Real Alcazar of Seville

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Cathedral, Alcazar And Archive Of The Indies, Inscribed 1987), The Oldest Royal Palace Still In Use In Europe, With The Mudejar Palace Of Pedro I Begun 1364 · Seville, Andalusia

The oldest royal palace still in use in Europe, which means the Spanish royal family stay here when they are in Seville and the place shuts when they do. It began as a Moorish fort, and what makes it strange is that the finest part was built for a Christian king: Pedro I in the fourteenth century hired Muslim craftsmen from Granada and Toledo to build him a palace in their own manner, two centuries after the reconquest of the city. The result is Mudejar work of the first rank commissioned by the other side, and the Patio de las Doncellas at its centre is the equal of anything in the Alhambra. Around it later monarchs added Gothic halls, a Renaissance upper storey and, above all, gardens: terraces of clipped hedge, orange trees and running water that are the best part on a hot afternoon. Book weeks ahead, because this is the hardest slot in Seville, and give the gardens half your time rather than ten minutes.

Patio de Banderas, Seville, Andalusia, 41004, Spain

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The structure: open daily on TIMED SLOTS with SEPARATE SUMMER AND WINTER SCHEDULES and last admission an hour before closing. The CUARTO REAL ALTO runs its own small-group times. A FREE SLOT runs late on one weekday afternoon. Summer evening concerts in the gardens are separate ticketed events. IT IS A WORKING ROYAL RESIDENCE AND CLOSES AT SHORT NOTICE for royal visits and state occasions. Confirm before travelling for it specifically.

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