Seville Spain

Plaza de Espana

Keeping with our tradition we escaped from our February doldrums and this year made our way to the southern region of Spain and the welcoming city of Seville. Seville is lots of fun and was a little bit of a surprise with sites that reflect a very diverse history as the Romans, Muslims, and Christians all shaped the city. It is the capital of Andalusia and the provence of Seville, Spain. Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis. It was renamed Ishvilya during the Muslim conquest of 712 and ruled as a part of the Caliphate of Cordoba. It was then incorporated into the Christian Kingdom of Castile under the rule of Ferdinand III from 1248. After the discovery of the Americas by Christopher Columbus, Saville became an important port city and vital to the Spanish Empire. In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Seville to circle the earth, a first. In the early part of the 20th century Seville was thrust into the Spanish Civil War.

For us, a walk around in warm sunshine, great Spanish hospitality, a little local music, and some great Spanish food added up to a great experience. Just a short walk from our hotel we visited the Plaza de Espana. This was constructed in 1929 to host the Exposicion Ibero-Americana. It is a mix of architecture with lots of colorful glazed tile, a mosaic courtyard, a beautiful central fountain, and canals across its width.

Flamenco performed on the street

Door of the Prince

When in Seville a visit to the cathedral is a must. The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See or Seville Cathedral is massive and lavishly decorated. It is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third largest church in the world. The open space of the nave is an amazing 42 meters high. Construction of the cathedral began in 1402 to demonstrate the wealth of the city and when it was completed in 1506, the Seville Cathedral moved ahead of Hagia Sophia as the largest cathedral in the world. This is also the burial site of Christopher Columbus. The building incorporates columns and other elements from an ancient mosque including the minaret which became the bell tower. An amazing feature within the cathedral is the vast Gothic retablo of carved scenes from the life of Christ, carved as the life's work of a single artist, Pierre Dancart.

The masterpiece of Pierre Dancart
his life's work and one of the finest altarpieces in the world

We spent the better part of a day visiting the beautiful and expansive Alcazar. The Alcazar is the royal palace in Saville, and it remains the residence of the Royal Family today. The palace was built by Moorish Muslim kings in 1181. It is one of the most beautiful palaces in Spain, recognized as one of the most outstanding examples of mudejar architecture on the Iberian Peninsula. This has been a frequent site for the filming of the television show Game of Thrones and, along with the Saville Cathedral, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For us this place is amazing. It seems to go on forever with one room more ornate and colorful than the one before it, joined by large gardens full of palms and citrus fruit trees of course. 

The courtyard of the Maidens

Hall of Ambassadors with it's amazing ornate golden domed cieling

Oranges everywhere

The gardens of the Alcazar go on and on and on, beautiful!

Cologne, Köln and the Weihnachtsmarkt

The Cologne Cathedral looking across the Rhine with the Hohenzollern Bridge in the foreground

We traveled to Cologne (Köln) in search of a little holiday spirit and to check out the great Christmas Markets (Weihnachtsmarkt). We ended up exploring six of them. Each one had it's own theme making it quite different than the others but all were filled by people having a great time while enjoying a bit of shopping along with plenty of Gluhwiene, German Bier, and Glogg and an abundance of wonderful Christmas music. We joined in and did more than a little of all of that! We had a great time. We walked around the old town both day and night taking in the sights. We even took a stroll over the Hohenzollern Rail Bridge to take a few pictures. We met some wonderful people in Cologne. At the end of our first day we grabbed our evening meal at Gaffel am Dom. What a great experience! This is a popular Brauhaus located just across the street from the (Dom) Cathedral. The place is loud and crowded, full of people celebrating. No way for us to get a table for two, we were seated with two German couples who welcomed us to their celebration and told us we were to be their guests. We had to work a bit at communication as we don't speak any German and some of those we were seated with spoke no english but we managed just fine. Our new found friends made us feel very welcome in their home, guided us to great local food dishes and kept the bier flowing, great fun!

There is also plenty of history to consider here. The city of Cologne (Köln) was established in the first century by the Romans as a walled city. Some portions of the old city walls remain today. The city was a major trade destination throughout the middle ages and saw occupation by the French and British. Cologne was an important German military command headquarters and was heavily bombed by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during World War II. The RAF dropped an incredible 34,711 tons of bombs on the city. World War II was extremely hard for the people of Cologne. During the war the city's 11,000 jews were deported or killed by the nazis and the city's population was reduced by 95%. The city was captured by the American First Army in March 1945. Fortunatley a robust post war rebuilding has restored many of the important historic structures including the Cathedral. Today old and new sit side by side giving Cologne a unique personality. Today it is a vibrant city ranking as the fourth largest in Germany.

Weihnachtsmarkt am Dom

Beautiful Music day and night 

The Rhine River taken from the Cologne Chocolate factory

The Cologne Cathedral (Dom) is a very special place. This is the most visited landmark in all of Germany with about 20,000 visitors each day (including us!) and is a World Heritage Site. Construction of the Cathedral began in 1248 and was finally fully completed to the original plan in 1880.  It is the largest gothic church in Northern Europe with towers reaching 515ft (157m) into the air. Due to those two massive towers it has the largest facade of any church in the world. The structure was designed and built to house the reliquary to the Three Kings and was to be a place of worship for the Holy Roman Emperor.

During World War II the cathedral was hit by RAF bombs14 times and was badly damaged but remained standing as a landmark and a navigational aid in the midst of a city that was devastated by intense bombing. Post war repairs were completed in 1956. The weather continues to take its toll on the old structure and therefore repair and restoration work is carried out continuously. So, when visiting appreciate that a scaffolding will invariably be erected somewhere on the beautiful old building.

There is no way not to be impressed with the massive scale of the Kölner Dom! The interior hight of the nave is 142 ft (43.35m), that is a very high ceiling. You can climb to a viewing platform in the south tower exactly 533 steps from the ground, and of course one of us just had to do that.

The Shrine of the Three Kings is said to contain the bones of the Biblical Magi. It is currently siting in a prominent place behind the high alter of the Cologne Cathedral. The relics were originally held in Constantinople (now Istanbul) then taken to Milan in the care of Emperor Constantine in 314 AD. The relics were moved to Cologne in 1164.