The Maria Luisa Park area is a great place to start exploring Seville. Easily accessible by bus, the park is centrally located and within walking distance of other attractions in the area. As you are taking in the serenity of the park, be mindful of where you step! Horse drawn carriages frequent the area, and consequently, there are fresh surprises along some of the paths.
On the top of my list, the Plaza de Espana, which can be reached by walking through the Maria Luisa Park.
The Plaza de Espana was built for the Ibero-American Exhibition World Fair hosted by Spain in 1929. The plaza features an extensive, brick building encircling the plaza, with a lake in the center. Along the exterior of the building, the wall is broken up into 48 distinct sections of tiling and benches. Each of these 48 sections represent the provinces that make up Spain. The colorful tile work illustrates scenes depicting the province’s history.
In addition to the 1929 Exhibition and the housing of government offices, the plaza has also been the location of several films. You may recognize the distinct architecture of the plaza from scenes in Lawrence of Arabia and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
While in the plaza, I did come across vendors selling all sorts of souvenirs: fans, castanets, drums. I also saw a few fellow tourists approached by Gypsy women, offering a small branch of rosemary or heather. It is important to note that this plant offering is NOT free! A lady in the plaza, not too far from me, learned this the hard way. A young woman, carrying a handful of leafy plant, offered the older woman some “lucky” heather. As the older woman took hold of the heather, the younger woman held on to the older woman’s hand. Leaning in, the younger woman was insisting on money in return for the lucky plant. Fortunately, this woman was able to free her hand from the younger woman and her lucky heather.
From the Plaza de Espana, it is about a 15 minute walk to the Real Alcazar, the royal palace in Seville. If you walk along the walls of the palace, through the Murillo Gardens, you will pass by the Monument to Christopher Columbus. The Columbus monument consists of two white pillars, a miniature rendering of one of Columbus’s three ships used to cross the Atlantic, and topped with a lion. Also towards the top of the monument, the date of Columbus’s landing in the Americas is engraved. Originally a part of the Real Alcazar, the gardens were donated to the city of Seville for public use. The gardens are named after the Spanish painter Bartolome Murillo, whose works can be found on display at El Prado in Madrid.
Shortly after passing the Columbus monument, turn left, along the Calle Antonio el Balarin to enter the Jewish Quarter. Also known as Santa Cruz, this picturesque and inviting neighborhood has a dark history. In 1492, following the Alhambra Decree, the Jewish population was ordered to be expelled from Spain. Residents were told to either convert to Catholicism or leave the country. The neighborhood subsequently fell into decline until an urban revitalization project in the 1800s.
The streets are very narrow, but with the tall buildings on either side, it has the added appeal of blocking the intense Spanish sun from pedestrians.
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