HOUSE OF SALINAS

During the 19th century, the House went through various uses. According to its website, it even hosted a Masonic lodge, 'which when it left left an extensive trail of rumors about death practices and corpses buried in the house and nobody wanted to live in it. From these rumors he became convinced that the Freemasons had left a hidden treasure. The rumor was so strong that they began to make holes in the entire house. The search ended when they mistakenly punctured a septic tank with unpleasant consequences for everyone digging at the time.'

At the end of the 19th century, the house would be acquired by Eduardo Ybarra, who would undertake a profound reform to which we owe in part its current appearance. It would be enriched with elements such as the tiles of the Casa Mensaque de Triana, a mosaic by Bacchus from Itálica and dating from the 2nd century, a marble sculpture of the Virgen de los Remedios from the old Convent of Los Remedios and a series of stained glass windows from Pickman's factory for the upper dining room and main courtyard.

In 1930 the house would be acquired by Manuel Salinas de Malagamba and it would be then when it would take the current name of Casa de Salinas.

Architecturally, the house is articulated around a patio with a double gallery, with semicircular arches on the ground floor and carpanels on the upper floor. They sit on marble columns and are enriched with a profuse 'candelieri' decoration, very characteristic of Plateresque.

Currently, the Casa de Salinas is privately owned but is open to cultural visits and can also be rented for events.

HOUSE OF PILATOS

by Manuel Hellín

Its construction began at the end of the 15th century by the Mayor of Andalusia Pedro Enríquez and his wife, Catalina de Ribera, although the bulk of its work was undertaken in the time of their son, Fadrique Enríquez de Ribera, first Marquis of Rate.

He carried out a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1518, touring a large part of Italy both on his way out and on his return, a fact that would greatly mark the physiognomy of the palace. He was able to admire great works of the Italian Renaissance in cities like Venice, Milan, Rome or Genoa. In this last city he would commission the sculptor Antonio María Aprile, the magnificent portal that constitutes the main access to his palace. It is made of white marble and reproduces the shape of a Roman triumphal arch, with Corinthian pilasters framing a semicircular arch. In the spandrels there are two classic medallions with the effigies of Julius Caesar and Trajan, both closely linked to the city. On the frieze, between the family coats of arms, there is a large inscription with metal characters inserted in marble, alluding to the construction of the palace and this doorway.

The façade is topped by a Gothic-style cresting, which apparently comes from a previous palace that the family owned in Bornos. In the central part of this balustrade, there are three pillars, each one with a Jerusalem cross and the inscription "4 DAYS OF AUGUST 1519. ENTERED HIERUSALEM", alluding to Don Fadrique's pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

From this pilgrimage, which apparently deeply marked the Marquis of Tarifa, most likely comes the name Casa de Pilatos by which the palace is generally known. For a long time the legend existed that the marquis had reproduced in his home the traces of the palace of the Roman praetorian Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem and that this is where the name would come from. In fact, the portico that faces outwards on the first floor next to this façade is sometimes referred to as the “Ecce Homo” balcony, since it would supposedly reproduce the space where Jesus was shown to the people in the famous Biblical passage.

The slightest formal and stylistic analysis of the palace makes it clear that this theory is nothing more than a legend. What does seem more probable is the relationship of the popular name of the palace with the famous Via Crucis that starts from it and that reaches the Cruz del Campo temple, which is still preserved in the current Luis Montoto street.

According to tradition, the Marquis of Tarifa, on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, would have measured the exact distance that went from the praetorium palace where Jesus was tried to Mount Calvary where he was crucified. This distance would coincide with the one between the façade of the palace and the aforementioned temple.

The niche with a cross that is to the left of the main portal, made in the 17th century with colorful marbles of different colors, alludes to this circumstance. This cross would mark the first station of the aforementioned Way of the Cross, as can be read in the inscriptions that appear on the sides.

Inside, the space of the palace is articulated around a series of patios and gardens, generating a very complex layout.

The peculiar stylistic diversity of this space, which harmoniously brings together Gothic, Mudejar, Renaissance and Romantic elements, is the product of successive interventions on a rectangular courtyard, centered on the chapel and porticoed only on its short sides, built at the end of the s. XV by Pedro Enríquez and Catalina de Ribera. His son Fadrique, the pilgrim to Jerusalem, began his Renaissance transformation: he enlarged its dimensions making it quadriform, opened galleries on its four sides, replaced the brick pillars with Genoese columns and placed in its center the marble fountain also acquired in Genoa. Fadrique was inherited in 1539 by his nephew Per Afán, who, in addition to enriching its corners with the four main pieces of his sculpture collection (see no. 4), arranged around it a gallery of busts of ancient characters that, as a historical mirror, it reinforces the idea of continuity between the founding of Rome and the new empire of Carlos V. Already in the s. In the XIX century, novelties to the romantic taste are introduced, such as the opening of an access in its center, the replacement of the clay floor by marble and the placement of new pseudo-Nazarite mullioned windows.

The central and most emblematic element of the palace is the central patio. It has a marked Renaissance air, despite the profuse Mudejar decoration and the presence of Gothic elements. This is due to the profuse use of marble in columns and flooring, and the splendid collection of Roman pieces on display in the courtyard. For example, in each of the corners there are four Roman female sculptures, all original from the 1st and 2nd centuries. They represent Pallas Pacifera, Pallas as a warrior, Copa Syrisca and Faustina the Less deified as Fortuna. In the center of the patio, a marble fountain with a bust of Jano Bifronte, also original from the 1st century. In addition, the patio walls are crossed by a series of niches in which a magnificent collection of busts of original emperors is exhibited. one of the best private collections that exist of this matter.

These works are just a part of the magnificent sculptural collection that can be admired on a visit to the palace. The main nucleus of the complex was made up of Per Afán de Ribera, 1st Duke of Alcalá, mainly with works from the Viceroyalty of Naples, where he even financed excavations. The pieces have been exhibited in various rooms of the palace and many of them next to the so-called Jardín Chico, one of the two beautiful garden spaces that flank the palace.
The interior rooms generally adopt names related to the aforementioned identification of the palace with the house of Pilatos. In this way, we have the Praetorium Hall, the Chapel of the Flagellation or the Pilate's Cabinet.

The Salón del Praetorio, between the main patio and the Jardín Chico, preserves all its original elements from the 16th century, including the magnificent wooden coffered ceiling and the tile covering on the basin and edge of the walls.

The Chapel of the Flagellation, located on one side of the main patio, is considered the oldest room in the palace, built in a Mudejar Gothic style. In its center is a column, which tradition identifies with the one used in the flagellation of Jesus and hence the name of the chapel. On the altar there is a paleo-Christian sculpture from the 4th century that represents Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Perhaps this is the oldest image of Jesus among those that can be seen in Seville.

The Pilatos Cabinet, located under the tower, has a square plan and an octagonal fountain in its center, elements that relate it to the 'qubbas' of Mudejar architecture. It is covered by an imposing wooden coffered ceiling. It is made of "street and rope" lacework made up of ten-sided wheels that have a ten-pointed star as their center, forming a composition that symbolically alludes to the celestial vault.

For its part, the upper floor was ordered to be built by Fadrique Enríquez de Ribera in the 16th century and was decorated with a series of illustrious characters from Antiquity and with an allegorical composition on the Triumph of the Four Seasons. Later, Francisco Pacheco, Velázquez's father-in-law, painted the ceilings with a series of mythological themes. Currently, a series of pieces from the Medinaceli collection are exhibited in these spaces, which include not only furniture and tapestries, but also paintings by artists such as Goya, Lucas Jordán or Carreño Miranda.

In detail: The Renaissance Gate of the Casa Pilatos

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HOUSE OF OLEA

by Manuel Hellín

Inside, the house is articulated around a porticoed patio, with peralted arches with Plateresque decoration, which rest on marble columns. In the corner, as is usual in Sevillian mansions, a splendid staircase gives access to the second floor.

Some of the rooms in the medieval palace have been preserved, such as the so-called 'girls' room' and a square-shaped room used today as a chapel. The elements of greatest artistic value are preserved there, such as the tiled plinths with loop wheels, similar to those of the Alcázar, or the beautiful plasterwork with ataurique decoration, Kufic and scallop inscriptions. The octagonal wooden vault that originally covered the space was lost and today it has a contemporary cover that reproduces the shape of the original.

The upper floors are the result of the 19th century reform and have lounges decorated in English style.

HOUSE OF THE PINELO

by Manuel Hellín

It owes its name to the fact that it was built by the Pinelo family, merchants of Genoese origin. In 1524 it would be donated by the family to the chapter of the Cathedral, which would hold its property until the 19th century. By then, the result of the confiscation would return to private hands, passing through various owners and uses. In the 60s of the 20th century it was acquired by the City Council, which ended up ceding the property to the General Directorate of Fine Arts in 1972. It then began a profound reform directed by Rafael Manzano Martos. It is currently the headquarters of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Santa Isabel de Hungría and the Royal Sevillian Academy of Good Letters.

The main façade is quite simple and in it the different floors can be clearly distinguished, with the ground floor raised with ashlars and the first floor with brick. On the upper floor there is a viewing gallery with semicircular arches on marble columns, seated in turn on a Gothic-style balustrade.

The interior of the building is articulated around two patios. The first, smaller, served as a halt and is porticoed with carpanel arches on marble columns. The second is a magnificent Renaissance courtyard, also porticoed, but this time with semicircular arches resting on columns of castanets. The arches are richly decorated with Plateresque reliefs. In the spandrels there are a series of medallions with characters of the time, among which are the original owners of the palace. The arches on the upper floor are also supported by marble columns and are similarly decorated, although in this case they are lowered arches.

Among the rooms that surround the patio, a good part of the original wooden coffered ceilings from the 16th century have been preserved. It is also noteworthy the beautiful garden at the back of the house, very renovated in the restoration of Manzano in the 70s.

HOUSE OF TRADE OF THE INDIES

by Manuel Hellín

Initially it settled in a space of the old Shipyards, but due to the constant flooding of the river, it was soon moved to the location that it would occupy inside the Alcázar. There it would occupy the space of one of the old Muslim palaces, to the west of the palace of Pedro I, a space that had already been used by the so-called Cuarto de los Admirales. At the beginning of the 16th century, a complete renovation of the facilities began and a new façade was opened towards the current Plaza de la Contratación. However, the building that we can see there today, owned by the Junta de Andalucía, was built in the 1970s. It was then that the old courtyard of the Muslim palace was rebuilt, based on the few archaeological remains found.

From the 16th century Casa de Contratación, some rooms and patios have been preserved, which today can be visited from inside the Alcázar. Among them, we can highlight the Admiral's Room and the Audience Room.

The Admiral's Hall is a large rectangular space covered by a wooden ceiling, with horizontal beams resting on corbels with a design inspired by the work of Sebastiano Serlio. Dating from the end of the 16th century, this ceiling is attributed to the master carpenter of the Alcázar, Martín Infante. The walls are decorated with paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries belonging to National Heritage, the Prado Museum and the collection of the Royal Family. Particularly interesting are the portraits painted by the German Winterhalter of The King and Queen of France, Luis Felipe and Amelia, with their children, and those of Don Antonio and Doña Luisa Fernanda, Dukes of Montpensier.

Opposite, hangs a large painting titled The Aftermath of Fernando III the Saint, signed and dated in Seville by the local painter Virgilio Mattoni in 1887. It is a work owned by the Prado Museum, although it is deposited in the Alcázar due to the great connection of the work with this place, since the event that it narrates, the death of Fernando III, happened here, in the Alcázar. On the back wall, in the central place of the room, we can see the oil painting titled The Ibero-American Exhibition Inauguration, painted by Alfonso Grosso in 1929.

For its part, the Courtroom owes its name to the fact that it was the seat of the Admiralty Court of Castilla. It is a room with a square plan, whose wooden coffered ceiling from the 16th century, richly gilded, presents traces reminiscent of the old Mudejar style.

On the walls appear the coats of arms of several famous admirals in the naval history of Spain, among which is that of Christopher Columbus, right in the center of the wall on the left.

In the central part of the room we see the altarpiece of Nuestra Señora de los Navegantes, made by Alejo Fernández in 1535. It is the first painting in Europe that has the discovery of America as its theme. We cannot identify the figures that appear clearly, but we know that they are Christopher Columbus, Emperor Carlos, Fernando el Católico, Sancho de Matienzo (first treasurer of the Casa de Contratación), Americo Vespuccio, Juan de la Cosa and several indigenous people. , of the recently discovered lands. All of them covered under the mantle of the Virgin of Buenos Aires. At the bottom are several of the types of boats that made the race to the Indies, so the work as a whole offers testimony of incalculable value.

CHURCH OF SAN GREGORIO MAGNO

by Manuel Hellín

When the Jesuit Order was outlawed in Spain in 1767, the dependencies of the church and the school became dependent on the State, which has used them for various uses ever since. A century later, in 1867, the brotherhood of the Holy Burial settled here and since the 1940s it has housed a Mercedarian fraternity.

The temple has a rectangular plan with three naves, separated by Tuscan columns that support former semicircular arches. Both the central nave and the lateral ones are covered by architrave vaults.

The decoration of the temple is very simple. Outside, we hardly find any neo-Gothic detail added in the 19th century, such as the molding that frames the entrance, a simple rectilinear depressed arch.

Inside, the main altarpiece is a modest 19th-century neoclassical work imitating reddish marble. In its center, an urn also made in the 19th century by Lucas de Prada houses the image of the Holy Reclining Christ, head of the brotherhood of the Holy Burial.

This brotherhood makes its penance station on Holy Saturday with three steps, the Holy Burial, the Triumph of the Holy Cross and the Virgin of Villaviciosa.

The exact date of foundation of the brotherhood is not known. There is an 18th century narrative in which it is stated that it was founded by Fernando III himself after his conquest of the city in 1248 and that the monarch himself would have been his first older brother. However, there is no documentary evidence of such a story.

It is known for sure that the brotherhood already existed around 1570 with headquarters in the convent of San Laureano. After the convent closed in 1810, it passed through different locations until they settled in this church of San Gregorio in 1867. However, they did not go out in procession regularly until they began to do so in Holy Week in 1956.

The first of the steps of the brotherhood is the Triumph of the Holy Cross, one of the most curious of the Sevillan Holy Week. It represents the triumph of the Cross over death, which is represented by a brooding skeleton, which is why the pass is popularly known as 'La Canina'. It is a work from the end of the 17th century attributed to Cardoso Quirós.

The Reclining Christ is a magnificent carving that has not been documented, but which has been attributed to Juan de Mesa and dated around 1620. It parades in an imposing neo-Gothic glass-enclosed urn made in 1880.

In the last step, the Virgin of Villaviciosa parades, an image also by Cardoso Quirós from the late 17th century, who appears comforted by Saint John, the three Marys and the male saints, nineteenth-century works by Juan de Astorga.

CHAPEL OF THE ROSARIO DE MONTE-SION

by Manuel Hellín

The Brotherhood was founded in 1560, the result of the union of two previous brotherhoods. Around 1576, construction work began on its current chapel, on a small plot ceded by the old Dominican convent of Nuestra Señora de Montesión.

The exterior of the chapel is very simple, with a large flat door on which the inscription 'REGINA SACRATISSIMI ROSARII' (QUEEN OF THE HOLY ROSARY) stands out. As a curiosity, it can be noted that the door is not the original one, but was enlarged in 1915 to allow exit from the steps through it. On both sides you can see the ceramic altarpieces of the holders of the Brotherhood, both works by Alfonso Chaves from 1960. The large door that is attached to the facade of the chapel is the old access to the disappeared Dominican convent that we have mentioned.

Inside, the chapel is rectangular in plan with a single nave. The wooden roof stands out, an armor made following the original pair and knuckle technique from the end of the 16th century.

The main altarpiece of the chapel is contemporary, since the temple was assaulted in 1936, during the first days of the Civil War, losing part of its heritage.

Artistically, the holders of the Brotherhood stand out. The Virgen del Rosario is an anonymous dolorosa from the late 16th or early 17th centuries, one of the oldest Marian images among those in procession during Holy Week in Seville. For his part, the Lord of Prayer in the Garden was made by Pedro Roldán around 1675.

In an altarpiece on the Gospel side, Cristo de la Salud is venerated, also the head of the Brotherhood, although he does not carry a procession. It was made by Luis Ortega Bru in 1954 to replace a previous one lost during the fire of 1936. Despite being a relatively recent work, it is a crucified figure of great artistic quality, since its sculptor, Ortega Bru, is one of the of the highest quality and originality among those who worked in Seville during the 20th century.

SEVILLE CITY HALL

by Manuel Hellín

The building was originally attached to the Casa Grande de San Francisco convent, which originally occupied the entire area of Plaza Nueva and its adjacent blocks. The works began around 1527, coinciding with the stay of Emperor Charles V in the city to celebrate his marriage to Isabel of Portugal. Throughout the century, different architects succeeded one another in directing the works, such as Diego de Riaño, Juan Sánchez, Hernán Ruiz II or Benvenuto Tortello.

In the 19th century, following the disappearance of the San Francisco convent, the building was significantly expanded. It was then that the neoclassical façade facing Plaza Nueva was built, the work of Balbino Marrón (1861) and the extension of the façade towards Plaza de San Francisco, directed by Demetrio de los Ríos (1868).

Towards the outside, the exquisite Plateresque decoration of the part built in the 16th century stands out. We can see a complex iconographic program, full of mythological characters and references to Roman antiquity, mixed with the emblems of Carlos V. In this way, it was intended to exalt the city's past, relating it to the glorification of the figure of the emperor . In this way, the aim was to consolidate Seville as the most important city of that great empire that took shape during the 16th century.

On both sides of the arch that originally gave access to the Convent of San Francisco we see two niches with the figures of Hercules and Julius Caesar. Both characters are considered the mythological and historical founders of the city. The sculptures were added in 1854 one of the extensive restorations undertaken on the building's façade. They are the work of Vicente Hernández Couquet.

ROYAL AUDIENCE OF SEVILLE

by Manuel Hellín

However, the building that we can see today is far from the original, due to the numerous historical vicissitudes it has gone through.

In 1918 there was a great fire that destroyed it to a large extent and forced the transfer of the courts to Almirante Apocada street, to the place where the General Archive of Andalusia is located today.

After the fire, Aníbal González was in charge of remodeling the property, giving it its current appearance. In the 1970s it underwent another important transformation with the aim of making it the headquarters of the old Caja de San Fernando. Today it houses the headquarters of the CajaSol Foundation.

GATE OF OIL

by Manuel Hellín

The current name already appears in Christian times, in relation to the market and the oil warehouses that were located in the vicinity.
Its current appearance is far from the original and is mostly due to the reform undertaken by Benvenuto Tortello in the 16th century, focused on facilitating vehicle traffic through the shutter.
Also from the 16th century seems to be the monumental shield of Seville that is located on the opening towards the center of the city. It has been attributed to the Renaissance sculptor Juan Bautista Vázquez el Viejo.
Next to the Postigo is the small Chapel of La Pura y Limpia, built in the 18th century. There a small image of the Immaculate attributed to Pedro Roldán is venerated.