Seville

The mountains began to disappear as we got further away from Ronda. We were now deep into agricultural Andalusia. The landscape was mainly composed of farms and olive groves. Every few kilometers a road sign depicting a bull would appear to remind us that cattle were in the vicinity and may make a sudden appearance on the road. Modern bull fighting originated in Andalusia and prized bulls are still raised there though these days the big fights mostly take place in Madrid. Spain has now begun to feel like a different country which was quite dissimilar to Western and Northern Europe. The fast food restaurants, golf courses, five star hotels and villas catering to tourists had largely disappeared making way for white-washed villages and towns with Moorish minarets protruding from churches built on mosques. The Arabic past of Spain was boldly beginning to make us aware of its presence.

We reached Seville well into the afternoon and directed our GPS to take us deep into the labyrinthine alleys of the city’s old town towards our hotel. In many ways Seville seemed like a quintessentially Spanish city with wide suburban boulevards and typical Spanish architecture yet an abundance of orange and palm trees also made it seem different from Spain’s northern cities. The deeper that we drove into Seville, the more I realized that its narrow alleys were never designed for cars. Even worse was the fact that the 18th century manor that was to serve as our hotel for the night resided in the historic center whose lanes were so narrow that only a few inches separated our car from walls on each side. It was exhilarating and exhausting to drive through these lanes over and over again while managing to avoid pedestrians who sometimes had to cling to the walls to avoid being overrun. We ultimately found parking in an underground car park after driving around in circles more than a few times. I breathed a sigh of relief as I checked into our charming hotel. It was comfortable, historic and unique. The owners were obviously quite fond of music as the lobby and halls were littered with various musical instruments. Our room had a CD player along with a selection of classical music by Bach and other masters. The hotel had a sensational rooftop terrace that presented us with panoramic views of the old city and its innumerable rooftops. As I looked around, I was reminded of standing on the rooftops of the ancient and congested cities of South Asia. The view wasn’t much different from that of the old neighborhoods in Lahore or Delhi.

We had a few hours before sunset and decided to make the best of it by visiting the Alcazar. Originating from the Arabic word “al-qasr” meaning palace, the Alcazar is a Moorish fort in the heart of Seville. It is one of the oldest inhabited castles in the world as a fort in this location has existed since the era of Julius Caesar and the Spanish royal family still has an official residence in the Alcazar making it. Interestingly, only the surrounding walls around the castle today were built by the Moroccan Almohads while the magnificent interior dates from the Christian era in the 14th century. The entrance through the Puerta del Leon was deceptively European but as we entered the castle we were abruptly shocked by the sudden change in architecture from European to Islamic. The palace interior was largely built by Mujedars – Moors who remained in Spain after the reconquest – under the reign of Castilian king Pedro ‘the Cruel’. Pedro was quite fond if not obsessed with Moorish architecture and culture. He hired craftsmen from Granada to build this architectural masterpiece in Seville.

The palace had all the hallmarks of Nasrid architecture and even had the Nasrid motto, “No conqueror but Allah” carved on it in Kufic script. It is probably second only to the Alhambra in its splendor. The walls were plastered with elaborately carved stone, the floral motifs were designed with mind boggling detail and complexity, the traditional Moorish ceramic and mosaic tiles along with intricately designed wooden panels were ubiquitous. Especially appealing were the domed ceilings and muqarnas in various private rooms of the monarch. In some rooms there were delicately carved balconies over looking running fountains in exquisitely crafted miniature courtyards which reminded me of architectural styles of the palaces of the Mughals in India. Outside of the Alcazar, there are extensive gardens with orange trees, fountains, and ponds full of brightly coloured fish. I wondered if the Alcazar is this beautiful what surprises did the Alhambra had in store.

Our first foray into the world of Moorish Spain had left us overwhelmed and awed. We left the palace and wandered into the streets to become accustomed to the reality of life outside of the blissful abode of the kings of Spain. There was still plenty of daylight left so we decided to take a quick trip to the nearby cathedral of Seville. The cathedral was built atop a Moorish mosque which was built atop a Roman structure. Once it was the second largest mosque in the Islamic world but now the only remnant left of its Moorish past is the huge minaret or Giralda tower. The minaret has survived largely unchanged except for the addition of a belfry. The Giralda is surrounded by the largest Gothic cathedral and the third largest church in the world. Somewhere inside is the burial chamber of Christopher Columbus but unfortunately we were only able to peek inside the church for a few minutes as most of it was closed due to a private function. We resorted to walking around the streets of the city in the balmy evening while watching vivacious crowds of people gathered around the numerous drinking holes and tapas bars.

To be continued…