Plaza de España
“The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain” was supposed to be an exercise for pronouncing vowels, not a weather prediction! But after more than a year of mostly dry nomad life, our good luck with weather finally ran out. Mother Nature decided to end years of drought in Spain by dumping a month’s worth of rain in just one week, soon after we arrived in Seville. Normally I wouldn’t complain, since slow travel usually allows us to ride out any bad weather. But did it have to rain every day during the one week Amy was with us in Seville?
Fortunately, on most days, there was a break in the rainclouds, and we were able to do some exploring with Amy under (mostly) blue skies. We decided to walk to Plaza de España. En route, we walked through the University of Seville. It was amazing to think that the ornate building was once a 17th-century cigar factory. It was definitely a beautiful place to study.
As we approached the Plaza de España, we were surprised to see that the gates were closed due to “weather warnings.” For a moment, we thought we might have to come back another day. Not wanting to give up so quickly, we walked around the back side and found we could enter that way. What a relief!
We walked through a palatial building of reddish-orange brick that curved around the plaza, embracing it with long arms. At the end of each arm was a domed tower. In front of the building was a canal where visitors could paddle rented rowboats. (No boats were out that day, because of the weather.) We crossed the canal on a pretty footbridge covered with colorful ceramic tile. There were four of these bridges, and they reminded me of Venice. The plaza was shaped like a half-ellipse, paved with tiles in striking geometric patterns, and crowned with a grand fountain in the center. The place was enormous - nearly the length of two soccer fields - yet somehow, even with gray clouds covering half the sky, the overall effect was romantic, even a bit otherworldly. (Star Wars fans may recognize it as Theed Palace on the planet Naboo from Episode II - see it HERE.)
Plaza de España was built for a world’s fair, the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. Today, it’s a tourist attraction, and a venue for outdoor concerts. The large curved building was originally the Spanish pavilion. Below each of its 48 arches was an alcove decorated with beautiful glazed ceramic tiles, representing a different province in Spain. Naturally, we had to find the alcoves for the places we had visited or planned to visit. It was a very long building!
Above the alcoves was an outdoor promenade running the full length of the building. The gorgeous artesonado ceilings had intricate patterns made from skillfully joined wood. We climbed the stairs in each “arm” of the building to see the view from the small balconies on the upper level. It was awe-inspiring to see the full expanse of Plaza de España from up there. It was a uniquely beautiful and memorable spot in Seville.
