Seville - Alcázar

On the southeast side of the Plaza del Triunfo in Seville stands the Alcázar, the stronghold of the Moorish and later of the Christian kings. The present structure, still with the aspect of a medieval fortress, was built by Moorish architects in the second half of the 14th century, in the reign of Pedro the Cruel. The entrance leads into the Patio de las Banderas, planted with orange-trees, and through the Jardín del Crucero into the Patio de la Montería, the Court of the Royal Bodyguard, on the south side of which is the richly articulated main front of the Alcázar proper.