Seville: the cathedral and the castle

Seville Cathedral

The next stop in Andalusia was Seville with its beautiful grand Cathedral and the intricate and grand Real Alcázar.

The Alcázar was used in Game of Thrones for Castle Dorne and from touring the gardens and the castle it is easy to see why the producers of the show chose it. The Arabic architecture, typical of this part of Spain, is brilliantly shown in the intricate details of the castle.

The Alcázar's famous ceiling

More intricate architecture

The entrance to the castle

Garden near the entrance to the castle

Equally spectacular to the building was the gardens.

Alcázar gardens

Fountain in the Alcazar

More of the gardens

The gardens are so vast that it took around three hours to wander through them all (including an obligatory beer and bocadillo stop).

Outside of the Alcázar is the Cathedral. The Cathedral of Seville was built in 1401 (and finished around 100 years later) on the site of the  old mosque and incorporates the minaret of the mosque as its bell tower (the Giralda). Unlike the Mezquita in Cordoba, all of the previous architecture was destroyed in the building of the cathedral.

The cathedral is a truly impressive building with beautiful examples of Gothic Christian architecture.

The Seville Cathedral

Ceiling of the Cathedral

The Cathedral from the orange grove

Stained glass window in the cathedral

The cathedral also houses the ornate tomb of Christopher Columbus.

Tomb of Christopher Columbus

It is also possible to climb the 35 levels of the Giralda to see spectacular views of the city.

Orange grove from the Giralda

Seville from the Giralda

Another view of Seville from the Giralda.

Further away from the Alcázar and cathedral is the Plaza de España - not only another beautiful monument, but also another movie set: this time from the Star Wars prequels.

Plaza de España

Seville is a beautiful city with incredible architecture, culture and food - but the area surrounding Seville also has many interesting places - including the main centre for Sherry production - Jerez de la fronterra, which is the next destination....