A Night at the Real Alcazar of Sevilla

An Alcazar is a Moorish fort. They were built in many cities controlled by the Moors in Southern Spain and were often later re-purposed as Christian castles/palaces after the Reconquista. In the case of the Real Alcazar of Sevilla, most of the original Alcazar was rebuilt starting with King Pedro I of Castille (1334-1369), although some parts of the older Moorish sections remain. The Real Alcazar is built primarily in the Mudejar style, which was prevalent in Spain after the reconquista. It still functions as a royal palace today, and thus is the oldest European palace still in use.

The Real Alcazar is, of course, a highlight of any visit to Sevilla. Although we had visited in 2007, we planned to return. And, we did; however, Shana discovered that we could visit at night, which we thought would be a particularly special experience. It turned out even better than we expected. Instead of walking through the building, its decorations and gardens following Rick Steves' self-guided tour, we were treated to a performance by a series of actors dressed in period costumes that included singing and dancing (Shana even got to participate, minimally, in the dancing) as a way of explaining the history of the Real Alcazar. As a bonus, because Sevilla is celebrating the Year of Murillo, commemorating the 400th anniversary of native Sevillan artist Bartolome Esteban Murillo's birth, the performance also brought his story into the history of the Real Alcazar. 

Not surprisingly, the performance was in Spanish, and we were very proud of how much of the dialog we understood. While I am sure we did not get all of the history that we might have had the performance been in English, it was very fun and the Real Alcazar was beautiful at night. Also, because of the nature of the tour, we visited with about 40 other guests and not the usual multitude that we would have encountered during the day. 

Sorry there are no pictures, but they were forbidden during the performance. 

Hasta pronto,

Jeff and Shana