Seville Travel Guide

Wander away from the old centre of Seville and you find the wide open spaces of the Plaza de Espana, a huge structure that sits across from the Parque Maria Luisa, an equally huge public space with thousands of trees and quite amazing buildings around its edge. It's well worth a wander and it provides welcome shade.

Plaza de Espana

Built for the 1929 'Fair of the Americas', this semi-circular building and plaza impresses initially through its sheer size. At the original fair, the building was used to display Spain's industry and culture, while the Latin American countries had their own pavilions spread around the adjoining Maria Luisa Park.

Amongst the grandiose bridges and fountains, a fascinating feature is the series of extravagantly tiled seats, each representing a scene from the history of Spain's counties. Many feature the surrender of the Moors as the country's cities fell in turn to the Christians during the Reconquista, underlining how important these events still are to Seville and the Spanish nation

The seats are a fascinating way to learn more of Spanish geography as each design incorporates a county map.

Parque de Maria Luisa

With attractive walkways and plenty of shade, visitors and locals appreciate this large park, laid out for the 1929 Fair and one of the finest formal spaces in Spain. There are ornamental ponds and, around the perimeter, opulent pavilions that housed the exhibits of the Latin American countries in 1929.

Today, they are home to colleges and facilities such as the Seville Archaeological Museum - featuring a fine collection of gold jewellery from the little-known Tartessos culture - and the Popular Arts Museum. The latter features local crafts and old costumes.

Fabrica de Tabacos

Walking from the Cathedral/Alcázar area to the Plaza de España takes you past Seville's leading hotel, the Alfonso VIII, followed by the Fabrica de Tabacos. Built in 1750, this was once the second largest building in Spain - behind El Escorial outside Madrid. When a cigarette factory, it employed 4,000 women cigarrera, and most famously, was the setting for Carmen. Today, it's a faculty of Seville University.

Museo de Bellas Artes

Near the bus station at Plaza de Armas, the museum is said to be second only to Madrid's Prado and is housed in what was a convent. It features works by Pedro Millán, Seville's influential sculptor; Murillo, the painter who lived in Seville all his life; Ribera; Zurbarán; Velázquez and Goya. The collection of works on display is rotated regularly.

Plaza de Toros

The Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza, the bullring, is a very handsome stadium that dates back to 1758, making it possibly the oldest in the country. It was in Seville and at Ronda that bullfighting began on foot - previously it was on horseback.

The bullfighting season runs through the summer to mid-October. There's a small museum and guided tours in English as well as Spanish. It's down by the river a short distance from the Torre del Oro.

Museo del Baile Flamenco

The Flamenco museum opened in 2007 and is owned by a famous Flamenco dancer, Cristina Hoyos. There are exhibits, audio-visual and multi-media displays covering the history, heart and soul of traditional flamenco. It's in c/Manuel Rojas Marcos 3.