After
our night at the Flamenco club, we had a slow start. Our
plan was visit the Plaza Espania and the Cathedral de Sevilla.
The photos below are what we saw.
We
decided walk to Plaza Espania. Our first stop was the Rio
Guadalquivir channel just south of the hotel. From one of
the bridges that crosses the river, we could see tour boats,
kayakers and other small boats. The large building was not
marked on our maps, but is clearly a recent addition to the
Sevilla skyline.
Springtime
brings out the flowers (and the sneezes). These trees
produced beautiful purple blossoms.
The
bougainvillea was in bloom as well with a massive array of great
flowers.
A modern
sculpture near the waterfront.
One of the bridges that crosses the Rio Guadalquivir.
A spiral
walkway that goes from street level to the river level.
This is
the "Torre del Oro" which is a tower that was used to monitor
ship traffic on the river.
On the other side of the Rio Guadalquivir were modern buildings with signage for some of the iconic companies. Cruzcampo is a local beer, Tio Pepe is a kind of sherry and Diario de Sevilla is the local daily newspaper.
On the
river-front walkway was a tile map of the south west portion of
Spain.
From the
river walk, we crossed the main street over to the Plaza
Espania. In the roundabout, we passed this large fountain.
Plaza
Espania (yep, I know it should have a tilde over the n but my
keyboard is not worthy) is huge. There were boatloads of
folks walking around. Note the horse drawn carriage and
the Segways.
A
substantial portion of the plaza had stone inlays with colored
cobbles.
There
was a canal that circled a portion of the plaza with boats for
rent; one of the bridges that cross the canal is visible in the
lower part of the photo above. The buildings houses
government offices and has intricate tile walls in the alcoves.
Note the
Moorish influence in the tile above the arch.
The
ceiling over the walkways had ornate tile inlays.
The
towers at either end of the plaza were tall and ornate with
multiple domes and walkways.
We left
the plaza and headed toward the cathedral. Along the
boulevard we passed another interesting fountain.
This
setup is interesting. The trolley appears to be battery
powered. When it pulls into the stops, it raises its
connector and connects to the power grid and charges the
batteries while stopped. Then the connector is retracted
and the trolley rolls on to the next station using batter power.
A view
of only a small portion of the Catedral de Sevilla. The
Catedral de Sevilla is claimed to be the largest Gothic
cathedral in the world and the 3rd largest cathedral of any
style after the Vatican and St. Paul's in London. This is
a big, big structure.
The
entrance to the cathedral had a replica of the statue that is on
the top of the tower at the cathedral.
The
entrance to the cathedral had ornate carvings in the Gothic
style. The column of carvings to the left of center in the
photo above were gargoyles.
The
cathedral allowed photos, but no flashes. So, the low
light made photos problematic. There were a number of good
stained glass panels, but photographing them was challenging due
to the high contrast. The glass was detailed.
The
columns that supported the arches were really huge, easy to
judge size using Steve as a comparison.
The
arches were over 100 feet tall, but the low light made photos
challenging. The carvings on the ceiling were very
intricate. Note the different colors of the arches.
This was due to the fact that different kinds of lights were
used (halogen vs. LED) and they have different color
temperatures. Digital cameras are quite sensitive to such
things, resulting in the different yellow versus white colors.
This wall was very
busy with lots of things going on. Plenty of polished
marble and gold gilt.
The carvings on the
wall were very ornate, but not as detailed as some of the art
we saw in the Alcazar.
The carvings that
surrounded the organ were large and detailed. This was a
huge organ which, of course, is always very popular with the
ladies.
Plaza Espania is a great place to visit. It is large and open with plenty to see. It is popular with the locals and tourists alike. The Catedral de Sevilla is a one-of-a-kind place and is a must-see if you are in the area.
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Photos and Text Copyright Bill Caid 2017, all rights
reserved.
For your enjoyment only, not for commercial use.