Seville, spain

Hello, I am glad to greet you, I am Yael Yancelson, and today we are going to a really beautiful destination, full of history and tradition, we are flying quickly with the power of imagination and the senses to Seville, Spain, so breathe, close your eyes if it is possible and you are not doing anything else, give me your hand and let yourself be guided, we begin!

The history of Seville dates back to the 8th century BC, when the city was founded by the Tartessos, on high ground next to the Guadalquivir river. Later, the Greeks, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Romans would arrive; The latter would have command of the city, now called “Hispalis”, until the year 711 AD, when it was conquered by the Muslims. During that Roman period, the city enjoyed great splendor and growth. After the Romans, Seville was taken by the Visigoths who were there for 200 years, until Musa and his son Abd al-Aziz ibn Mussa crossed the waters of Gibraltar and took the city of Hispalis, in the year 713. At that time it was baptized with the Arabic name Isbiliya, which underwent mutations, passing through Ixbilia, Sivilia, up to Seville, as we know it today.

Seville became the most important city of Al-Andalus (the name given to the Iberian Peninsula as a province of the Muslim empire) and became its capital. At this time it grew culturally and architecturally, adopting the form that we can still see today in its historic center. Some of the most beautiful constructions that we are going to visit in the city today date from this period: La Giralda, the Alcázar, the Macarena walls, the Torre del Oro, and the Triana neighborhood.

Today Seville is a modern city with excellent infrastructure, but it still preserves its spectacular historical legacy, the product of the passage of numerous civilizations. This very thing has given it a unique identity and makes it a destination that must be visited at least once as it is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities in Spain.

What if before starting to walk we had some delicious churros with chocolate at Bar El Comercio or Churrería San Pablo and walked to the Cathedral of Seville, declared a World Heritage Site and the largest Gothic temple in the world, you have to admire its impressive façade, before going inside to see the fantastic Main Altarpiece, the Patio de los Naranjos and the tomb of Christopher Columbus, and then climb to the top of its famous Giralda. The guide has told us that it is believed that the Seville Cathedral began to be built in the year 1401 after the demolition of the Aljama Mosque of Seville, built by order of the Almohad caliph Abu Yacub Jusuf, of which the remains remain today. minaret, which is the current Giralda, and the patio, which is the Patio de los Naranjos.

As curiosities, it is important to know that one of the first architects of the Cathedral of Seville was Charles Galter of Normandy, and the temple rests the mortal remains of Christopher Columbus and some kings of Castilla. Look inside the central nave we find the Choir, where you can see several organs and spectacular stalls in addition to the Main Chapel, in which the Renaissance bars that can be seen on the front stand out, as well as the vaults that are the highest in the Cathedral with 37 meters.

If you like, when leaving the cathedral, we continue to the Alcázar of Seville, a walled palace that went from the residence of caliphs to that of Christian kings, where you cannot miss seeing the jewels, wow look how opulent!!! let’s go to see its different patios and halls, as well as relax for a while in its beautiful gardens while we listen to the guide who tells us the history of this place in 914 when the Caliph of Córdoba, Abderramán III, ordered the construction of a citadel in the city, which in part, took advantage of the old city walls.

Later, when the Abadi dynasty took the city after the fall of the caliphate, the previous Alcazaba began to undergo different extensions, among which the 11th-century one stands out, with which its original extension was practically doubled.

In addition, the interiors also began to be modified and expanded, building different buildings until, in the 12th century, the Almohads decided to carry out a complete reform, raising the interior with new and larger palaces, creating a new system of walls for defensive purposes, which They ended in the 13th century with the construction of the Torre del Oro that we are admiring. Later, by order of Alfonso X, the Gothic palace was built in the main area of ​​the citadel so that, after the earthquake of 1356, Pedro I built the impressive el Mudejar palace.

It is Queen Elizabeth I who, after seeing the deterioration of the building, decides to order a major restoration.

We walked to see the main gate of the Reales Alcázares, located in a part of the outer wall, formerly also known as the Monteria since according to what they say, this was the gate that the king used when he went hunting with the huntsmen. Behind the Puerta del León and just opposite, is the Patio de la Montería separated by part of the inner wall area.

What if we now go to the Santa Cruz neighborhood starting with Plaza de Santa María and Calle Mateos Gago with views of the Giralda? During the tour, we will pass through places like Casa de Salinas, Calle Mesón del Moro, the old synagogue, and now Church of Santa María la Blanca, until you stop at the tourist Calle Cruces which has a spectacular atmosphere!!! Let’s end up in the Plaza de España, which seems monumental to me, and you. After touring the interior of its porticoed galleries and crossing some of the canal bridges, we cannot leave the square without taking a picture sitting on the tiled bench that represents your province!!!! At sunset we have time to take a romantic walk along the banks of the Guadalquivir to the Isabel II Bridge, to see how the Torre del Oro is reflected in the river, and we will dine on some good tapas at Bar Triana or at the nearby winery Sun and Shadow if that’s okay with you!!!

nearby Sol y Sombra winery if that’s okay with you!!!

And that is how we leave this beautiful and interesting region of the planet with the desire to return. We will travel every week to another corner of this wonderful world, to discover, enjoy and fly with our imagination, I wait for you every Friday and I ask you if you like me Share the content with your friends and give me a like and a review of your comments because with that, as I told you at the beginning, we can help people who live with hearing disabilities to get aids, implants and or therapies necessary to achieve a better quality of life. that is the mission of this project because ALTERNATIVE REALITY is A UNIQUE AND DIFFERENT SPACE THAT CREATES COMMUNITY. We make a difference. And as I always tell you when helping others, we mainly help ourselves. If you want to know what the Include Me Foundation does for the labor and social integration of people living with intellectual disabilities, enter the link: www. incluyeme.org and if it moves you and interests you, review how you can support this interesting project. If you are hungry and like to cook, click on the button or if you prefer, keep traveling.