Wednesday 4 March 2015

Seville

I was in need of a haircut, so off we went to Seville.   A larger and more cosmopolitan city than either Granada or Cordoba, Seville has as its main attractions the Real Alcazar, the Royal Palace built after the defeat of the Moors (here, as in Cordoba, it happened earlier than in Granada) and the Cathedral of Seville.   The Real Alcazar, although built by Christians, maintains many of the stylistic characteristics of the Moorish architecture.   Again, I was overwhelmed by an excess of ornamentation.   In fact, I don't really understand how anyone could live with it, but they did.
When we moved to the newer sections of the palace, and saw some very large tapestries, Vera said she was relieved to finally see something with a narrative.   Though, for me, I would happily indulge myself in the surfeit of colors and patterns of the older sections.

Some pictures;

A ceiling:



A floor:


Another ceiling:




A door:


In the newer section, newer kinds of ceramics:


Tapestries, narrative:





The cathedral in Seville was begun in the 1400's.  Unlike Cordoba, the existing mosque was destroyed.   It is Late Gothic in style, and has now officially claimed the title for the largest church in the world.  The interior space is indeed awesome, in the traditional sense.   The various additions over the years are excessively decorative, and indeed make you think that Martin Luther did have a good point.   But Spain is nothing if not Catholic.





This part is really over the top..




A modest looking organ;