Seville: Tapas and Legends

Seville is the forth largest city in Spain, the capital of the Andalusia region and founded by Hercules (according to legend). The city is also famous for flamenco, a traditional dance and music style that was created by the gypsies (although not originally at this location).

When you’re going to Spain the thing that everyone tells you is to try the tapas (small plates). The locals all order and consume small entrees of thinly sliced ham, tuna on bread, cheeses, fish, meat, chicken, grilled, fried, salted, etc…you get the picture. When I was in Menorca, every restaurant had the same 6-8 tapas and none of them really sounded all that good. Then I got to mainland Spain and realize that there are hundreds of different tapas and a lot of them are fantastic. The thing is you either need to have a bottomless stomach or go with a large group of people if you want to try a lot of different ones.

When I arrived in Seville, I was perfectly on time for the tapas night tour. I joined with 15 college kids from Malta, a couple from Canada, a couple from Switzerland, a Dutch girl, a fellow Californian, and a few Germans, as we visited three different restaurants and tried about 15 different tapas. I got to try fried cheese, something I don’t remember the name of (a local favorite that taste like cold tomato paste with a little cream and cheese added in), mushrooms, grated olives, anchovies, a shrimp frittata, goat cheese with jam, and some others that I don’t even remember. The tapas were served with a choice of drink (Sangria is awesome) and it was a great way to spend and evening.

I spent my one full day in Seville on walking tours by Pancho. There are two free tours that are offered; a day time Folklore tour and an evening History and Legends tour. The day tour was about 3.5 hours long and the evening one was about 2.75 hours long. They were both incredibly detailed and explained a lot of the history of the town and the region. They also allowed me to be able to see a large chunk of the historical part of town. The city itself is quite large (as I discovered when I was wandering around on my own).

No8Do is the official motto of Seville. The motto is a rebus, combining the Spanish syllables (NO and DO) and a drawing in between the figure "8". The figure represents a skein of yarn, or in Spanish, a "madeja". When read aloud, "No madeja do" sounds like "No me ha dejado", which means "It [Seville] has not abandoned me".

The story as to how NO8DO came to be the motto of the city has undoubtedly been embellished throughout the centuries, but legend has it that after the conquest of Seville from the Muslims in 1248, King Ferdinand III of Castile and León moved his court to the former Muslim palace, the Alcazar of Seville.After San Fernando’s death in the Real Alcázar, his son, Alfonso X assumed the throne. Alfonso X was a scholar king, hence his title. He was a poet, astronomer, astrologer, musician and linguist. Alfonso's son, Sancho IV of Castile, was a cruel and arrogant man that tried to usurp the throne from his father when his father changed the laws so that the kingdom would not pass to him upon the king’s death.

Sancho IV didn’t like this one bit and being a devote Catholic, he ran to the Vatican and asked for their support in the war against his father. The Vatican agreed since this would mean more territories for them. Of all of King Alfonzo’s territories, only Seville and two small towns stood behind him. The war was thus over before it started. King Alfonzo conceded to Sancho, but asked that he be allowed to live out his remaining days as a king in Seville and when he died, Sancho could have the throne. Sancho agreed. NO8DO was believed to have originated when, according to legend, Alfonso X rewarded the fidelity of the "Sevillanos" with the words that now appear on the official emblem of the city of Seville.

The city of Seville is filled with orange trees everywhere. Legend states that there was once a king that was fond of his riddles and his rhymes. He made a game out of being able to say something and the people with whom he talking had to add on to what he said in rhyme. One day the king was walking with another important person and started a rhyme. The Kings consort couldn’t think of anything to go with the rhyme, but a young servant girl could and dared to speak up. The King fell in love with the young girl and added her to his collection of wives (although she was his favorite).

Years later, the King and the girl were arguing about whether Granada or Seville was the better city. They compared all the different features of each city and the girl declared that Granada was better because it snowed there. The King not wanting to be outdone by a mire trifle of weather concocted a plan to change her mind. He had everyone plan orange trees throughout the city. When spring came, the trees bloomed and small the white flowers that fell to the ground; giving the appearance of snow.

Since I spent my one full day running around the city taking the walking tours and getting a feel for the historic part of the city (the city is actually quite large – the 4th largest in Spain), I only had the morning and early afternoon to hit up the Palace and the Cathedral. This was definitely not enough time and led to me pretty much running through the Cathedral at the end, snapping pictures in a drive-by way so that I could look at them later and see what was actually there. I recommend that if ever someone comes here give yourself and entire day for the two things or at least 5-6 hours.

The Alcazar is the royal palace of Seville and home to the royal family when they make their way here. It was originally a Moorish fort, but was converted to a palace by the Almorhades and then added to and changed over the years by successive rulers. The palace is one of the best remaining examples of mudèjar (style of decoration using colorful tiles that was popular between the 12th and 16th centuries and influenced by the Moors) architecture.

The Palace boast fantastic gardens filled with lush green paths and fountains, walkways that peer over pools of mossy waters, blooming trees and flowers, and mixed architectures containing marble columns and tiled façades, wooden ceilings, and carved sculptures. You can pay a little extra and be lead through the royal living quarters with a guide that wags his finger at you if you accidentally mistake a royal bench as somewhere you’re allowed to sit while you listen to the audio guide. All in all, it’s definitely a place to visit.

From the palace, I fled to the Catedral de Santa María de la Sede (Seville Cathedral). This is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world and the 3rd largest Church in the world and when you’re inside you can tell. The cathedral started as a mosque, but was converted to a church starting in 1401 (it took 105 years to complete) when the city was a bustling trade center and wanted something to distinguish it and show it’s wealth to the world. When it was completed, it supplanted the Hagia Sofia in Turkey as the largest Cathedral in the world (Hagia Sofia had held the title for over 1000 years).

The inside of the Cathedral rises to a height of 42 meters and contains 80 different chapels, all of which are lavishly decorated. Christopher Columbus is buried somewhere in the crypt. Attached to the Cathedral is the Tower of Giralda, which is 105 meters (343 ft) tall and used to be the minaret when the cathedral was but a small mosque. Giralda is the tallest structure in the city by law so that all citizens can see the tower and know where it is. The top of the tower is gotten to by walking up 34 sloped ramps. When the tower was a minaret, the muezzin (AKA the poor guy that had to ring the bells 5 times a day for pray) didn’t want to have to run up hundreds of stair all day long, so a ramp was constructed and he used to ride either a horse or donkey up it.

And that is the quick and dirty of Seville.