When we planned our trip to Spain I don’t think we realized how extensive and important the history of Seville is. It is a fascinating city that deserved more than one full day to explore and learn about. We began our adventure walking to the Plaza del Triunfo – a small plaza between the Seville Cathedral and the Alcázar. Also abutting the plaza is an archive containing all the original documents from Columbus and other Spanish explorers who sailed from Seville. It was in this plaza that we would connect with Luis, our bicycle tour guide for the morning.
The Seville Cathedral bell tower, seen from Plaza del Triunfo.
Waiting for our bike tour guide in Plaza del Triunfo, another tourist was happy to take our picture for us.
Luis was easy to spot in his bright red shirt and white fedora, walking with a bike and smiling like he already knew us well. After our introductions, he guided us on foot to a small plaza with a bike shop to pick up our rides. Our small-wheeled bikes were perfect for navigating the narrow “streets” of Seville, they could turn easily and travel slowly among the pedestrians. The little bell mounted on the handle bar of my bike was partially broken, so it rang itself every time I hit a bump, which was quite often on the cobblestone streets in the old part of town. Perhaps it was their way of automatically warning others that distracted tourists were coming through.
Luis, our bike tour guide, showing us why a bike is the best vehicle in Seville.
The two and a half hour tour started in the old part of town (Barrio de Santa Cruz), traveled through the Plaza de España, through the gardens, up the river front and back through the Triana district.
Seville bike tour route.
There were plenty of stops along the way where Luis would tell us about the history of Seville mixed with stories of contemporary life in the city. One stop was at Iglesia del Salvador, a stunning piece of baroque architecture built on top of a Mosque built on Roman ruins. The inside was incredible to see, but the architecture on the outside captivated us as well.
The Moors used found materials for part of their constructions. Here, old Roman columns are used as supports for arches. Spaniards later did the same, using the old Moor arches as part of newer buildings. This is located in a small plaza outside Iglesia del Salvador.
A few stops later brought us to Plaza de España, which was built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition and modeled after the Queen’s palace on Naboo, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. I’m not sure how they got the plans.
Seriously, though, it was beautiful. Luis didn’t even mention the Star Wars part, I found that out later when I Google’d the location and saw “plaza de espana seville star wars” was a popular search term. Had to click on that, right?
In the shot below you can see one of the trusty bikes they gave us.
Stopping at Plaza de España to enjoy the view of Naboo.
Plaza de España.
I didn’t take a lot of pictures during the ride – I was usually busy trying to not hit pedestrians when they jumped in random directions from my self-ringing warning bell. My favorite parts of the tour were though the old town and the large Parque de Maria Luisa, across from the Plaza de España.
The Guadalquivir river made Seville a busy port in the thirteenth and fourteen centuries, it was 50 miles upstream from the Atlantic and thus a safer place to unload your riches and spices from sailing the world. The ride up the river to see the site of the 1992 Expo was interesting because of the giant tower built for the expo to show off Schindler elevators – most of what you see are the stairs going up the side of it – otherwise that part of the tour was rather industrial and not Seville’s best side.
