Seville is a city in the south of Spain, the capital of Andalusia, one of the richest areas of the country, which is full of cultural, natural and gastronomic treasures. Seville is famous for its architecture, the warmth of its people, the good wine, the “tapas” and the pleasant Mediterranean climate, although in summer the heat forces you to go to the nearest coast areas.
Seville has many things to discover, the city offers a spectacular exhibition of colours, aromas, and sensations. The main tourist attractions of the city are the famous Giralda and the cathedral, the Plaza de España, the Triana bridge and the river, the María Luisa gardens, the Santa Cruz neighborhood. In all these places stands out the mixture that has always existed between the different cultures that have passed through there, where the styles of Christian, Arab, Mozarabic and Jewish architecture are mixed.
The Secrets
But in addition to the typical tourist sites, Seville has secret places, hardly accessible to the conventional tourist. There are some churches and convents such as the old hospital, Iglesia de los Venerables, the convent of Sor Angela de la Cruz, the Church of San Luis de los Franceses, etc, where you have to make an appointment in advance to enter. We also find modern architecture in the center of the city, the recent construction of the Metrosol Parasol or as there is typically called, Las Setas, is located on the center of the city and today it is one more icon, as well as the Torre Sevilla, which together with other modernist buildings, make the Isla de la Cartuja, which was the scene of the great universal exhibition of 1992.
When to visit?
The best time to visit Seville are the spring months. Since March, the city is dressing on its best clothes to receive the spring festivities: Holy Week, where “procesiones” fill the city with the smell of incense and women dressed with flamenco costumes are going to visit the “Real de la Feria de Abril” to enjoy the best week of the year. In May, “Las Cruces de Mayo” and the “Corpus Christi”, the whole city is full of people, the parks full of flowers and the streets decorated with beautiful ornaments. You can learn to dance “sevillanas”, prepare the typical torrijas or decorate the door of your house with a may cross.
¿What to eat in Seville?
The gastronomic offer in Seville is inexhaustible. The “tapas” are very characteristic; you find all kinds of them, at any price and of very good quality. Tapas are small dishes made with the most traditional recipes of Andalusian cuisine as croquetas, salmorejo, pisto, cod with tomato, fried fish, etc. If you accompany them with a beer or a good wine, the pleasure is guaranteed.
How is life in Seville?
Living in Seville and being born there is a privilege for me, a gift that I am aware of, every time I am there. If it is true that the opportunities and working conditions are not the best in Spain but the quality of life of the south of Spain is unbeatable. If you ever visit Seville, you will surely fall in love with every corner and your heart will be fill up with the experiences, its people, its music and “el arte”.