Sevilla - Royal Palace (Unesco)

It’s also called “Alcázar Real de Sevilla” or “Reales Alcázares de Sevilla”. It comes from the Arabic “al-qasr” that palace means. It’s part of the UNESCO world heritage list, but unfortunately I didn’t visit the inside because of my limited time in the city. The outside was already impressive enough to get glimpse of the history and beauty.

The complex of palaces is in the Mudéjar style, which is a architectural style with many influences from Moorish and Christian culture. It is probably the oldest palace still in use in Europe; when King Felipe V visits Seville, this UNESCO-listed palace is still his residence.

In the year 913, Abd-ar-Rahman III gave the order for the construction of a castle on this site where a Roman “castle” once stood. The castle was further expanded into a palace by King Al-Moetamid (the last king of the Abbadid dynasty) in the 11th century. In the 14th century, the Spanish recaptured the palace from the Moors, after which King Alfons X of Castile expanded the palace. In 1364, King Peter I of Castile ('The Cruel') ordered the construction of a new palace, the Alcázar, after which his successors continued to build the palace.Read more