Sevilla Day Two

On day two in Seville, we started at the Seville Cathedral, the largest Gothic cathedral in the world built in 1528.  Utterly amazing! 

 View of exterior

We wandered around with an audio tour for at least 2 hours, exploring and learning about this vast cathedral with its numerous chapels and varying architectural styles.

 Immense central cathedral

Organ

 Religious portraits

 Stained glass

Elliptical dome

 Altar

Gothic arches

Christopher Columbus' tomb

 Model of C.C.'s boat

We then went up the bell tower.

 Bells

 View of Seville from the tower

After the cathedral, we strolled around town looking for a nice place to eat.  Of course we saw pretty things along the way.

 Interesting wooden piece

After lunch we went to El Alcazar, a royal palace originally built as a Moorish fort in the 10th century by Muslim Moorish kings. The construction of the current Royal Alcázar began in the 14th century.
 
The palace is renowned as one of the most beautiful in Spain, being regarded as one of the most outstanding examples of Mudejar architecture found on the Iberian Peninsula.  Islamic, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements can be found as well.

Main entrance to El Alcazar

Entering into the main courtyard

Incredible lattice work

Courtyard

Detail of carved walls

Inner courtyard

Adam in an archway--the tiled walls are STUNNING!

So many levels of beauty

Gold-tiled ceiling

Every room so spectacular

Grillwork

 Catacombs

Now for the gardens:

On our walk back to the apt., we passed more narrow streets and private inner courtyards.