The gardens of the palace of the Alcazar in Seville were built in the 9th century by a succession of monarchs, both Muslim and Christian, who created a place of rare beauty.
Here Moor, Gothic and Renaissance influences blend. The gardens, located on the edge of the Guadalquivir river – which enabled river trade with the whole of Europe – are a superposition of influences and styles that followed the whims of the kings that established residency there. The various styles ended up blending together. The palace and gardens are descended from Mediterranean culture, and are still today the home of the Kings of Spain, who occupy part of them.
Gardens Near and Far episode 11 – Alcazar
All the palaces of Al Andalus had garden orchards with fruit trees, horticultural produce and a wide variety of fragrant flowers. The garden-orchards not only supplied food for the palace residents but had the aesthetic function of bringing pleasure. Water was ever present in the form of irrigation channels, runnels, jets, ponds and pools.
The gardens adjoining the Alcázar of Seville have undergone many changes. In the 16th century during the reign of Philip III the Italian designer Vermondo Resta introduced the Italian Mannerist style. Resta was responsible for the Galeria de Grutesco (Grotto Gallery) transforming the old Muslim wall into a loggia from which to admire the view of the palace gardens.
The Alcázar of Seville is a royal palace in Seville, Spain, built for the Christian king Peter of Castile. It was built by Castilian Christians on the site of an Abbadid Muslim residential fortress destroyed after the Christian conquest of Seville. The palace, a preeminent example of Mudéjar architecture in the Iberian Peninsula, is renowned as one of the most beautiful. The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as their official residence in Seville, and are administered by the Patrimonio Nacional. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Seville Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies.
