Around The World Without Flying: Seville, Spain

Our next port of call after Malaga was Cadiz. According to information provided by the ship, it is thought that this Spanish coastal city may be the oldest inhabited city in the western world, since there is evidence it has been in existence for at least 3000 years.

The Spanish are very proud of all their explorations of the ‘New World’; in the Spanish cites we visited, there were many sculptures and monuments celebrating these explorations. In the case of Cadiz, Christopher Columbus set off on two of his voyages from here. With his discovery of the Americas, Cadiz became the wealthiest port in western Europe, importing gold and silver and exporting the local specialities: sherry and cork.

However, I decided I would not tour Cadiz but instead go on an all-day tour to Seville. We have a Seville in Australia not far away from where I live, so I was curious to see this Seville. (We pronounce the names of the two places very differently, though. In Spain the emphasis is on the second syllable while in Australia it is on the first.)

The Australian Seville is a very small, quiet country town located 2 hours drive inland from the city of Melbourne, which has a bustling port. But the Spanish Seville, while located in a rural setting about 2 hours drive inland from the port city of Cadiz, was a surprise to all of us in our small tour group. It was a large city with many distinguished-looking buildings, lovely gardens, squares and fountains, cafes, a vibrant atmosphere and so much history!

We first drove down a wide street lined with palm trees that ran beside a long river and saw not only blocks of apartment buildings and attractive, stately mansions, but also an old Moorish tower that had been used to watch for any enemies who might attack the city during the hundred of years in which the Moors controlled the city. The old city wall of which it was part has now been demolished, apart from one old section we saw later as we explored the city on foot.

We learned more about the influence of the Moors and the period in which they were conquered from our guide. While they were Arab, they were not from Saudi Arabia but from North Africa. Such was their influence on the Spanish culture, about 3000 words in the Spanish language are derived from their language. And when the Moors were conquered they were not driven out of Spain. The Moors remained living in peace and harmony side-beside the Spanish, for at least a couple of hundred years. And the tower is not the only structure that bears testimony to the Moors and what they brought to Spain. The first site in Seville we explored was the magnificent Moorish palace - Alcazar Palace. It is so great that this has been preserved by the people of Seville. I will write about that in my next post about Seville.

Many of the unique, beautiful mansions we saw along that main road were built for the great 1929 exhibition. Barcelona was not the only city that hosted an exhibition that year. We saw very individual mansions celebrating different South American countries and the United States. But the most extraordinary and astonishing structure was that of the host city. I will show you that in another post, together with their massive and very impressive cathedral.

I glimpsed the rising sun whilst walking past the ship for our day excursion. It looked quite magical suspended in the sky like that, casting an orange glow on the sea and sky.

Crossing the bridge from the port of Cadiz to the mainland.

Some of the apartment blocks we saw on entering the city of Seville, viewed from the coach.

One of the mansions built for the 1929 exhibition.

Another of the mansions built for the 1929 exhibition.

The Moorish tower.

Seen along our walk to the Moorish palace.

On the left is part of the cathedral of Seville. A big ceremony was happening at that time, so there were huge crowds waiting to get into the cathedral and police and ambulances on standby. If I recall correctly, the building on the right was the town hall. There were quite a few horses and carriages around the city. Some can be seen here.