Spain Blog #56: Seville's Alcazar: Part 2: Gardens, a Woven Dog, and Ghostly Energy

 In this blog on Alcazar Palace we'll show you some of our favorite pictures. There are just 4 of them so it won't take too long to enjoy them. But you'll read about the baths, ceilings, gardens, the Woven dog and ghostly energy! At the end of this blog, you'll find my observation of the palace tour over all. 

1) Tom at the Vaulted Underground Baths - this was a bathing chamber built under the palace. They're actually called the "The baths of Dona Maria of Padilla" and are located below the main palace 

2) Ornate Ceilings - In every room each ceiling had different designs on it. One of them looked as if it had huge flower patterns. 

3) The Gardens - The gardens are located at the very back of the palace. At the lower level of the palace are the Vaulted Underground Baths that open right into the gardens. 

   The palace gardens, continuously changed since the Renaissance with an outpouring of fountains and ponds, pavilions, arches and galleries. The parterres, have been constantly re-invented, and, right up until the mid-nineteenth century  

The name it was given is Jardin Inglés (English gardens) - These gardens are modeled on those of the British Isles from 18 Century. The park was built in 1909 and the main gardener of the Real Casa de Campo, Juan Gras, was put in charge of planting the flowers.  

4) The Woven Dog - There was one room filled with nothing but giant tapestries hanging on the walls. One that we showed you yesterday had an old map of Spain and the various kingdoms (we talked about those a couple of blogs back). The one that we both liked the best, however, had a dog on it (seen here). 

5) The Ghostly Energy! In the Palace's "Hall of Justice"  - This room was built by Alonso the XI in the 14th century. It was used as a courtroom by Pedro I.  

  As we entered the room, and not knowing what it was until after inside, I (Rob) suddenly experienced shaky legs and felt fright. 

   When I learned the purpose of this room, those emotions that I picked up from the residual energy in the room's walls, made perfect sense. People on trial in that room would feel those emotions and they radiated them into the structure.

   The energy was especially strong near the courtyard entrance. 

FINAL OBSERVATION  - Like the Alhambra Palace - this had NO furnishings to give visitors an idea of how people lived in these rooms at different times. It was disappointing.  Although the artwork on the ceilings and walls are ornate and beautiful, it's hard to understand how people lived in the palace over the last 1,000 years. 

NEXT: THE PLAZA DE ESPANA - A TRUE HIGHLIGHT