was largely ignored until some support structures and facilities were completed in 1984 when the monument and area became much more popular. The main part of the monument is intended to resemble a sail with the figures lining the sides of a boat, looking ahead and out to sea.
Well, it looks a little like a sail and the bow of a boat.
The figures are supposed to represent (and even resemble) many of the explorers of the time who were either from Portugal, or had some kind of connection to Portugal. Some of the explorers represented are Henry the Navigator (at the very bow), Vasco de Gama, Fernando Magellan, King Afonso V, and the only woman represented, Philippa of Lancaster.
Sixteen figures on the other side, fifteen on this side
After looking at the monument and other nearby points of interest (including a large inlaid stone map of the world), we boarded the bus and headed toward our next destination, the waterfront town of Cascais. The town of Cascais is a few miles west of Lisbon, closer to the Atlantic Ocean.
A well-kept street entering Cascais
Cascais is on a little bay and has a nice sandy beach as well as a good sized marina for private boats. When we arrived and walked into the town, it at first seemed very quiet, but as we got close to the beach area, it was obvious that something out of the ordinary was going on. There were people milling about, many of them wearing biking outfits or rolling (expensive looking) bicycles. We assumed there was some kind of race, and soon came across a bit of an unusual sign that suggested we were right. There was to be an Ironman Triathlon the next day (Saturday) and we were witnessing the preparations and practice. Keep in mind that an Ironman Triathlon means swimming 2.4 miles, biking 112 miles, and running 26.2 miles, and there were a lot of people getting ready to do it.
The ”Poster” for the Triathlon
One interesting thing was the sign/poster itself, in the photo above. The “picture” in the poster above is actually a hole cut in the post, so the beach scene you see is effectively “live”. That was what the beach looked like at the instant I took the photo.
We certainly were not going to participate in the Triathlon, so we looked around a little, including a fort at the point that made the bay. There was also the marina right in front of the fort, as well as the statute of Don Carlos I, king of Portugal (1889 – 1908). It is said that Don Carlos loved the beauty of Cascais and went there often, making it popular as a tourist destination.
Citadel de Cascais and King Don Carlos I
The visit to Cascais was the end of the normal/included tours for the day. There was an optional tour that included the village of Sintra for anyone who signed up for it and anyone else would be dropped of back at the hotel. But, in our case, everyone had signed up for this optional tour, so we all headed for Sintra, a small village about 15 miles NW of Lisbon.
The western most point of continental Europe.
On the way to Sintra we traveled a road that led along the Atlantic coast of Portugal. At one point our local guide pointed to a outcropping of land and said it was the westernmost point of land in continental Europe. So, now we can say that we have seen the westernmost land in Europe, even if we did not actually stand on it. When we arrived in Sintra, the National Palace was easily identified by the two large chimneys that come up out of the kitchen area.
The ceiling was mostly ceramics.
The National Palace of Sintra is primarily known for its tilework and ceramics. Practically every wall, and some ceilings and floors, had tile/ceramics of some kind. We went from room to room and there were ceramics or other kinds of tiles everywhere.
Ceramics in the walls and as decorations
One room was a very large one with tiles/ceramics showing scenes from the surrounding countryside. This was one of the rooms that featured tile ceilings, as well as walls, as seen in this video. After touring the palace, we had about an hour of free time to look around the village and perhaps purchase some souvenirs. Rather than spending money, we got some exercise going up the rather steep pedestrian streets of Sintra. There were plenty of shops and small restaurants lining the streets.
One of the streets with vendors
One of the things that we got a bit of a chuckle out of was the building in the photo below. Can you guess why?
Notice the person in the left-most 2nd floor window.
I had seen this same decoration before, with pictures of famous people in the windows, but this one was a bit more serious and meaningful. You can probably recognize many of the people in the windows and you might also now recognize the person in the 2nd floor, left-most window as Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine. The interesting part is that, according to our guide, until about two months previous to our visit, the person in that window was Vladimir Putin. We all agreed that was a very appropriate change.
On the way back to Lisbon we passed close to the Lisbon Aqueduct. Unlike some other very old aqueducts in Europe, this one was not built by the Romans. (I don’t believe they came or did much this far east in the Iberian peninsula.) This aqueduct was built in the early 1700s and continued to carry water to Lisbon until the 1960s. People can now walk on sections of the aqueduct.
The Lisbon aqueduct still looks pretty good for 300 years old.
By the time we got back to the hotel, we rested a little while and then had a light dinner of leftover cheeses, ham/sausage, and a bottle of wine we picked up at a local store. In general, wine prices were very reasonable, but there was a very limited selection of wines from outside of Portugal and Spain. We watched part of the Hotel Lumen light show and called it a night.
Seville: Saturday, October 15
Today would be mainly a day of travel… riding in the bus, in other words. We checked out of the hotel and loaded into the bus. I’ll mention here that Andrea had instituted a rotating seat assignment scheme, so that we changed seats each day. This way, no one could monopolize the “good seats”. Of course, there was always some confusion over “where are we sitting today” and problems “locating” the proper seats since there were no numbers on the seats/rows: we had to count the rows from the front on either the driver side or the passenger side. It soon became a bit of a joke among most of us; a number of people just moved to the unassigned seats in the rear of the bus so they did not have to worry about it.
We were heading to Seville but would have a stop or two along the way. The first few miles were familiar territory as we drove through Lisbon and toward the “25th of April Bridge” that we had seen the previous day, but this time we were looking in the opposite direction.
Crossing the Tagus river: can you find “The Discoveries” monument and Tower of Belem?
We said “Good-Bye” to Lisbon and headed mostly southeast toward the boarder with Spain and then Seville, our destination for the day. Along this part of Portugal (and soon in Spain) one of the primary agricultural crops is tree bark: Cork, to be exact. As we went past rather unorganized groves of Cork Oaks (an evergreen variety of Oak) we could see where the bark had been stripped from some of the trees. It can take as long as 25 years for a cork tree to become productive and then the cork bark can only be harvested about once every seven years. You have to be patient to be a cork farmer.
While the bus could go all day before needing to stop for fuel, most passengers only have a “bladder endurance” of about two hours, so we made a “comfort stop” after riding for a while. All of the “rest stops” we visited on our trip were clean and well cared for, and most offered some kind of specialty for sale that was interesting to look at. A little further on we visited several rest stops that offered many kinds of Olive Oil. This first stop, however, was pretty straightforward, but it did have some pretty flowers in the parking area.
Just a few of the flowers at this rest stop
Our next stop was timed to coincide with lunch time. The village of Tavira provided a very nice stop and some interesting foods. First, a little background….. Several days previously, I believe when we were in Mallorca, our guide had talked about one of the traditional local foods was Prawns (large shrimp). We had looked for them that day, but ran out of time before finding them. On the trip today Andrea had gone on a bit about Spainsh “Black Pigs” which are raised in this area and are said to be very lean with a very good flavor. Remember those two food items.
The bus was parked on the edge of town and we walked a short distance to where the restaurants and shops were located. We noticed that the water in the river looked a bit low and Andrea confirmed that the area was experiencing a very serious drought.
You can see the effects of the drought on the river.
We walked down the street fronting the river looking for a promising restaurant with seats available and found one that was just opening up. One item on the menu, skewers with prawns and black pig pork, sealed the deal. Susan was smart and just ordered a salad, but of course I had to try the prawns and black pig. I won’t say that I made a mistake, but it did turn out to be a challenge.
Can you find the prawns and pork chunks on the skewer?
The prawns were huge, although they were mostly head and tail, so there was not that much edible “meat” for me. The Black Pig pork was good, but a bit overcooked, even for pork, so a bit too dry. But, now I can say that I did have Spanish prawns and black pig. As you might guess from the photo above, I did have plenty to eat, even if I did get Susan to help a little.
After lunch, we loaded back into the bus and headed toward Spain, crossing the border a short time later.
Portugal had a nice “Good-by” sign, but I didn’t see a welcome to Spain sign.
Andrea gave us a good count-down as we were about to enter Spain, as you can see in this video. We continued on and arrived at our hotel in Seville by late afternoon. We got checked in at the NH Hotel and Susan and I went for a walk to stretch our legs after sitting most of the day.
This evening we had a group dinner at a local restaurant. The dinner was fine, although as before, I think our group of 30 arriving at one time tended to overwhelm the service and kitchen staff. Most of our group had signed up for an optional Flamenco show after dinner, so we headed there in the bus. There was another Gate-1 tour group there also and we were all seated close to the stage. We were asked/told to not take photos/video during the main show and that there would be a chance for photos at the end of the show. The dancing and music were good and I’m sure authentic. When the musicians started to sing, it sure sounded to me like a Muslim call to prayer: it was rather strange.
Now we were allowed to take photos.
At the end of the performance the lights were turned up a little and the dancers all performed short demonstrations of Flamenco style dancing. Here is a composite video of several of the dancers routines. Then the dancers and musicians all took the stage for one last bow and a few “Ole’”s.
One last bow for the dancers
As we filed out of the Flamenco theater, we noticed a fairly large and ornate building adjacent to the theater: Andrea told us this was the old Seville Bull Ring. We saw bull rings in several cities but bull fighting is now politically incorrect and seldom done. It appeared that there are a couple of bull rings that hold bull fights two or three times a year, and some of the fights are somewhat tamed-down.
Outside of the Seville Bull Ring
Church bell tower across the Guadalquivir river from the bull ring.
We had to wait a while for our bus to appear so we looked around the greenway that runs along the Guadalquivir River, which runs through the middle of Seville. The Guadalquivir River is the only navigable river in Spain. We were soon back at out hotel for a good night’s sleep.
Seville and Cordoba: Sunday, Oct 16
We’re in Seville, Spain and today we would be taking two different excursions. In the morning we will travel to Cordoba to see the Mosque-Cathedral and look around part of the city. Then, in the afternoon, we’ll have a tour of Seville, including a look at the Spanish Plaza and the Cathedral of Seville.
First is the visit to Cordoba, and that requires a 45 minute bus ride to get there. A short walk from the bus park gets us to the large mosque-cathedral.
Mosque – Cathedral on the left: The “Triumph of Saint Rafael of the Bridge Gate” in the middle.
The monument to Saint Rafael occupies a prominent place near the Mosque-Cathedral. Apparently, there are many monuments to Saint Rafael here in Cordoba, but I never really saw a reason why: perhaps some kind of patron saint, or something such. The primary building of interest in Cordoba is the Mosque-Cathedral. The full name would be something like the “Great Mosque of Cordoba” and the “Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption”. From what I had heard before our visit, I knew it would be large, but I ended up truly amazed at the size and elegance of the building.
One of the earlier built sections of the Mosque-Cathedral
Besides the size of the building, the history of its origins makes it very interesting because it was built in phases over hundreds of years. The Moors invaded what is now Spain and took over its control in 711 and in 785 the Mosque was built on the orders of Abd ar-Rahman I, the Moor ruler of that region, and was intended to be a celebration to his wealth and power. Over the following several centuries, the successors of Abd ar-Rahman I came into power and each of them felt it necessary to add to the mosque to demonstrate their even greater wealth and power. This resulted in four major phases in the construction of the mosque, although the last Moorish addition was done during a period of declining Moorish power and it had to employ some cost-saving short cuts. For example, the arches over the earlier columns were decorated in red and cream by using different colored stone whereas the final Moorish addition used plane stone with cream and red paint.
When the Christian forces of Castile captured the mosque in 1236, the mosque was converted to a cathedral with very few initial changes. Over time, many changes have introduced numerous Christian characteristics, but you can still see the Moorish features. Of course, the Christians also had to add to the building to demonstrate their belief in the Christian faith over the Muslim.
The Christian nave and main altar was added in the 16th century.
It is actually fairly easy to identify many of the Christian changes because Muslims never show depictions of people within a mosque, but Christians usually have many monuments and paintings that feature people from the bible. So, when you see any feature that includes a human figure, you know that was added under Christian control. Here is video look at that altar and the ceiling overhead.
The arches and various “hallways” seemed to go on forever.
The building seemed to go on forever. From the center section you could look in every direction and see something like the view in the photo above. Perhaps this video will give you a feel for how large the building looked when just standing in one place.
One of the ornate but very Moorish features in the Mosque-Cathedral
Beside the sheer size of the building, there were, of course, many impressive statues, lots of artwork, and sculptures with some of them including large amounts of gold and silver. One room we were guided through had multiple large ornamental pieces with some of them behind protective glass.
One of the larger pieces, featuring intricate details and lots of gold
Our local guide led us around the mosque-cathedral, in different rooms displaying the artifacts until I was thoroughly lost. After a while, every way I turned, it looked the same, about like the photo below.
One of the newer sections, with painted red and white arches
I could not find any information on the actual size of the main building, but I would estimate that it had to be at least five acres under one roof and perhaps as much as 10 acres. I was a bit relieved when our guide led us out of the building, as I was not at all sure I could find my own way out very quickly.
After leaving the mosque-cathedral, our guide led us around the old city of Cordoba for a while, pointing out places of interest as we wandered through the narrow streets lined with lots of shops and small restaurants.
One of the streets with shops and restaurants
We stopped and visited a couple of interesting buildings, such as a old palace/hacienda which featured a nice courtyard in the middle. Such courtyards were frequent features of the larger haciendas because Cordoba gets very hot in the summer. The courtyard helped keep the building cooler and provided a comfortable place to rest in the evenings.
A large hacienda with a nice courtyard
In contrast to the Mosque-Cathedral with Moorish and Christian backgrounds, there was also a significant Jewish community in the old city. We visited a Synagogue that was build after Christians had regained control of the region, but it still exhibited significant Moorish architecture features. The craftsmen who designed and built the synagogue had learned the Moorish techniques from their predecessors and continued to utilize them.
Jewish Synagogue with Moorish features
We continued our tour of the old city of Cordoba until we received the sign that it was time to leave.
When a Black Cat crossed our path, we decided it was time to leave.
As to that “black cat” story above… not really, but it makes a good tale.
We loaded back in the bus and headed back to Seville for our city tour there.
We rode back to the hotel and picked up the rest of the tour group; the ones who had not taken the optional Cordoba tour. We would have two primary destinations this afternoon: the “Plaza de Espana” and the Seville Cathedral. The subject of the Plaza of Spain really brings out another related and major topic, the Ibero-American exhibition in 1929.
The “Plaza de Espana”, built for the 1929 Ibero-American exhibition.
The exhibition was intended to solidify relationships between Spain and the countries in the Americas. Spain, and Seville in particular, hosted the exhibition by building many facilities, such as the plaza. Numerous other countries built significant structure in Seville to host their participation. We would see many of the “leftovers” from the exhibition during our stay in Seville and many of them had been renovated and repurposed for use by the city administration, schools/universities, and museums.
Of all the facilities built for the 1929 exhibition, the Plaze de Espana has to be the grandest, and it is quite grand. Although the photo above gives a good view of much of the plaza, this video shows a bit more of it. You can’t see a lot of it in the photos/video, but there was a lot of activity in the center of the plaza dismantling stages, equipment, and bleachers, where a major music festival had been held the previous day and evening.
One of the alcoves celebrating a Spanish region in ceramics
One interesting feature of the building encircling the plaza is the numerous alcoves decorated with information and history of the several Spanish Regions and cities. Each alcove had a wall decoration and one on the ground, both done in ceramic tile and each representing a region or city. The alcove in the photo above is for Seville itself.
Note the regional alcoves and the figures above the columns, all done in ceramic tile.
Now you know what to look for, you can spot a number of the alcoves in the photo above, but this was less than about 20% of the total number. Also in the photo above, you can see the heads of famous (or sometimes, infamous) Spanish people. Unfortunately, about the time that the exhibition was taking place, the economies of the major countries of the world were crashing so it is doubtful that the exhibition achieved its goals.
After taking a good look at the plaza and its buildings, we headed to the Seville Cathedral.
The bell tower of the Seville Cathedral (we will come back to this later).
The Silver Altar The main nave (42 M high)
The cathedral is said to be one of the five largest churches in the world (there is apparently some discussion of the exact sizes and, therefore, order of the churches). It was started in 1434 and finished in 1506, replacing the former church which was a “Christianized mosque” from the original Almohad mosque. When it was built, Seville was a busy and wealthy city and the city fathers wanted to show off the city’s wealth and power. There are several altars, with the Silver Altar being the most impressive one I saw. The choir had many huge carved chairs and decorations, and the altar across from it (below) featured a large wall of intricately carved wood.
Another altar, surrounded by carved wood instead of gold or silver
But one of the most interesting stories to be told inside the cathedral was the “tomb” of Christopher Columbus. Well, not exactly a tomb, and therein lies the story. At the time of his death in 1506, Columbus was out of favor with Queen Isabella I, reportedly because she believed he had mistreated some of the natives he had encountered in the new world. So, she banished his remains from Spain and said he could never be buried in a Spanish church. His remains spent a few years in Seville and then were moved to what is now the Dominican Republic, where they rested several centuries until Spain lost control of the country and Columbus was moved to Havana, Cuba in 1795. When Spain lost control of Cuba in the Spanish-American war, he was moved back to Seville where a resting place was made for him. Queen Isabella said he could not be buried in a Spanish church, so he remains in a elaborate coffin that is born by four figures representing the four kingdoms of Spain during his life. So, Christopher Columbus is not buried in a Spanish church, but he does rest there.
Christopher Columbus’s casket born by the four figures.
At the end of our cathedral visit, our local guide said that we had about 20 minutes to look around before time to get on the bus and return to the hotel. She had mentioned that we could climb the bell tower if we wanted to and there was a good view to be had from there. The climb consisted of 37 “flights” consisting of ramps going up the tower. The explanation for the ramps instead of stairs was, true or not, that the bell ringer did not want to walk up the steps the four times a day his job required. Instead, the ramps were installed so that the bell ringer could ride a donkey up the ramps of the tower.
Remember the bull ring we were in front of the previous night? There it is.
Of course, Susan and I took this as a challenge and we headed up the tower. We got to the top with no real problem and took a few minutes to look out each side of the tower. One of the more interesting views included the bull ring which we had stood in front of the previous night.
Back at the hotel, we had a little problem finding a restaurant to eat at. There were only a couple of restaurants close to the hotel and almost all of them did not open until 8:00PM but we didn’t want to wait that long. We did find sort of a coffee/sandwich shop that turned out to work well.
End of Chapter 4
We say good-bye to Seville and continue our tour.
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