Afternoon in Seville: walking round Santa Cruz Quarter
The touristic appeal of Seville is undeniable, and the range of activities, trips and things to do is huge… but the best things are usually unprepared. That’s why today we propose you to walk around one of the most beautiful areas in Seville city center, the old Santa Cruz Quarter.
This walking tour we propose to you today sets off from the parish church of El Sagrario, very close to our office in Avenida de la Constitución. This temple establishes Sevilles’s transition from the late mannerism to early baroque and its high altarpiece depicts Christ’s Descent from the Cross.
Next to the Parroquia del Sagrario stands the majestic Cathedral, built over the old Seville’s almohade mosque. This is the largest temple in Spain, and the third largest in Christendom, only surpassed by Saint Peter’s in Rome, and Saint Paul’s in London. Inside this spectacular building we found the Patio de los Naranjos (Orange Trees Courtyard) and the Giralda, tha most famous feature of the city, which are remains of the olf Muslim Mosquee.
The Giralda became the bell tower in 1568, and it is crewned by a religious statue, a woman dress in a classical Roman dress, holding a shield and a palm leaf. This lady is popularly known in Seville as Giraldillo.
Opposite the Cathedral stands the Archibishop’s Palace, residence of the Prelate of Seville. Also next to the Cathedral is the Archivo de Indias, which once was the premises of a merchants’ exchange. Built in 1584 in mannierist style, this building was the world’s leading archive on the colonial period, where all documents regarding the Government and administration of the New World were kept.
Through the Lion’s Door in Plaza del Triunfo we go to the Royal Fortress (Reales Alcázares), a luxurious Mudejar palace built by Ferdinand the Saint in 1248, after the reconquest of Seville, and transformed by Peter I, the Cruel.
Leaving th fortress behind, we find the Flags Courtyard (Patio de las Banderas), where begins the elbow-sahped street of Calle de las Juderías, getting right intothe heart of the Santa Cruz District. In the Callejón del Agua, we find some of the patios, in the classic Seville’s mansion houses. Then we may lead to Plaza del Alfaro to the gardens of Murillo. one side we find the Santa Cruz Square, and walking through the narrow Callejón Mariscal we arrive to one of Seville’s most secluded squares, the Square of the Crosses (Plaza de las Cruces).
Next, we stroll along the Calle Cruces, where huge windmill wheels have Ourwalk comes to an end at the House of the Pinelo, a Genovese family, ant nowadays, seat of Seville’s royal Academies of Fine Arts, Humanities and Medicine. been inserted into the left-hand plinth. On reaching Santa Teresa street, we may visit the Convent of San José del Carmen, and opposite the convent stands the house of murillo, where the famous painter used to live in the seventeenth century.
