Alcázar of Seville

See also: Alcazar (disambiguation)

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Cathedral, Alcázar and General Archive of the Indies in Seville
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
The Courtyard of the Maidens
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, vi
Reference	383
UNESCO region	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1987 (11th Session)

The Alcázar of Seville (Spanish "Reales Alcázares de Sevilla" or "Royal Alcazars of Seville", (Spanish pronunciation: [alˈkaθar])) is a royal palace in Seville, Spain, originally developed by Moorish Muslim kings. The palace is renowned as one of the most beautiful in Spain, being regarded as one of the most outstanding examples of mudéjar architecture found on the Iberian Peninsula. The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as the official Seville residence and are administered by the Patrimonio Nacional. It is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe, and was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the Seville Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies.

Etymology

The term ‘Alcázar’ comes from the Hispano-Arabic word ‘Alqáşr’ meaning ‘Royal House’ or ‘Room of the Prince’ (whether fortified or not).

History

Seville 1588 (Site of Alcazar is to right of Cathedral)

Alcazar de Seville by Henry Fox Talbot, circa 1853/58

Plan of the Alcázar of Seville

• 1-Puerta del León
• 2-Sala de la Justicia y patio del Yeso (cyan)
• 3-Patio de la Montería (pink)
• 4-Cuarto del Almirante y Casa de Contratación (cream)
• 5-Palacio mudéjar o de Pedro I (red)
• 6-Palacio gótico (blue)
• 7-Estanque de Mercurio
• 8-Jardines (green)
• 9-Apeadero
• 10-Patio de Banderas

The Real Alcázar is situated near the Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies in one of Spain's most emblematic areas.

The Almohades were the first to build a palace, which was called Al-Muwarak, on the site of the modern day Alcázar. It is one of the most representative monumental compounds in the city, the country and the Mediterranean culture. Its influences held within its walls and gardens began in the Arabic period and continued into the late Middle Ages Mudéjar period right through to the Renaissance, the Baroque era, and the 19th century. Subsequent monarchs have added their own additions to the Alcázar.

The palace was the birthplace of Infanta Maria Antonietta of Spain (1729-1785), daughter of Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese. The king was in the city to oversee the signing of the Treaty of Seville (1729) which ended the Anglo-Spanish War (1727).

The Palace

Puerta del León (Lion Gate)

Puerta del León

The main entrance to the Alcázar takes its name from the 19th century tile-work inland above it, a crowned lion holding a cross in its claws and bearing a Gothic script.

Patio de las Doncellas

Moorish architecture inside the Alcázar

The name, meaning "The Courtyard of the Maidens", refers to the legend that the Moors demanded 100 virgins every year as tribute from Christian kingdoms in Iberia.

The lower level of the Patio was built for King Peter I and includes inscriptions describing Peter as a "sultan". Various lavish reception rooms are located on the sides of the Patio. In the center is a large, rectangular reflecting pool with sunken gardens on either side. For many years, the courtyard was entirely paved in marble with a fountain in the center. However, historical evidence showed the gardens and the reflecting pool were the original design and this arrangement was restored. However, soon after this restoration, the courtyard was temporarily paved with marble once again at the request of movie director Ridley Scott. Scott used the paved courtyard as the set for the court of the King of Jerusalem in his movie Kingdom of Heaven. The courtyard arrangement was converted once more after the movie's production.

The upper story of the Patio was an addition made by Charles V. The addition was designed by Luis de Vega in the style of the Italian Renaissance although he did include both Renaissance and mudéjar plaster work in the decorations. Construction of the addition began in 1540 and ended in 1572.

Los Baños de Doña María de Padilla

Los Baños de Doña María de Padilla

The "Baths of Lady María de Padilla" are rainwater tanks beneath the Patio del Crucero. The tanks are named after María de Padilla, the mistress of Peter the Cruel.

La Casa de Contratación

Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) beside the Patio de la Monteria

The Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) lies off the Patio de la Monteria. It was built in 1503 by the Catholic Monarchs to regulate trade with the New World colonies. The Casa dealt with trade related legal disputes on trade with the Americas. The "Casa" includes a chapel where Columbus met with Ferdinand and Isabella after his second voyage. The chapel houses The Virgin of the Navigators, one of the first paintings to depict the discovery of the Americas and one of the earliest paintings to depict Columbus.

After the discovery of America, Queen Isabella decided in 1503, the creation of the La Casa de Contratación, an institutional agency to regulate relations with the Americas, and performing tasks of remittance and receipt of goods, actions technical scientific and judicial activities, including lawsuits arising between traders. In their rooms the most celebrated voyages of the discoverers, as the First World Tour Magallanes were also screened.

To accommodate that institution, the city of Seville was chosen. The same year of the creation of the institution, construction and arrangement of buildings necessary for the placement of it was ordered. What survives today of the ancient House of Trade, is only part of what eventually came to occupy, and which included a number of buildings that stretched from the current Patio de la Monteria to Plaza of Trade, where it had its main façade, this area included among others, the Fourth Admiral or chapter house, with two two-story buildings, a chapel, another area of warehouses and rooms around a courtyard, next to the Plaza of Trade, this part being demolished in the year 1964. In 1717, the agency moved to the city of Cadiz. Since 1793, when it was extinguished the Casa de Contratación, all parts of the Casa de Contratación were included throughout the Alcázar .

Other sections

• Patio de las Muñecas
• Patio de la Monteria
• Dormitorio de los Reyes Moros
• Salón de Embajadores, 1427

Detail Gallery

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The Gardens

Galeria de Grutescos

All the palaces of Al Andalus had garden orchards with fruit trees, horticultural produce and a wide variety of fragrant flowers. The garden-orchards not only supplied food for the palace residents but had the aesthetic function of bringing pleasure. Water was ever present in the form of irrigation channels, runnels, jets, ponds and pools.

The gardens adjoining the Alcázar of Seville have undergone many changes. In the 16th century during the reign of Philip III the Italian designer Vermondo Resta introduced the Italian Mannerist style. Resta was responsible for the Galeria de Grutesco (Grotto Gallery) transforming the old Muslim wall into a loggia from which to admire the view of the palace gardens.

The Alcázar Gardens viewed from Galeria de Grutescos

In Popular Culture

• The Patio de las Doncellas was used as the set for the court of the King of Jerusalem in the 2005 movie Kingdom of Heaven.
• In 1962 the Alcázar was used as a set for Lawrence of Arabia.
• Part of the fifth season of Game of Thrones was shot in several locations in the province of Seville, including the Alcázar.

See also

• History of Medieval Arabic and Western European domes

External links

• InFocus: Alcázar of Seville (Sevilla, Spain) at HitchHikers Handbook
• Images of the Alcázar in Seville - 105 images with good descriptions of the Alcázar and its history.
• Casa de la Contratación - in depth historical article.
• El Real Alcázar de Sevilla (In Spanish, English and French)
• UNESCO World Heritage