Some Photos from Sevilla

We begin our photo tour of southern Spain at the Alcazar palace in Sevilla. Below is a photo of the gorgeous Moorish-style (although it was constructed by a Christian king) that can be found throughout the palace. The picture barely does it justice.




Next up is La Giralda, the tower of the cathedral of Sevilla. The bottom 2/3rds of the tower were originally part of the mosque in the city when it was under Moorish control. After the Moors were expelled, the top of the tower was added. The statue of Hope at the top is actually an American copy of the original, which had deteriorated and was removed to a museum.

When I first saw the tower, I thought it seemed very familiar. I suspected that it was the inspiration for Stanford White's version of Madison Square Garden (one of two that was actually on Madison Square) and it turns out that it was.




On Saturday, Pete and I drove to Palos de las Fronteras, which was the port from which Columbus set sail on August 3, 1492. Pete is shown here at the spot where the jetty stood 514 years ago. Since that time, the tidal marsh has shifted and the river is about 1/4 mile away.



Further down the river, at La Rabida, we visited replicas of the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. They were docked directly across a small pond from a series of displays of "the New World" and what Columbus encountered when he landed. As we all know, the first thing he saw was two naked guys holding a parrot.



We end our tour at the castle in Niebla. The foundation is Roman, the middle section and some of the gates are Moorish and the top is medieval Christian.