Old City Seville
A European white stork departs from the Sahara Desert in Africa, and after arriving at the seaside, it only needs to fly dozens of nautical miles to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and reach Andalusia, the southernmost part of Spain. Seville, the capital of this region, has always been regarded as the city of “the purest Spain” as a thousand-year-old capital and cultural center.
In the Age of Discovery that began in the 15th century, Spain once dominated the world for hundreds of years. Seville, which has the only inland port in Spain, took advantage of the momentum to become the pride of the times and the wealth center of the whole of Europe. When the tide of the times receded, the city still retained its rich culture and exquisite architecture.
This city, which began to “grow” in 43 BC and was achieved by the age of great exploration, is a place where Eastern and Western cultures blend, and it is also a place where Islamic culture and Catholic culture meet. Under the superimposition of splendid and diverse cultures, it is magnificent and unique. The building is the most beautiful appearance of the city. Here are the skirt dances of the most beautiful flamenco dancers, and the streets where the handsome teenagers in “Don Juan” walk. Even the most demanding directors can’t escape the temptation of this city, which has been selected for such business cards as “Game of Thrones” and “Star Wars”.
Wandering in this ancient city, all we need to do is to get intoxicated slowly.
The coffin of Columbus carried by the four kings The palace garden in “Game of Thrones”
The Guadalquivir River, with a total length of more than 600 kilometers, may not be ranked as a big river in the river world, but in the hundreds of years of the age of great navigation, the ships that came and went on this river were full of careerists. and explorers. Their fleets set out from here and crossed the Atlantic triangle route, operating coffee, tobacco, silk and black slave businesses, exchanging and plundering countless gold and silver… The frequent trade scene on this river surpassed all the world’s for a time. river. The two most important points are the Bay of Cadiz where the river flows into the Atlantic Ocean, and the more important Seville is 120 kilometers upstream. The Guadalquivir River passes through Seville, and Mudejar-style buildings can be seen everywhere in the old city on the east side; on the west side is a modern new city that once held an international fair.
Three of Columbus’s famous four voyages departed from Cadiz, and the remaining one departed from Seville. This city is the place where the Spanish fleet returned after plundering countless wealth. Compared with the port of Cadiz, Seville, as an inland port, is safer and more convenient to distribute various materials to the inland areas of Spain . It was once the largest trading port in Europe, and it was once a city of wealth and luxury in the eyes of Europeans.
Even after Columbus died, his remains were removed and finally buried in the magnificent Seville Cathedral. This controversial adventurer enjoyed the treatment of “Four Kings Carrying the Coffin” behind him: the coffin is opposite the main altar of the cathedral, and the kings of the four ancient countries before the unification of Spain were transformed into warrior sculptures carrying the coffin. As the largest Gothic church in the world, Seville Cathedral covers an area of tens of thousands of square meters. Its location was originally a mosque built by the Almohad dynasty in the 12th century. In the 13th century, Ferdinand III transformed it into a Catholic church after a simple transformation. After an earthquake in the 14th century, the people of Seville decided: “We want to build a magnificent and beautiful church, so that everyone who sees it will think we are crazy.” This ambition eventually turned into this magnificent world cathedral.
The ancient palace is also a famous building in Seville. You don’t even need to ask for directions, just take the tram and get off in the bustling old city center, follow the crowd and you will find the entrance to the palace. Because the popular “Game of Thrones” once had a scene here, this already famous scenic spot is even more popular. According to modern people, this ancient palace is a unique and high-value “hybrid building”. Just like the city of Seville, it was formed by superimposing a long time and different cultures. Legend has it that this was the first military fortress of the Romans. After the Moors occupied this area, it was built into a castle suitable for the leader to live in. During the Almohad Dynasty, it was already a royal palace. In the 14th century, the Catholic King Pedro I built a more magnificent Mudejar-style palace on the basis of the previous ones, which is basically what people can see today.
At that time, Spain was not unified, and multiple countries existed on the Iberian Peninsula at the same time. Rumor has it that Pedro I, as a Catholic king, had a good relationship with the neighboring Islamic king. Therefore, among the craftsmen who built the palace, there were both Europeans and Arabs. Thus, both Gothic and Islamic architectural elements can be seen in this building. When it is not the tourist season, there are tourists in the palace in twos and threes. Occasionally, a young man with braids sits in the atrium and draws. The reliefs on the palace arches are gradually outlined on his drawing paper. The palace adopts a large number of regular geometric patterns, full of arcs, semicircles, straight lines, and vertical lines. The arabesque pattern made by stucco technology gives the building a gorgeous appearance. In the center of the palace is a maiden’s garden, surrounded by beautiful arches, decorated with exquisite and elegant carvings and tiles. Looking at the exquisite murals on the wall, the luxurious life of the royal family in the past seems to be in sight. The story of the Kingdom of Dorne in the hit American TV series “Game of Thrones” was filmed here, and it is so similar to the original author Martin’s description: “There are a large number of pools and fountains, blood orange trees cast shadows, and pale pink marble floors are covered. Through the gardens and courtyards, through a row of carved beams and columns, through elegant arches… Here, children can play together on the beach, in the pool, in the fountain.”
The origin of the most beautiful Spanish square flamenco
Walking out of the palace and passing through the Santa Croce district, the most beautiful Plaza de España welcomes people with open arms. The second part of the sci-fi classic “Star Wars” was filmed in Seville’s Plaza de España. Every city in this country has a square named “Spain Square”, and Seville must win the “most beautiful” crown.
The Royal Palace of Seville is a typical Mudejar-style building, which combines Islamic features and Gothic architectural styles. The large picture on the right page shows the interior of the palace; The king carried the coffin.”
This Plaza de España was built for the Ibero-American Exposition in 1929. It is semicircular in shape, and on both ends of the main bridge are “blue and white” porcelain towers and colored bottles. In the middle of the square is a Roman-style fountain; the straight side on the northwest side is surrounded by a water belt, and the arc is a red brick building with a corridor. The two tall towers at both ends of the arc are the commanding heights of the square. Tourists climb. The foundation part is inlaid with various tiles, and the steps of the small bridge are also inlaid with strips of exquisite tiles. The colored porcelain on the fence of the cloister is more exquisite, and the walls are inlaid with various tiles to form porcelain carvings, which maintain the originality of nearly a hundred years ago. There are 58 such exquisite porcelain carvings and paintings, representing the various styles of the 58 provinces of Spain at that time.
Outside the square are sparse woods and forest trails, and horse-drawn carriages with red or yellow wheels are parked on these trails with mottled shadows. If you are interested, it would be a good choice to take such a carriage and listen to the groom tell the story of Seville, and stroll around the old city.
In the cloister of the square, you can see the most original flamenco dance. Yes, this city is the birthplace of flamenco. As the quintessence of Spain, Flamenco combines dance, singing and instrumental music, and is a combination of Gypsy culture and Andalusian folk culture in Spain.
From the 14th to the 15th century, the gypsies wandered to Spain, bringing with them a fusion of Indian tap dance, Arabian mysterious and sentimental style, and their own spicy and unrestrained style of singing and dancing. After the unification of Spain in the 15th century, the monarchy and the Catholic Church forced the Gypsies to change their way of life. In order to escape persecution, they were forced to wander to the south of Spain again, making Andalusia still the region with the strongest flamenco atmosphere.
When night falls, the melodious guitar and the ups and downs of singing lead people to the narrow alleys of Seville, knock on the heavy wooden door of a tavern, and choose among the few chairs Sit down and order a glass of sparkling fruit wine. Amidst the sweetness of the fruit and the mellow aroma of alcohol, the dance steps of flamenco are ready to go.
As an impromptu dance, flamenco has no fixed movements and relies entirely on the emotional interaction between dancers, singers, accompanists and audiences. Every strand of the dancer’s hair is flowing and graceful, and the unruly dance steps leave the imprint of freedom and love in the hearts of every audience. Can you hear the singer’s sob? That is the longing from far away Arabia. The guitar strings are playing with the skills while seducing the soul. No wonder the world-renowned dancer Clara Ramona said, “Flamenco is a kind of poison. The more you understand it, the more you can’t stop it.” .”
Seville is the birthplace of flamenco. Small picture 2 on the upper right and small picture 2 on the lower right show brightly colored flamenco dance dresses and dancing men and women; the picture on the left page and small picture 1 on the upper right show the local river bank scenery and street scenes, and the orange trees that can be seen everywhere on the street are also A great feature of Seville.
Today, Flamenco is not only the name of a specific dance, but also an attitude towards life. “Pursuing pleasure, not being productive, unrestrained, and often living on the edge of the law” are all the meanings of Flamingo’s title. In the artist’s mind, “flamenco” is not only a three-in-one art of singing, dancing and guitar music, but also represents a generous, fanatical, bold and uninhibited way of life. The bohemian style popular in the clothing industry is the romantic embodiment of this spirit.
In Seville, flamenco is also a delicious food that tempts the taste buds-flamenco eggs. Fried eggs with fresh vegetables, a little salt, ham, cured meat or smoked sausage according to personal taste, this authentic traditional Seville cuisine can be presented on the table of diners. Flamingo eggs are simple to make, but they are rich in color and full of flavor, which resembles the dancing skirts of flamenco, hence the name.
Where Carmen plays, Joy is more serious than sadness
Once a thriving trading center, Seville was a city favored by literary giants. In the history of opera, there are few places that have inspired so many outstanding works like Seville. More than 100 opera works such as “Carmen”, “Don Juan” and “The Barber of Seville” are based on Seville. Asia as the background, or inspired by the history of the city. Traces of these works can still be found in Seville today.
For the Chinese, nothing is more familiar than “Carmen”. “Carmen” was first written by the famous French writer and playwright Merimee’s novel of the same name; in 1874, the French composer Georges Bizet adapted it into an opera, and the prelude of the opera became a household name; Countless versions of the musical and film of the same name. Carmen in Merimee’s novel is a female cigarette factory worker born in Seville. This cigarette factory is now the campus of the University of Seville, and the sign of the cigarette factory still remains at the door. Opposite the local bullring, there is a sculpture named “Carmen, the Cigar Factory Worker”, which was created based on the classic image in the novel “Carmen”. According to the description in the work, Carmen was killed by Jose here. The Qingshui Narrow Alley and Maestranza Bullring in the article can also be easily found.
Walking around Seville, you can always encounter surprises inadvertently. The upper right picture is the Maestranza bullring mentioned in “Carmen”, the lower left picture can clearly see the circular outline of the bullring; the lower right picture is the local bullfighting activities.
Don Giovanni, the protagonist of Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni, was born in Seville in the 17th century. The British poet Byron wrote in “Don Juan”: He was born in Seville, an interesting city, the place is famous for oranges and women-poor people who have not seen this city…Now , a statue in Seville’s Refinery Square still tells the legend.
The Barber of Seville is a great satirical opera by Rossini. The story in the work takes place on the balcony of Rosina’s house, which is located in a beautiful residence in Alfaro Square; “Fidelio” created by Beethoven unfolds the story in a prison near Seville. The prototype may be the Castle of San Jorge de Triana; the story of Donizetti’s operas “The Favorite” and “Maria Padilla” is mainly based on the ancient palace of Seville.
Yu Qiuyu was once moved by the ancient streets and alleys of Seville: “Sevilla, because of its strange history, because of the combination of multi-ethnic groups, because of the weakness of reason and the abundance of senses, because of the living and wandering of artistic souls, Make every corner full of flexibility. There is no fixed theme here, and everything can happen; this place has long belonged to the citizens, and they will not invade each other; there is never a model here, and everyone is a model of art; the mystery here Dark, almost transparent; the joy here is unadulterated, more serious than sadness.”
