More churches

Seville has no lack of lavishly decorated churches which are best visted in the morning after services. So I did

Entrance to Pilate's House, which I would visit later as it was very close to our apartment, and probably Seville's third major attraction after the cathedral and the Alcazar

 

Casa da Salinas

We walked past the Casa da Salinas many times. It sits behind a rather uninspiring entrance - seventeenth century palace still privately owned. It is not even mentioned in my Seville guidebook I got up one morning to wander around it with a an acoustiguide. And really enjoyed the experience. not least for the absence of tour groups

It also contains one, very complete, Roman mosaic

 

The Alcazar of Seville

The Real Alcazar is one of my favourite buildings in the world. Like many great palaces, like Hampton Court for example, it it has been built, altered  and developed over the centuries. It was originally a    Moorish palace, but when Seville was retaken by Spanish Christians King Pedro I in the fourteenth century employed Moorish craftsmen to build him a new palace, so it has a more Islamic than Christian feel about it. It is a collection of beautiful courtyards, very well suited to the climate (it never fell below 30C while were were out in Seville in mid-September). It is Mudejar style, Mudejar meaning "those permitted to stay" ie Muslim craftsmen allowed to live on in the Christian territory and bring their skills to bear upon a now Christian palace.

The complex is also a bit of a rabbit warren. It took some concentration on our part to ensure we saw it all!

The stucco Courtyard which still retains most of its Moorish decoration and so is 12th century and the oldest part of the Palace complex

The Admirals' Quarters

The Courtyard of the Maidens

The Ambassadors' Hall

 

The Vault Room

And as beautiful and extensive as the palace is, there are also the extensive gardens to explore

 

Yes, Eoin loved it all, although by this point we both needed a drink. It was hot. But Eoin was very good - although keen for a beer he made sure I had all the time I wanted in the place😊

From the Alcazar we took a circuitous route back home, via the river

Torre d'Ore