Monday, March 24, 2008

Visiting Seville with Chella

Early this morning Chella and I took the bus to Seville for a combination sightseeing-shopping trip.  We started out by going to see the Plaza de España.  This amazing, gigantic plaza was built in 1929 in honour of Seville hosting the Spanish-American Exhibition.  The Plaza is a huge half-circle with buildings continually running around the edge accessible over the moat by numerous beautiful bridges. In the centre is a large fountain.  If the picture below looks familiar, that may be because this plaza appears in George Lucas' Star Wars movie, Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

Seville 073

Afterwards we shopped for a bit until we got to the centre of town, where we went into the Cathedral.  Construction was begun in 1402, and continued into the 16th century. It is the largest of all Roman Catholic cathedrals (Saint Peter's Basilica not being a cathedral) and also the largest Medieval Gothic religious building.  It houses what is thought to be the tomb of Christopher Columbus. 

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We also climbed to the top of the Giralda tower, where there was a great view of the city. 

Seville 110 Seville 093

After all that sightseeing, somehow we still had the energy to shop for hours, so we didn't get home until late tonight, and we are exhausted!