Alcázar and the Mudéjar

16 May 2009

Sevilla's history as a vibrant city extends back to Roman times.

The Moors took control of Sevilla in 712. The city was under Muslim control until 1248, when King Fernando III took control. In 1492, the last of the Moors were expelled from Spain.

During this period of the Catholic Christians wresting control of Sevilla and Spain from the Muslims, the Mudéjar emerged. These were Moors who remained in Christian territory after the reconquest and who did not become Christians. Sevilla's Alcázar, or fortified palace, is considered one of the finest examples of Mudéjar architecture. All of these photos were taken on the grounds of the Alcázar, which is immediately adjacent to the Cathedral, just a 5-minute walk from our apartment, and which we spent a few hours visiting this afternoon.

A few notes about the pictures. The opening shot shows some of the extensive gardens within the walls of the compound. The first pair of smaller photos shows the rainwater tanks known as "Los Baños de Doña María de Padilla" and the "Patio de las Doncellas."

One of the especially noteworthy features of the Alcázar is the extraordinary tiling work on the walls. The exquisite patterns in the next pair of photos is all the more remarkable because they are formed as mosaics. Before about 1600, ceramicists could not maintain two distinct colors on a single tile, so the complex patterns shown here had to be done by fine-scale cutting and mounting of monochromatic tiles to create these sophisticated designs.

This next tile photo was shot out in the gardens. We learned a bit about the "plus ultra" tile, today. Apparently, the two columns stand for Hercules who was the legendary founding father of Sevilla. The slogan of Spain was once "nec plus ultra" -- "there is nothing beyond." However, after the Spanish discovery of the New World (which one might consider the "plus ultra") the "nec" was conveniently dropped. "Plus ultra" is Spain's motto today.

So far as I know, the closing shot has nothing to do with Mudéjar. But, we did see these baby ducks in the gardens of the Alcázar today, and they were too cute to omit from this post!