Some Recommended Tapas Bars "What a pity to eat a normal meal in a restaurant when you can have tapas (snacks)!. The city is credited with their invention and has more than a thousand bars where the choice of food is virtually unlimited, from seafood to ham and sausage, from vegetable to cheese. The Sevillians [...]

The Alcazar: Built by the Moors as a royal palace and fortress, this large building remains one of the most significant pieces of Mud’jar architecture in Seville, though it has been energetically Christianized in many respects. The intricate structure and dazzling decorative features of the Alcazar are as much of an attraction as the significant [...]

Torre del Oro: The name "tower of gold" derives from a belief — not certain to be true — that this 13th-century fortress (and later prison) was originally clad in gilded tiles. Today there is a maritime museum here with an excellent collection of artifacts from the city’s long sea-going history. The high spire pairs [...]

Calle Sierpes: At some point in your adventures you will settle here, just a side street away from the Plaza Neuva, for refreshment and resting your feet; this lively collection of shops and cafes is a magnet that seemingly draws everyone in search of a cool drink and a shady spot to sit. In earlier [...]

Giralda Tower: Soaring just over 300 feet high, the Tower began life as a minaret attached to the mosque, and serves now as a bell tower attached to the Cathedral. It is older than the church, dating from the 13th century, but has been much revised with the highest parts being added after the Cathedral’s [...]

The Cathedral: Depending on who you talk to, the Cathedral is not the third largest but the largest such building in the world — its overall surface area, at least, is said to be a bit more than even St. Peter’s if you hold the tape just right. (The Cathedral of Milan makes a similar [...]

Masterpieces by Murillo, Goya, Titian, and many others can be seen in the Cathedral’s several galleries, but you will find that countless elements of the building itself are as stunningly beautiful as the finest works on canvas — the vast, towering gilded altar is almost too much to take in at once glance. There is [...]

Strolling Seville Seville is, simply put, a great walking town. It’s a good thing, too, because like most old European cities it’s a miserable driving town. Short of having a root canal, I can’t imagine a worse way to spend an afternoon than searching for a place to park in San Bartolem. But on foot [...]