1. Torre del Oro - I've talked about the "Tower of Gold" before because it is a common meeting place in Sevilla, but I just found out that you can actually go into the tower and climb to the top! The view of Sevilla from the torre was spectacular. It overlooked the Guadalquivir and you could also see the Cathedral and Giralda rise above the city. Seeing these landmarks never gets old. Built in 1221, it originally served as a watchtower that guarded the city wall running to Alcázar from foreign attack. Now it houses a Spanish naval museum.
2. Archivo de Indias - Located next to the cathedral is a 16th century building that serves as a storehouse for documents created during the colonization of the Americas. There are shelves upon shelves of written references to Spain's New World Possessions and is considered one of the most important archives in the world. There was a special exhibit going on that chronicled the difficulty of Spain's ability to maintain these colonies. Their primary problem = pirates. They were also being bombarded by their fellow European countries, especially England and France. Others did not like Spain's exclusive ownership of the New World and its riches. During this time Spain became one of the most powerful countries, politically and economically, but as they slowly started losing colonies, their economic problems were too great and their empire was destroyed.
3. Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo / La Cartuja - This next site I actually wasn't to impressed by, but it was still interesting to see. La Cartuja was once a monastery that was raided by Napoleon (who expelled all of the Cartujan monks). More recently, it was fully restored for the 1992 World Explo. It was nice to walk around the monastery because there were some neat architectural parts in the large gardens, but was not well kept up.
4. After all this sightseeing plus class, I needed to cool off and take a break in Plaza de Alameda. This plaza is located right by my house and is really neat. The plaza is pretty big with 2 playgrounds, many benches, fountains, and it's entrance is marked by 2 pillars with Hercules statues on top of it (in reference to the same mythological story as in Cádiz). The plaza is surrounded by countless cafes, places, to eat, bars, and a small cinema. I bought an italian ice and enjoyed the 80 degree weather we have been having in Sevilla (still considered spring temperatures....I cannot even imagine how hot it is during August...)5. The last thing I visited was the Hospital de Caridad. The Hospital was first a monastery for the Brotherhood of Caridad. Their 3 dogmas were faith, hope, and care, and for a long time they dedicated themselves to giving a dignified death to people who died in the river and were unidentifiable. In the past, the Guadalquivir was not a controlled river like it is today, and sometimes it would flood pretty far into the city causing lots of damage and death. Miguel Mañara was a wealthy sevillano who supported the mission of the brotherhood and donated a lot of money to enhance the monastery and its church. When the river was better controlled, the brotherhood changed its mission to bring in homeless people and give them shelter, food, and water. The site was then converted to a hospital for the sickest of the sick...patients that no other hospital would accept. The brotherhood inherited its fortune during the Baroque art period (the best artistic time in Sevilla), so the art in the building is very pretty. For example, there are marble sculptures from Genovia in the patio, ceramics from Cádiz depicting scenes from the old testament, and the paintings in the church fit for a museum. Mañara ultimately moved into the monastery and spent his money making the Iglesia de San Jorge more grand. Entering the iglesia, I was shocked by the first 2 paintings. They were both very strong images of death. The message of the first being that we are all equals at the time of death and everyone is subject to the same decision of heaven or not (where the good and the bad of the soul is weighed). The second shows that death can happen at any moment. It doesn't matter who you are (a writer, architect, king, common man). After this shock I was happy to find that the point of this is to look towards the alter and see how the other paintings leading towards the alter demonstrate the good and how we can save ourselves. Some are copies of Murrillo's work since Napoleon's troops had stolen the original pieces during the French Invasion. The final piece is in the choir area that you can see when looking up from the altar and shows the entrance to heaven.
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