A Re-thinking Of Plaza de Espana

The first two times I saw Plaza de Espana in Seville, I was kind of dismissive.  Yes, by the second time Star Wars Episode Two: Attack of the Clones had been out for years, and the scene shot at Plaza de Espana is pretty cool.

(Never forget that Episode is actually the fifth Star Wars film, so timelines don't really matter that much.)

But my lack of interest is that it was built in 1928 for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, so it didn't seem that old or authentic to me.  I resolved that I had to give it one more chance (Carol had always liked it), so, after packing up the car, we walked the 1.2 miles there in the morning of before leaving this wonderful city.

Giving it another chance paid off -- looking at it through fresh eyes as a landmark in and of itself, no matter when it was built, was the right call.

It mixes elements of Baroque Revival, Renaissance Revival, and Moorish Revival.  All it is missing to be considered a full Revival is a Baptist preacher.

It's a huge complex, built in a half-circle next to Maria Luisa Park, which is a wonder in and of itself.  There are many alcoves around the plaza, each featuring a different Spanish province.  I set out to photo each one we had been to, but about halfway through that process people started getting in the way, so I shrugged and gave up.

The buildings are quite striking, even though they are used now as offices for government agencies.  There are museums within the buildings as well, although we did not go in any because of time constraints.

There are also four bridges over a moat, representing the four ancient kingdoms of Spain.  The Vicente Traver fountain takes up the middle of the plaza and is quite massive and beautiful.

My photos did not turn out as well as I had hoped.  Some did, and the best are below, but some were blurry, and I'm a little surprised.  Oh well, here's the best of what remained:

Main fountain selfie.

One of the two towers at

either end of the building.

The fountain and

the central building.

Orange you glad to see the Valencia

painted ceramic bench?

Teurel painted ceramic bench.

Look at this amazing tiling on

the much smaller fountain.

The moat with one of the

four kingdom bridges and

a tower.

I try to replicate the famous Star Wars

"Attack of the Clones" scene from 

Planet Naboo.  My lighting wasn't

as professional as George Lucas used.

Of course, my budget wasn't as large either.

Flowering tree on a boulevard

on the way to the car from

Plaza de Espana.