This architecture is the primary reason I wanted to come to Spain. While there are other great Muslim buildings in the world, many are unavailable (Iran, with its great mosques in Isfahan in particular), and in Mughal India, it is the Moorish elements found in Spain that are the most well preserved, and impressive. The Alhambra is the most iconic, and most visited, and that is on the schedule, but the Real (Royal) Alcazar in Seville, built by the caliphs while in power in Spain, and then taken over by Christian rulers (in this case, Pedro I, who rebuilt the Alcazar as a pleasure palace for himself and his mistress, Maria de Padilla) is a superb example of the architecture, surpassed only by the Alhambra.
My guide, Estella Gonzalez was superb, informed, and almost as enthusiastic as I was. She loves her work, and it showed. The Alcazar was so, so very beautiful. As you walk through the palace, as an embajadore might have done, the rooms get more and more ornate, culminating in the Hall of the Ambassadors, stunning in its profusion of gold, calligraphy, and the dome, made with hundreds of small pieces of wood, and gilt.
A fantastic way to start my trip.
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| Estela Gonzalez, my private guide to both the Alcazar, and Sevilla Cathedral (next blog). |
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| Entrance into the Hall of the Ambassadors |
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