NEWS THE TRAVEL CONVENTION PREVIEW


FOUR-PAGE ABTA 2018 PREVIEW: Seville hosts next week’s Travel Convention. Ian Taylor urges delegates to see some of the city


Alcazar


Flamenco dancer


Dive into Seville’s history with a tour of the Alcazar


Hanging out in Seville is a pleasure in itself but visitors should try to take in a sight or two – one of which should be the Alcazar, or royal palace.


In fact, the Alcazar comprises


three palaces, built at different times at the behest of the Christian kings of Spain, and one of which expresses a remarkable fusion of medieval Christian and Moorish art. Seville lay at the centre of the


Islamic Moorish empire of Spain from the 8th to the 13th centuries and the Alcazar was originally the site of a Moorish palace and subsequently a military citadel. Following the ‘reconquest’ by the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Leon in 1248 the citadel was converted into a royal palace. The first, Gothic palace was largely destroyed by the great Lisbon


earthquake of 1755 and rebuilt in baroque style. The second palace, the palace


of Peter I, was built from 1364 in a hybrid Moorish-Christian style. It expresses the cultural integration of the time before the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition more than 100 years later and the fall of the last Moorish city Granada near the end of the 15th century brought a new era of intolerance and repression. But in the 14th century, the


Muslim caliph of Granada sent craftsmen to work on the palace. In the royal bedroom, Arabic script around the room declares “Glory to the great king Philip I, may Allah protect him and deliver him great victory”, repeated as a mantra. Alongside Christian and


Islamic motifs, six-pointed stars represent Judaism – combining the three great religions of the city in


the fabric of the palace. Between these, a third palace –


known as the House of Trade – dates from the 16th century and was built as the centre of the Spanish empire’s commerce with the ‘New World’ at a time when Seville was the empire’s greatest port. It includes the room from which


the Portuguese explorer Magellan organised the first trip around the world, and the Chapter House used to plan the expeditions of Spanish galleons to the Americas and routes to avoid English pirates. Outside, the beautiful palace gardens – laid out in Islamic style


– were used as a backdrop for the Game of Thrones series. Together, the Alcazar, the


cathedral and the 16th-century Archive of the Indies close by, comprise a Unesco World Heritage Site.


Feel the fervour of flamenco by watching a show


Seville was a birthplace of flamenco, along with Jerez and Cadiz, and home to many of the extended Gitano families from which flamenco’s greatest artists have come. Anyone with time would do


well to visit the city’s flamenco museum (Museo del Baile Flamenco), founded a decade ago by Christina Hoyos, one of the greatest flamenco dancers of the modern era. Flamenco originated among the Gitanos (‘Gypsies’) who were largely ostracised from Spanish society but who earned a living performing in the cafes and bars of Seville, Jerez and Cadiz in the 19th century. Some of the best flamenco venues retain elements of these bars with small wooden stages for a singer, dancer and guitarist. Flamenco’s popularity later


extended beyond Andalusia when tourism developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Gripping in its passion and intensity, flamenco witnessed in the right venue can be utterly unforgettable. The museum presents daily performances.


12 travelweekly.co.uk 4 October 2018


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