Easter in Seville, Spain

April 9, 2023

It was Easter Sunday when we visited Seville. Many of the houses had dried palms in their windows for Palm Sunday the previous week. It is a tradition to cover palm leaves so they are hidden from the sun and can whiten. People then braid the leaves into decorations to mount about their entryway. The one seen here is above the Casa Pilatos, or Pilate's House. A beautiful traditional house that has been turned into a museum that we visited.

We started out our Easter Sunday in Cadiz where our ship moored.

We then rode in the bus from Cadiz to Seville. We passed the Benito Villamarín stadium which is home to the Real Betis, the Spanish football (soccer) team based in Seville.

We also drove by a beautiful palace called La Casa de Luca Tena.

Maria Luisa Park had many beautiful buildings such as Costurero de la Reina (the Queen's Sewing Room). Originally used as a post for the palace forest guards, local legend claims that Queen Maria used to like to sew here with her ladies.

Horse and carriage rides were a popular tourist attraction at the park.

The park was also the site of the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition (like a World's Fair) celebrating the friendly relations between Spain and the Americas. Spain built 117 pavilions to honor the different countries, although only 25 still remain. Below are the pavilions built for Columbia (currently housing the Columbian embassy), Argentina (now a school of dance), Guatemala and Mexico (currently a part of the University of Seville).

The most famous of the exhibits built for the Exposition is the Plaza de Espana, a beautiful plaza lined with exquisite tile alcoves dedicated to the different provinces of Spain.

The next place we visited was Casa de Pilatos (Pilate's House). This magnificent palace was originally built in the 15th century (mudejar-Gothic style), and was renovated in the 16th (Renaissance-style features added) and 19th (romantic style) centuries. It is now a blend of these three styles and was fascinating to see. Although still owned by the noble family, Casa de Medinaceli, it is called Pilate's House because it was one of the 12 stations of the cross for the Easter processions. The station it represented was the house of Pontius Pilate.

After leaving Pilate's House, we did a walking tour of Seville on our way to the Cathedral.

It was Easter Sunday so we could not go inside the Cathedral of Seville, but we were lucky to see the last of the Easter procession to the cathedral - marching bands. The cathedral is a Unesco World Heritage site. Back when it was finally completed in the 16th century, it became the largest cathedral in the world. (prior to that time, the Hagia Sophia had been the largest for a thousand years.) King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella baptized their only son here and Christopher Columbus is buried here as well.

We walked through the Jewish Quarter on the way back to the bus, with a brief time for shopping and some gelato. Back in medieval times, the Jewish Quarter was a walled section of Seville cutting off the Jewish population from the rest of Seville. Now, it is fully integrated with the city and a popular shopping area and tourist destination with its characteristic white buildings with yellow trim. As we reached the square where our bus would pick us up, there were Flamenco dancers getting ready to perform and parrots in the trees surrounding a memorial to Christopher Colombus.

As we drove back through Seville to return to Cadiz, we passed by the Capitana General. This picturesque military barracks overlooks the Plaza de Espana and was built not long before the Ibero-American Exposition.

We also passed by the fountain by the older bus station in Seville,

and a monument to the navigator of the Magellan Expedition.

Easter Sunday was also a big game night for the Seville soccer club, the Real Betis. Many people had traded in their Easter finery for the trademark green and white stripes as they headed to watch the match between the Real Betis and Cadiz.

Back on the ship, there were special Easter desserts - caramel-filled white chocolate eggs.