Andalusia 2019 – Part 4 – the Alcazar, Seville

A pottery plant pot, white, with golden yellow and mid blue hoops. It has R. Alcazar and a crown painted on it.
I warned you I’d cheat and add a ninth photo in some of these.

At the end of the last post, I explained we had to get to Alcazar exactly on time. I expect that’s always required, but it was made more of a thing by the circumstances of when the tour was. I must draw you back to the beforetimes and the heady days of Summer 2019, possibly the height of Game of Thrones mania. The show runners had used the Alcazar as the Dornish palaces (https://www.andalucia.org/en/game-of-thrones-in-andalusia), so there were even more people than usual wanting to see it. According to our tour guide, you booked 6 months ahead if you wanted tickets to see inside.

And, as you’ll hopefully see from my photos, you really want to go inside.

(For more information, please see: https://www.andalucia.org/en/sevilla-visitas-real-alcazar-de-sevilla, www.alcazarsevilla.org or https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alc%C3%A1zar_of_Seville).

The Alcazar is where I really went OTT on the photographs. It’s because the things I like in art and design, whether it’s painting, architecture or decorative objects, is colour, shape and texture. Mudéjar style is basically catnip for me.

Carved underside of a roof. There is white and blue tiles at the bottom. Above them some very intricate stone work, with a trace of blue paint left. Above that is stone work in a larger pattern, all brown soft stone (probably sedimentary), then a green and yellow rail, followed by a dark wooden roof
Underneath one of the overhanging roofs
Ornately carved dark wood ceiling. The shapes are repeating squares, lozenges, squares going down the photo and squares or lozenges in a row going horizontal along the photo. At either end there are small star shapes.
A very decorative ceiling
Carved stone arch in the foreground, from a cream coloured stone, with blue inlays. In the background is a carved stone wall, again with blue inlays but it looks much paler because it is further away
One of the rooms that leads out onto the patio de las Doncellas
At the front of the photo is a carved arch, all in very white stone. In the back, another carved wall, in very white stone with blue inlays. In the front carved arch there is a shape that looks like a human skill. The three right angles underneath it make it look like a skull attached to a rib cage
I just think he’s cute

Unfortunately my notes and memory can’t remember if the tour guide said anything about the little face being deliberate or whether it’s just an accidental pattern made by the weathering, but I find it intriguing.

One of the ceilings in one of the rooms of the Palacio Mudéjar or Palacio de Pedro I, depending who’s talking.

Another carved wooden ceiling, this time the shapes are pentagons, but two of the sides are longer than the other 3. In the centre of each cluster is a star design. The carvings are covered in what I think is gold leaf, except the pentagons.
A golden decorative ceiling

Many of the rooms in the Palacio Mudéjar are that style and covered in gold leaf or gold in the same way.

Carved archway. This time the stones are inlaid in red and blue. More carved arches are seen in the background, surrounding another courtyard. The people in the front are being used to demonstrate how busy it was.
An archway into another courtyard. You can see how busy it was.

There were also historical treasures.

A wooden boat with a painted white hull and blue sides. It has two masts and no sails
A very old model boat

I think it’s the idea that someone >500 years ago saw exactly the same thing, and it’s still there that gets to me.

The inside decorations are but one of the highlights. The gardens are spectacular, and not sharing some of those photos was one of the hardest decisions when cutting this down to 8 photos.

I am sharing one of those below because the contrast of how green it was and the aridity of the surrounding countryside, as seen around Ronda and Grazalema really helped explain the things about the first wave of Caliphs saying “this, this is what heaven looks like.” (Some paraphrasing from the story involved)

Ornate wrought iron archway, looking almost calligraphic. The foreground is shadowed, and you can see the carved stonework of the ceiling and wall that the arch fits into. Outside are verdant green leaves on trees.
Again, this just made me happy. I love the calligraphic style of the iron work.

One day I’d like to go back to walk around it at my own speed and do more ooh-ing and ahh-ing.

3 thoughts on “Andalusia 2019 – Part 4 – the Alcazar, Seville”

  1. Pingback: Andalusia 2019 – Part 5 – Seville Cathedral – fulltimesportsfan
  2. Pingback: Andalusia – Part 7 – Cordoba – fulltimesportsfan
  3. Pingback: Andalusia 2019 – Part 10 – the Alhambra – fulltimesportsfan

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