Visit Seville – Plaza de España and Maria Luisa Park
It’s easy to see why Plaza de España and Maria Luisa Park are always included on any list of top tourist attractions.
You can easily spend the better part of an afternoon here. Start with a stroll around the Plaza de España, enjoying it’s sheer size and magnificence. With luck you will catch one of the frequent groups of Flamenco guitarists, singers, and dancers busking in the plaza. Once you have had enough of the heat and the crowds, escape to the peaceful cool oasis of Maria Luisa Park.
Plaza de España
Plaza de España was built in 1928 in preparation for Seville’s hosting of the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. Designed by Anibal González, it’s an attractive mix of Art Deco, Spanish Renaissance Revival, Spanish Baroque Revival and Neo-Mudéjar styles.
In the centre of the vast square lies the splendid Vincente Traver fountain.
A charming canal runs along in front of the building, spanned by four bridges, representing the four ancient kingdoms of Spain. If it’s not too hot when you visit you may enjoy renting one of the small boats to paddle around the canal.
The highpoint for me was the Plaza’s tiled Alcoves of the Provinces. Each alcove is decorated with an intricate tiled mosaic depicting one of the 52 provinces of Spain. The tile work is absolutely stunning!
Maria Luisa Park, (Parque de María Luisa de Sevilla)
Just next door to Plaza de España, stretching along the banks Guadalquivir, lies the serene beauty of the botanical gardens of Maria Luisa Park, (Parque de María Luisa de Sevilla). The park is a perfect place for a leisurely stroll, to enjoy a picnic, or rent a four-wheeler bike in the park and peddle down the tree-lined avenues.
The park is an oasis of calm and tranquility, a wonderful place to escape from the hustle and bustle of the crowds. If you are visiting during the hotter summer months you will appreciate the hundreds of trees lining the avenues, providing a welcome respite from the heat.
Meander down the shaded paths and enjoy the beautiful flowers and interesting trees, colourful tiled benches, Moorish pools and fountains. The park is home to a large population of doves, incredibly noisy parakeets, as well as swans and several species of ducks that make their home in the ponds in the park.
The park is also home to two museums the Archaeological Museum housed in the former Plateresque Pavilion, and the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares (museum for ethnology) in the Mudéjar Pavilion.
