Roland Routier

Plaza Virgin de los Reyes: trams, traps and tourists
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The Baroque Palacio San Telmo is the seat of the Regional Government's President so you need an appointment to get in. I didn''t.
It was originally built as the Colegio Seminario de la Universidad de Mareantes, a home for orphaned children of sailors. Then in 1682 it was used as a marine academy, training ships' pilots, navigators and high-ranking officers of the Flota de las Indias, the Indies Fleet. It is named after San Telmo (Saint Elmo), the patron saint of navigators.
From 1847 it was the headquarters of the Railway Society, and the site of the Literary University, but they couldn't afford the upkeep.
In 1849, the building was bought by Antoine d'Orleans, Duke of Montpensier, and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa Fernanda de Bourbon, daughter of King Fernando VII and sister of Queen Isabel II who converted it into royal palace.
Maria Luisa donated to the city of Seville in 1893 a large part of the palace's extensive private grounds , which became the Parque Maria Luisa, the site of the 1929 Expo.
The Infanta bequeathed the estate to the Archdiocese of Seville, who in 1901 turned it into a seminary and hospice for soldiers wounded in the Moroccon wars. They made many architecturally and aesthetically displeasing alterations to the fabric of the building, and abandoned it after a damaging fire, (St Elmo's?) in 1952.
Eventually, the State took it over in1989
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Even Haliburton and the Defence Industries could learn a thing or two from the Figueroa family about milking government contracts. They managed to spin out the manufacture and delivery of this stone "Churrigueresque" portal over 70 years and 3 generations.
Surrounding the columns you can see female allegorical figures representing the arts and sciences. San Telmo is holding a ship and charts, flanked by the sword-bearing San Fernando (patron saint of Seville,) and San Hermenegildo (who was martyred in Seville) with a cross.
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Cute but modern tower built for the 1929 Exhibition.
Note the Gorilla Knitting in the windows.
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The main body of the Torre del Oro is a duodecahedron built by Moors during the 13thC. The subtlety of so many angles to consider was beyond Pedro 1 of Castile, so he added a middle part with only 6 sides. The circular top was plopped on in 1760.
The rumour is that its name derives from its use as a temporary vault for gold and silver from the Americas. Seville had become the favoured port of disembarkation because it was far enough upstream to deter Barbary pirates from attacking. Recently archaeologists have discovered some of the original lime and plaster on the walls, which would have given it a golden hue.
Originally it had a twin on the opposite bank of the river, a chain linking the two to control river traffic.
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Now it is a naval museum of all the usual stuff except for this small plaque of El Princessa Deasturias. A trireme in the Spanish navy?Läs mer