Discover and visit the gardens of the Real Alcazar of Seville
Why you do have to see the Gardens of the Alcazar of Seville?
The garden is a delight for the eyes and a consolation for the soulPerhaps it was this consolation that the first Arab kings sought, who designed a set of gardens connected inside the Reales Alcázares of Seville. Thus, the former orchards were transformed into beautiful Royal Gardens. Gardens that flowed with the passing of time, like river water, which - Heraclitus told us - despite looking the same, is never the same. Nor have the gardens of the Alcazar of Seville always been the same. Despite being the oldest gardens in Sevilla, they and their history have changed over time to become one of the most beautiful and special gardens in the world. Gardens that you have to see if you visit Seville, and that we want you to see with us in one of our guided tours by the Alcázar.
For his verses to the Beatiful Gardens of the Alcazar
Ir de nuevo al jardín cerrado, que tras los arcos de la tapia, entre magnolios, limoneros, guarda el encanto de las aguas. Oír de nuevo en elsilencio, vivo de trinos y de hojas, el susurro tibio del aire donde las almas viejas flotan. Ver otra vez el cielo hondo A lo lejos, la torre esbelta Tal flor de luz sobre las palmas: Las cosas todas siempre bellas. Sentir otra vez, como entonces, la espina aguda del deseo, mientras la juventud pasada vuelve. Sueño de un dios sin tiempo.
¡Oh mi elegida entre todos los seres humanos! ¡Oh Estrella! ¡Oh luna! ¡Oh rama cuando camina, oh gacela cuando mira! ¡Oh aliento del jardín, cuando le agita la brisa de la aurora! ¡Oh dueña de una mirada lánguida, que me encadena! ¿Cuándo me curaré? ¡Por ti daría la vista y el oído! Tu frescor aliviaría la oscuridad de mi corazón.
With these verses, and under the title Jardín Antiguo (Old Garden), the Sevillian poet Luis Cernuda masterfully described the sensations he felt in the beautiful gardens of the Alcázar in Seville. Gardens in which poets from all over the world have fallen in love for thousands of years. An eternal love inherited in verses such as those of the Andalusian poet and king Al-Mutamid, who lived in the Alcazar of Seville to later suffer his exile. And among his cries, he also mourned the loss of his beautiful gardens of the Alcázar in poems such as La amada (The Beloved).
For the waters that are in the palace
The fifth season of ‘Game of Thrones’. Surely you have seen or heard of the most awarded series of recent times. The second episode of the season takes us to the exotic Dorne, the country of sands described by George R.R. Martin in his famous novel series ‘Song of Ice and Fire’. In this dream country there are Water Gardens, the beautiful residence of the Martell House, inspired by the golden age of Al-Andalus and filmed on the grounds of the Alcazar.
There was no better place to recreate Dorne. The co-creator of the series has confessed about the Alcazar of Seville that "it is as if it had been designed for us many years ago". The creators of the series have confessed on several occasions that the Alcazar and the Gardens of the Alcazar of Seville, for their history and great beauty, make the perfect place for the filming of the wonderful world of Dorne.
Undoubtedly, of all the scenes that recreate Dorne, the most beautiful correspond to those recorded in the Gardens of the Alcazar. In them we can see a melancholic prince Doran, contemplating with passivity and in silence the majesty of the Patio of the Maidens. One of the most famous and representative rooms of the Alcazar of Seville. And one of the gardens most praised by its visitors.
Also, among its more than 170 plant species, we could see how the lovers Myrcella Baratheon and Trystane Martell kissed and swore love against the hatred and revenge that their houses professed.
In our guided tours of the Alcazar Gardens in Seville you will be able to recognize all these settings and others where the series has been recorded, such as the Mercury Pond or the Ambassadors Room. We will tell you about it in a different and suggestive way, so that you can immerse yourself in the magic and mystery of Dorne.
For his kisses
But in the gardens of the Alcazar of Seville there have been more kisses and oaths of love than those declared in Game of Thrones. And the most famous of these love stories is, without a doubt, the one starring Doña María Padilla.
María Padilla was the lover of King Pedro I, nicknamed Pedro El Cruel, who was deeply in love with him. Although in life they were always lovers, the truth is that they met a year before Pedro married Blanca de Borbón through an arranged marriage.
Although Pedro was not in love with Blanca, he agreed to the wedding for political reasons, as was done at the time. But during his wedding trip, Pedro learns that Blanca had been unfaithful to his stepbrother Fadrique, whom he would later assassinate in the very rooms of the Alcázar. That is why he repudiates her and later remarries another woman. This is Juana de Castro, with whom she would have her heir, a son.
Nevertheless, and in spite of Pedro's marriages and ravings, Maria was always in love with him and supported and accompanied him whenever he wanted. And, in her own way, surely Doña María was the only woman Peter I ever loved. So much so that he named her queen at his death, which also took place in the Alcazar, and also declared his four children as heirs. Thus culminated a love story that also left its mark on the royal residence.
Hidden in the Gardens of the Alcázar, and located under the Hall of the Roof of Carlos I and the Patio of the Cruise of the Gothic Palace, is the entrance to the Baths of María Padilla. Legend has it that María Padilla used to go to these baths, and that in them love was professed in the darkest nights. An enchanted place of the Gardens of the Alcazar that you have to do with to discover all its mysteries.