The Real Alcázar Sevilla. This is the place I’ve been wanting to visit for months. I had seen photos on social media from other people in my teaching program and thought “Sevilla has a fortress, castle-thing?” My only experience in Sevilla had been on my first trip to Spain back in June 2015 with CoffeeShop Spanish. We arrived in the afternoon, wandered the city and went to a Flamenco show that evening. It was simply too short of a trip for such a wonderful and historical city.
What is Sevilla?
Sevilla is a city in Spain. One of my biggest pet-peeves with travel blogs is when they don’t tell you what country the city or place is in. I know that that seems laughable, but I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been reading a post thinking “okay I think this is in the Philippines, but they didn’t say” or “I think this is in the UK … but it could be Ireland too. I DON’T KNOW!!” Travel bloggers just a little piece of advice: always put the country with wherever your post is about. While it may seem obvious to you, not all of your readers likely are familiar with the region you’re writing about. But likely we will want to know exactly where it is so we can make a note and future plans to travel there.
Anyway, here it is on the lovely map of Spain:
In English, the city is Seville. In Spanish, it’s Sevilla. But make sure you say “Sev-eeya.” The ll in Spanish makes a y sound and I just don’t want you to be “that person.”
It was initially founded as a Roman city and then fell under Muslim rule, as did much of Southern Spain. In the 1200’s, it was a major port city for the Spanish Empire. It was a major center for trade in general. Also fun fact: Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Sevilla for his famous journey around the world.
The city now sits as the capital of the large region of Andalucia. It is also the fourth largest city in Spain. Basically if you are planning a trip to Spain, you have to make sure to see Sevilla. You can get trains directly from Madrid and bus service from all the major cities in Andalucia. I arrived by BlaBlaCar.
The Real Alcázar Sevilla
The first thing to note is the crazy lines. You can apparently reserve your tickets online. It costs 9 euros to get in. I did not plan ahead, so I waited maybe 20-30 minutes in line. Tickets can be bought online here.
You essentially walk into the Patio de la Montería. It is incredibly breath-taking.
This fortress was originally built by the Moors, a Muslim people group that resided in Spain for a long time. The royal family of Spain actually still uses the upper part of the property as their official residence in Sevilla. I did not see any royal people, however, during my 2.5 hour visit there. This structure dates back to the first century, which is just crazy.
The Gardens
So right after I arrived, I realized I was dying of thirst. The cafe is right next to the gardens, so hence I went there first after I downed a bottle of water.
Hi, my name is Nina and I take too many pictures when I travel.
Heading on inside
After wandering around the gardens and sweating a lot (summer had finally hit in Southern Spain. It was sweltering), I decided to move on inside. Here we have the lovely Alcoba Real.
I could look at stuff like this for hours. And I did.
Patio de las Doncellas
Just so breath-takingly amazing.
Palacio Gótico
And some more shots around the fortress
Like what an adorable bench.
I would advise you to give yourself 2-5 hours in this place. You will want to get lost roaming around and taking it all in. And if you like similar places, Córdoba has the Alcázar de Los Reyes Cristianos. I wrote about it here: 8 Hours in Córdoba.
