SANTA MARÍA LA BLANCA

The church of Santa María la Blanca, in the San Bartolomé neighbourhood, is a precious jewel of Sevillian Baroque. It is known that a mosque was built in this same place during the Islamic period and some authors have pointed out that this mosque could have been built on top of a previous Christian church from the Visigothic period. The columns that today frame the small side doorway of the church on Calle Archeros come from this primitive Visigothic temple, although this possibility has not been archaeologically verified.

What is known with certainty is that the mosque was transformed into a synagogue after the Christian conquest of the city. By order of Alfonso X, a Jewish quarter was established in this area of the city, which approximately occupied the area of the current neighborhoods of Santa Cruz and San Bartolomé. In Santa María Blanca one of the three or four main synagogues of the Jewish quarter would be found.

For a long time it was thought that the current temple was completely built in the 17th century, without conserving anything from the previous building. However, various archaeological and restoration work on the building in recent decades have refuted this claim. Apparently, although the baroque reform of which we have spoken completely masked any decorative aspect of the primitive temple, the truth is that the floor plan of the current church and that of the synagogue on which it stands coincide in essentials. And apparently a good part of the walls and arches of the current church also correspond to the primitive work, although their aesthetics were intensely altered by the Baroque reform. This is how the architect Óscar Gil Delgado explains it in “A unveiled synagogue in Seville: architectural study” (2011):

“These prescriptions clearly imply that the walls of the naves of the church were not demolished and that, for this reason, the Mudejar blind arches are found today in the coronation of said walls. No new arches were turned over the new "red jasper" columns, the arches of the central nave were simply lowered, the old columns, which had no stylistic relationship with the new work, were removed and the new ones were placed. Surely the arches of the nave are the same as those of the "Mudejar" synagogue, trimmed, rounded and covered with plaster mouldings, according to the new taste”.

The synagogue would be transformed into a Christian church at the end of the 14th century, after the violent assault on the Jewish quarter in 1391. It would be at this time that the Gothic doorway would be added, which is still accessed today. However, the church that has come down to us responds mostly to the project for its remodeling promoted by Canon Justino de Neve. The works began in 1662 under the direction of Pedro Sánchez Falconete, who undertook the complete remodeling of which resulted in the baroque temple that we can see today.

It is a church with three naves divided by ten Tuscan columns that support semicircular arches. It is accessed through a tower entrance that opens at the foot of the central nave and has a rectangular floor plan. This is altered by a protruding front, in which the main altar is located, and by three side chapels: the baptismal one at the foot of the temple, the sacramental one on the epistle side, and that of San Juan Nepomuceno on the of the gospel of the head.

The main façade of the church is occupied on its first level by a Gothic portal, with the classic characteristics that this type presents in Sevillian churches: archivolts and diamond-tipped decoration. On this body, you can read the Latin inscription "HAC EST DOMUS DEI ET PORTA COELI 1741" (This is the House of God and the Gate of Heaven). The year 1741 refers to the date of certain minor reforms undertaken in the church, when the façade was also embellished and the inscription was added.

On this first level, in a second body, there are two long windows topped by semicircular arches. Above them is a classic belfry with two levels and behind openings for the bells.

The church has a much simpler front facing Archeros street. It is a simple semicircular arch supported by two stone columns with Late Antique capitals, clearly carried and probably used successively in the preceding mosque and synagogue.

Inside, what most attracts our attention is its intense decorative program, in which every last corner is covered with a combination of plasterwork, painting and sculpture, until configuring a space that as a whole appears as the clearest definition of the famous "horror vacui" of the baroque.

Justino de Neve entrusted the pictorial decoration to Murillo himself and the elaboration of the plasterwork to the brothers Pedro and Borja Roldán. The work begins shortly after the Pontifical Brief of Alexander VII of 1661 was promulgated, in which the devotion and cult of the Immaculate Conception was reaffirmed.

In this way, the iconographic program is as a whole an exaltation of the Eucharist and the Immaculate Virgin, as can be seen as soon as you enter the arch that supports the choir, where it reads Without original sin in the first moment of its being. . Murillo intervened with the realization of five canvases, of which only the oldest, "La Santa Cena", is preserved in the church. The others came to complete the iconographic program we have been talking about, with the "Immaculate Conception", "The Triumph of Faith" and two canvases that narrated the history of the foundation in Rome of the basilica of Santa María de las Nieves, a dedication to which is also dedicated to our church.

Today magnificent copies of the originals can be seen in situ, which unfortunately were the object of the savage looting suffered by the city with the arrival of Napoleonic troops in 1810. Among the stolen works were the four that he stole from Santa María la Blanca . Most of what was looted never returned to the city and is now scattered in museums around the world.

The main altarpiece of the church is Baroque and dates back to around 1690. Its main architectural element is two large Solomonic columns, so characteristic of the Sevillian altarpieces of the 17th century. In the central niche is the titular image of the temple, Nuestra Señora de las Nieves, a dress image made by Juan de Astorga at the beginning of the 19th century.

At the lateral ends, the eighteenth-century carvings of Saints Justa and Rufina, patron saints of the city, are located on corbels. In the center of the attic there is another niche that currently houses a rich golden cross, at the foot of which you can see a representation of the Giralda.

At the head of the right hand side we find a Baroque altarpiece from the mid-18th century presided over by the image of "San Pedro en la Cátedra". We see the saint with all the attributes that identify him as the first pontiff of the Church, framed by two child angels holding two of his attributes: the patriarchal cross of the popes and the keys of the Church.

On the wall on this same right side there is a neoclassical altarpiece from the 19th century, presided over by an imposing ensemble of the Trinity. It is the work of the Valencian-born sculptor Blas Molner. On the bench is an interesting small-format Pietà dating from the 18th century.

Also on the right is the sacramental chapel, presided over by an 18th century altarpiece that generally has an image of Saint Joseph from the 17th century in its central niche. On both sides and on a smaller scale, we find the images of Santa Ana and San Joaquin. The altarpiece bench houses a touching "Nativity Scene" made in terracotta, attributed to Cristóbal Ramos.

In the same chapel there is an altarpiece made up of pieces from a previous retable that had been readapted. It houses the images that originally belonged to the old brotherhood of the Sacred Lavatory, which disappeared in 1672 when it merged with the Sacramental of this church. In the center, the Cristo del Mandato, a work in pulp wood, made by Diego García de Santa Ana at the end of the 16th century. On both sides, Nuestra Señora del Pópulo and San Juan, both anonymous images from the 17th century.

In the center of the wall of the left nave (or of the Gospel) we find a valuable original altarpiece from the 16th century, although quite reformed in the 18th century. It frames a large canvas with the representation of "La Piedad", although it has also been identified at times as a "Descent". It is one of the most outstanding artistic pieces in the church, the last known work of Luis de Vargas, one of the most outstanding painters of the Renaissance in Seville. It is dated 1564 and the altarpiece is framed by paintings of San Juan Bautista and San Francisco, also works by Luis de Vargas. At the foot of the altarpiece you can see the tombstone of the family that financed it.

On the same wall is the only work by Murillo that has been preserved in the church: "La Santa Cena", dated 1650. It is possible that the French did not take it away because the truth is that the work is quite far from the traditional painter's style. Here Murillo uses a powerful chiaroscuro, which makes the canvas a tenebrist painting, with the light of the candles as the only illumination on the faces.

On the same wall we find another altarpiece with a modern Sacred Heart and at the bottom of this Gospel nave there is a small chapel behind a grill. In it there is a Baroque altarpiece from the 17th century, with a central image of San Juan Nepomuceno from the same period. On the walls of the chapel there is an interesting "Ecce Homo" from the 16th century, made by an anonymous follower of Luis de Morales. In front of him, an "Annunciation" by Domingo Martínez from the first third of the 18th century.

ROYAL ALCÁZAR

It has been used continuously as a royal palace since its Muslim origins, back in the 10th or 11th century, until today, in which it is still the oldest royal palace in use in Spain and Europe. Throughout its history, the different monarchs who have inhabited here have been adapting the different palaces, courtyards and gardens to the tastes of each era, until configuring the marvelous and diverse complex through which we can walk today.

Although its origin is a set of Muslim palaces, very little remains of this early period of the Alcázar. Most of the palaces that we are going to see correspond to the reforms undertaken in Christian times by:

- Alfonso X the Wise, who built the so-called Gothic Palace in the 13th century.

- Pedro I, called by some the Cruel and by others the Justiciero, who built the wonderful that is the true heart of the Alcázar. It was built in the middle of the 14th century and constitutes the peak of the Mudejar style.

- In the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, the so-called Casa de Contratación was built, of which we will also see some rooms on this side, intended to centralize and organize trade with the Indies, after the discovery of America in 1492.

All this is surrounded by a magnificent set of patios and gardens, which have been added and reformed until very recent times. It must be remembered that a part of the Palace of Pedro I, specifically the upper floor, is still used as the residence of the kings of Spain when they are in Seville.

Thanks to all this, its long history, its beauty and its architecture, the Real Alcázar of Seville was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in December 1987, together with the nearby cathedral and Archivo de Indias.

CATHEDRAL OF SEVILLE

Most of its work was done in the late Gothic style during the 15th century, although it retains elements of the 12th-century Almohad mosque on which it sits, such as the Patio de los Naranjos or the Giralda. In addition, in the 16th century the Royal Chapel, the Chapter House and the Greater Sacristy were added in the Renaissance style. Later, during the Baroque period and practically up to the present day, various elements of the cathedral would be added and remodeled, until it became a true compendium of the history of art in the city.

Its floor plan is one of the hall calls, with a flat head and five naves, the central one being taller and wider than the rest. It has numerous side chapels located between the buttresses.

The supports are enormous pillars with a rhomboid section, made of brick and masonry and covered with ashlars. Rib vaults sit on them, so characteristic of Gothic. They are sexpartite in the chapels, quadripartite in the naves, and those corresponding to the transept, in the central part of the temple, are star-shaped.

On the side chapels and on the main axes there is a narrow gallery in the form of a clerestory.

Its construction was approved by the cathedral chapter in 1401. Legend has it that the project would be inspired by the phrase "Let's make a church so beautiful and so great that those who see it carved will consider us crazy" and according to the capitular act of that day the new work should be "one such and so good, that there is no other like it."

In detail: Cathedral of Seville

Vista de la catedral de sevilla desde la puerta del alcázar — View of the Cathedral from the Puerta del León of the Alcázar. You can see the dome that covers the Chapter House and, in the background, the Giralda

Vista nocturna catedral sevilla avenida constitución — Night view of the Cathedral of Seville from the avenue of the Constitution

Cabecera catedral de sevilla - Giralda - Capilla Real — Facade of the east side of the cathedral, with the head of the Royal Chapel and the Giralda in the background

puerta de san miguel catedral de sevilla — Puerta de San Miguel, made in Gothic style in the 15th century. The main part of the sculptural decoration is the work of Mercadante de Brittany, who represents a beautiful "Nativity" on the tympanum.

puerta bautismo catedral sevilla — Portal of Baptism, on the western façade of the Cathedral. It is made in Gothic style in the fifteenth century. The sculptures at the ends are the oldest surviving representations of Saints Justa and Rufina

Puerta del Perdón - Catedral de Sevilla - Miguel Perrin — Gate of Forgiveness. It is an entrance of Muslim origin, much reformed during the Renaissance, with sculptural decoration in fired clay by Miguel Perrin.

Puerta de Campanillas - Miguel Perrin - catedral sevilla — Puerta de Campanillas, made in Gothic style in the first half of the 16th century. The sculptural decoration is the work of Miguel Perrin, who introduces the Renaissance language, as can be seen in the "Entry into Jerusalem" that he represents on the tympanum

Puerta de Palos de la Catedral de Sevilla - Miguel Perrin — Puerta de Palos of the Cathedral, from the first half of the 16th century. The sculptural decoration is by the Frenchman Miguel Perrin, who represents the "Adoration of the Magi" on the tympanum.

Puerta San Crustóbal - Príncipe - Catedral Sevilla — Puerta de San Cristóbal or del Príncipe, on the south façade of the cathedral. It was made at the end of the 19th century in a neo-Gothic style. It stands out for its white color, since it is made of limestone from Monóvar (Alicante), unlike the limestone from the Sierra de San Cristóbal (Cádiz) in which the rest of the Cathedral is made.

detalle puerta asunción catedral sevilla — Detail of the Cover of the Asunción, with the sculptures of San Simón and San Bartolomé. They are works by Ricardo Bellver from around 1889

Interior de la catedral de Sevilla - Nave central — Central nave of the Cathedral seen from the Puerta de la Asunción

Crucero de la catedral de Sevilla — View of the transept of the cathedral from the door of San Cristóbal. In the background, the silver altar

Bóvedas del crucero de la catedral de Sevilla — Vaults of the dome and the transept space of the Cathedral

Retablo mayor, concebido por Pieter Dancart a finales del siglo XV. Está considerado el mayor retablo de la Cristiandad — Main altarpiece, conceived by Pieter Dancart at the end of the 15th century. It is considered the largest altarpiece in Christianity

Virgen de la Antigua - Catedral de Sevilla — Image of the Virgen de la Antigua, Gothic image from the 14th century, closely linked to the navigation to America

Sepulcro Cristóbal Colón - Catedral Sevilla — Tomb of Christopher Columbus, made by Arturo Mérida at the end of the 19th century. It houses the remains of the Admiral since 1902

Sepulcro Cardenal Cervantes - Mercadante Bretaña - Catedral Sevilla — Sepulcher of Cardinal Cervantes, a masterpiece by Mercadante de Bretaña in 1453. It is one of the first manifestations of Renaissance language in Seville

San Antonio - Murillo - capilla bautismal catedral sevilla — Chapel of Baptism, with the huge canvas of San Antonio, the work of Murillo. By the same author, it is the magnificent "Baptism of Christ" from the attic of the altarpiece

Sacristía de los Cálices de la Catedral de Sevilla - Justa y rufina - Goya — Sacristy of the Chalices, with the canvas of Saints Justa and Rufina, made by Goya in 1817

Giralda dese el patio de los Naranjos - Catedral de Sevilla — View of the Giralda from the Patio de los Naranjos, the former ablution patio of the mosque that preceded the Cathedral

Cristo de la Clemencia - Martínez Mntañés - Catedral de Sevilla — Cristo de la Clemencia, a masterpiece by Juan Martínez Montañés from 1603. He is considered one of the best crucified figures of the Spanish Baroque

Bóveda Sala Capitular Catedral Sevilla — Interior of the dome of the Chapter House, built in the second half of the 16th century following a project by Hernán Ruiz II. The pictorial decoration is by Murillo

Bóveda - cúpula - Sacristía mayor - catedral de Sevilla — Interior of the Renaissance dome that covers the Greater Sacristy. This space, the first in the Renaissance style of the Cathedral, was designed by Diego de Riaño in 1528

OLD CASTLE OF SAN JORGE

It had ten towers that articulated a robust fortified space with a rectangular plan. The Christians would establish the headquarters of the Inquisition in Seville there in 1480, so it is certain that it was the scene of numerous episodes of imprisonment and torture throughout its history. Some of the events that occurred there have been narrated as brilliant as the one offered by Beethoven in his opera "Fidelio", which is set in this castle.

It continued to be the seat of the Inquisition until the end of the 18th century, when it was abandoned. Already at the beginning of the 19th century it was demolished and a market was built on its site. At the end of the current market, in the part that faces Castilla street, some of the great walls that belonged to the primitive castle can still be seen today.

HOUSE OF EL REY MORO

Virtually nothing is known about the history of this house, so we do not know where the nickname by which it is known comes from. The researcher Celestino López Martínez pointed out in his day that it could refer to the 'King of Niebla and the Algarve D. Abenmafor, in the mid-13th century'. However, no remains can be found in the house from before the 15th century, so the most widespread hypothesis today is that the Mudejar, 'arabesque' decoration of the house caused the neighbors to spontaneously identify it as Casa del Moro. .

The house has a rectangular floor plan, with a main façade facing Sol street and a lateral one through which the orchard was originally accessed. The rooms are distributed around a patio, which is the best preserved and most interesting space. It is porticoed on two of its sides on the ground floor and on three on the top. The arches are made of exposed brick, peralted on the ground floor and lowered on the top, and rest on brick pillars. It should be noted that originally most of the houses of the Mudejar tradition in Seville used to use this type of pillars, but very few have reached our days. This is because, with the arrival of Renaissance taste in the city, most of these brick pillars were replaced by marble columns, often brought directly from Italy. In addition, the pillars of this house are especially interesting because they adopt a great variety of sections, including on the upper floor some of the 'Solomonic' type, with the body twisted in a spiral.

CAÑOS DE CARMONA

It seems that the pipes were built reusing the layout of an ancient Roman aqueduct, in the Almohad period, during the reign of Yusuf. Originally they were about 17 kilometers long and would have around 400 arches, raised on robust brick pillars. Depending on the unevenness of the terrain, in some areas a simple arcade was arranged and in others a double one was necessary. Currently, only a few scattered fragments remain along the axis of Luis Montoto street. The remains are frequently misidentified with a Roman aqueduct.

BATHS OF THE MOORISH QUEEN

These are Almohad baths from the 13th century, which originally constituted one of the largest public baths built in Al Ándalus. After the Christian conquest of the city, they were ceded by Alfonso X to his stepmother, Queen Juana de Ponthieu. That would probably be the origin of the name. From 'Baños Moros de la Reina' would have derived 'Baños de la Reina Moor', since given the location of the complex, so far from the Alcázar, it is very unlikely that they were used by the wives of the kings or emirs of the city in Muslim era.

They continued to be used as baths after the Christian conquest of the city until the 16th century. Later a community of Augustinian nuns would settle there and in the 19th century it would become a headquarters of the Command of Engineers. The old barracks would be demolished in 1976 during the eighties the archaeological excavations began.

The baths are articulated around a large patio, surrounded by columns with muqarna capitals. This patio was originally covered by a vault and was probably the temperate room. The porticoed spaces that open around the patio are covered with barrel vaults, in which skylights open, with the starry shape so characteristic of Arab baths.

At the end of the patio two adjoining rectangular rooms open up, which would originally be the hot and cold rooms.

Currently, the Baths are annexed to the Brotherhood of Veracruz, which is co-owner of the property and manages its visits.

ARAB BATHS OF THE GIRALDA BAR

They have been dated to the beginning of the 12th century, in the Almoravid period and are probably the best preserved in Seville. They are built of brick and have a large central space, covered by a vaulted ceiling resting on tubes, which are supported by semicircular arches. The arches, in turn, rest on Tuscan columns, added later to replace the original support, which in all probability would be brick pillars.

On both sides of this central space there are two smaller ones, covered by a barrel vault. Most likely, the central space served as a warm room and those on the sides were the cold and hot rooms.

ARAB BATHS OF THE MESON DEL MORO

They date back to the 12th century and have preserved part of their original brick structure, with semicircular vaults resting on arches, some of which are horseshoe shaped. We can also see the original starry skylights, so characteristic of Arab baths.

The so-called Mesón del Moro was established in the building that the baths occupy, a lodging place whose origins some authors date back to the Middle Ages. Apparently, the name would derive from a concession of the Catholic Monarchs according to which all Muslims who stayed in the city had to do so in this establishment.

ROYAL SHIPYARDS

The building originally had seventeen naves, raised on enormous pointed brick arches and arranged perpendicular to the river. Each ship was 100 meters long by 12 meters wide, forming a total area of about 15,000 square meters.

Throughout history, the complex has undergone modifications in its layout and use, adapting to new ship models and the needs of the Navy at all times. Among the most important modifications we can mention the reconditioning of ships 13, 14 and 15 in the 16th century to be used as customs. In the 17th century, the naves between 8 and 12 were removed to install the Hospital de la Caridad.

Part of the Shipyards were used as a storage place for artillery since the 16th century and this purpose would be expanded in the 18th century, since in 1719 the seat of the Royal Artillery Maestranza was decreed in five of the ships.

At present, the Shipyards are undergoing extensive restoration and reform in order to turn them into an immense cultural space.