Today is Corpus Christi day and a day of celebration and
parades in Spain. We proceeded to the
Cathedral of Seville and stood among the crowds to watch the procession of the
various brotherhoods from the church carrying banners and floats of saints and
the virgin through the streets of old town Seville. 16 men maneuvered each float with the float positioned
on their heads and others located on the perimeter providing directions for
movement. We arrived about 9 am and
watched for about an hour before deciding to walk to other areas of the city. About the time we left a “military” group
arrived with their band section and guns/swords. Later we saw them playing and processing
through the streets. We walk to the back
section of the cathedral and were able to enter to get a brief view of the
interior, but unable to go further while the Corpus Christi mass was
occurring.
We then proceeded toward the Alcazar, which we returned to for
a tour in the afternoon, and walked on to the Spanish Square, which was
constructed for the 1929
Ibero-American Exposition. The huge half-circle
pavilion structure (Renaissance Revival style) at the Spanish
Square contains ceramic-tiled alcoves for the provinces of Spain to depict
their unique cultures. Four bridges
representing the ancient kingdoms of Spain span the moot to access the pavilion
from the main plaza, which contains a large fountain.
We then walked to the Guadalquivir River and cross over to
Triana on the Isabelle Bridge. Triana
contains numerous ceramic factories, but these were closed due to the Corpus
Christi holiday. There were a couple of
open shops that we visited and we stopped for a beer in the Triana market. Walking back over the Isabelle Bridge we met
up with the group for our 3 pm tour of the Alcázar, which is
the royal palace of the kings of Spain and is still in use today. It dates from the early middle ages and is
an excellent example of Mudéjar architecture. We entered through the Lion’s Gate and
proceeded to the main plaza with its view of the Palace façade and the House of
Trade on the right hand side of the plaza.
Within the House of Trade, Isabelle met with Columbus after his second
expedition to the Americas. Throughout
there are excellent examples of Moorish and mudéjar architecture. There are exquisite ceilings; one of which in
the “throne” room represents the sky.
There are fountains, a fish pond and beautiful gardens positioned
throughout the palace grounds. This link
shows the extensiveness and a map of the palace grounds. Being in the gardens was a nice respite from
the heat (40o C) of the afternoon.
Tomorrow we venture to Cordova, but don’t
leave until 11 am.
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