At Seville were born Spain’s two greatest painters, Velázquez (1599–1660; court-painter at Madrid from 1623 onwards) and Murillo (1617–82). Here too is laid the scene of several famous operas: Mozart’s Don Juan and Figaro, Rossini’s Barber of Seville, and Bizet’s Carmen.
See ‘Seville’, by W. M. Gallichan, in the ‘Mediæval Towns Series’ (London, 1903); and ‘Seville’, by A. J. Calvert (London, 1907).
a. The Plaza del Triunfo with the Alcázar and the Cathedral.
We begin our walk at the Plaza del Triunfo (Pl. F, 3), which is bounded by three imposing edifices, the Lonja on the W. side, the Alcázar on the S., and the Cathedral on the N.
The Casa Lonja (Pl. F, 3), the Exchange, built in the high-Renaissance style in 1583–98, contains on the upper floor the Archivo General de Indias, with the Spanish charters and deeds relating to the discovery and government of America and the Philippines. Fine view from the roof, especially of the Cathedral.
The *Alcázar (Pl. F, 3; adm., see p. [60]), originally a castle of the Almohade Yûsuf Abû Yakûb (1181; see above), dates in its present form mainly from the time of kings Pedro I. (p. [61]) and Henry II. (1369–79), who caused the castle to be restored by Moorish architects in the Mudejar style (p. [51]). Later alterations date from the reigns of Charles V. (1526), Philip II. (1569), and Philip IV. (1624), while modern restorations (1857–89) have materially changed the character of the interior.
The Exterior with its pinnacled corner-towers, still has the character of a mediæval castle. From the entrance in the S.E. angle of the Plaza del Triunfo we first cross the large Patio de las Banderas, in which are the ticket-office and a vaulted gateway (‘apeadero’). Thence we may proceed straight to the garden (see below), or to the right to the Patio de la Montería, the inner court, planted with oranges and palms. Very striking is the splendid *Chief Façade of the inner Alcázar. The beautiful windows and side-entrances are framed with toothed arches; above them runs a rich stalactite frieze crowned with a far-projecting timber roof resting on quaint corbels. Arabic inscriptions in Cufic characters (p. [150]) serve for decoration.
The Apartments in the interior are grouped round the Patio de las Doncellas (‘court of the maidens’), erected in 1369–79, but almost entirely rebuilt under Charles V. and Philip II. The lower story is preceded by superb Moorish arcades resting on coupled Renaissance columns. The upper walls in open-work are richly embellished with stucco. The chief rooms on the groundfloor are, on the S.E., the Salón de Carlos Quinto with its fine ‘azulejos’ (or tiles) and timber ceiling; on the S.W., the quadrangular domed *Salón de Embajadores, also richly decorated with azulejos, and the Patio de las Muñecas (dolls’ court), modern in its upper parts, so called from the figures which adorn it.
From the Apeadero (see above) we may lastly visit the Garden of the Alcázar, with its luxuriant vegetation, a pavilion of the time of Charles V., a grotto, and fountains.
Returning to the Plaza del Triunfo, we face the Cathedral, with the Capilla Real (p. [64]), projecting on the E., and the clock-tower at the N.E. angle of the church, the famous—