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From Madrid, you can take an AVE train (Alta Velocidad Española) to Sevilla / Seville -- a distance of about 500 kilometers / 300 miles -- in two hours and twenty minutes, via the Nuevo Acceso Ferroviario an
Andalucía line. You climb aboard at Atocha Station, disembark at Santa Justa station, and from there trudge to the Cathedral and Alcázar area on foot -- or take a short taxi ride.
Spanish train stations tend to have interesting features. Here at Santa Justa, the slanted elevators make a lot of sense when you're carrying luggage.
If you want to walk around the older parts of Sevilla, some of the streets are wiggly and zigzag. Here, an upslope way goes by the Hostel Picasso.
One of the main points of visitation on this journey was La Catedral de Santa María de la Sede de Sevilla. The Catholic architecture dates from the 1400s onward; Islamic vestiges (including La Giradla, with minaret-tower core) go back to around 1200 A.D.
The remains of Cristóbal Colón / Christopher Columbus (circa 1450-1505 A.D,) reside here -- moved from Cuba to this location after the Spanish-American War of 1898.
El Real Alcázar de Sevilla -- the Alcázar -- is stunning in its beauty and intricacy. Parts of this glorious Islamic-style complex date to the 700s A.D., with additional tweaking and maze-like construction continuing for many centuries. Fortunately for the universal legacy of the human spirit, Catholic leaders who inherited the site (through conquest) chose to maintain it. (This -- as we should know well even in 2014 A.D. -- is not always the case).
Today's Rune: Warrior.
2 comments:
Christopher Columbus. Good thing his remains aren't over here or they'd probably be desecrated.
Erik-what an interesting and varied style of architecture!
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