Royal Alcazar of Seville

In the morning, pick up at the hotel / apartment and guided tour of the city of Seville. Visiting first the Real Alcázar of Seville, declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site since 1987. The Reales Alcaceres articulate an extensive fortified palatine complex. Place chosen by different civilizations, cultures, and by their dynasties, as the center of power: from the Almohads to the Christian kings they have left their legacy here for history. Even today it has royal dependencies in use, making it the oldest active royal palace in Europe.

Cathedral of Sevilla

After the visit to the Alcazar, we will make a private visit to another of the World Heritage monuments, the Cathedral of Seville, the largest Gothic temple in Christendom, it sits on the Aljama mosque built by the Almohads. Its tower, La Giralda, is a symbol of the Hispanic Muslim heritage and cultural miscegenation and completes this architectural jewel of the world, an icon of the city.

Santa Cruz neighborhood

Washington Irving lived in the Santa Cruz neighborhood during his stay in Seville, specifically in house number 2 in Callejón del Agua. This magnificent 13th century building was originally part of the Reales Alcázares dependencies. Today, it is a private residence whose patio, filled with colorful flowerpots, is one of the most photographed in Seville. On the crenellated façade you can see the commemorative sculpture of the American diplomat and writer Washington Irving, who lived in this house while he wrote his most widely read work “The Tales of the Alhambra.”

Seville

In the afternoon, after lunch, we will take a leisurely horse carriage ride through the romantic city that saw Washington Irving arrive. A guided tour of the most emblematic places of the city, such as Paseo Cristóbal Colón, Alameda de Hércules and the Barrio de la Macarena.

Castle of Alcalá de Guadaira

In the morning, we checked out and moved to Alcalá de Guadaira, which was the first stage of Washington Irving’s fascinating journey and he called her “the benefactor of Seville”, because for centuries she supplied water and bread, deserving the nickname of Alcalá de los Panaderos. We will visit the Castle of Alcalá, a great fortress on top of the hill embraced by the river, it impresses the imagination of the traveler, transferred to other times. Strategic place in the defense of the city of Seville and bastion of Andalusian military architecture that was ordered to be built by Caliph Yaqub Yusuf around 1172. Its citadel was a military and palatine nucleus, where kings stayed and which was a prison for condition.

Alcala de Guadaira

After the visit, like Irving did, we will enjoy the excellent gastronomy of this city in a restaurant located in a cave nestled in the castle walls. These caves, dating from the 15th century, are today part of a popular neighborhood in the city.

Carmona

At the end of lunch, we continued our trip to Carmona, another of the important points where Washington Irving imagined that Almohad Andalusia.

Alcazar of the Puerta de Sevilla. Carmona

In the morning, we will take a guided visit to the Alcázar Puerta de Sevilla, one of the most impressive bastions that divided the Alcor region with the Campiña de Sevilla. An essential visit to know the essential elements prior to the Conquest of Seville.

Carmona

We continue the tour through what was the original Jewish quarter of the city, until we reach the downtown area and be able to taste some of its most traditional dishes.

Marchena

After lunch, we move to Marchena to enjoy a city with an urban layout that has lasted to this day. We will visit the walled medina dominated by a strong fortress that is half hidden between the houses or free-standing and made by the Almohads in the 12th century and renovated by the Christians. We will enter the jewel of the city, the Parish of San Juan Bautista, considered one of the churches with the most works of art in Andalusia and where we will find works by Zurbarán

The visit to Marchena invites you to stroll through its historic center, streets such as San Juan, Carreras, San Francisco, Las Torres where stately houses proliferate and samples of the genuine domestic architecture of the countryside, with projecting barred windows, fences and balconies on facades , hallways and patios of columns. We will enjoy a coffee in the historic center, and we will return to Carmona.

Ecija

City of towers and bell towers, after checking out in Carmona, we will move to the city of Écija, halfway between Seville and Córdoba, where W. Irving is amazed by its colossal palaces, and its cobbled and winding streets. Here we will take a guided tour of the historic center, the majestic Palace of Benamejí, a spectacular building, home to the Museum of Local History and the curious Parroquia Mayor de Santa Cruz. After the visit, we move to Osuna.

Osuna

Upon arrival in Osuna, we will have lunch in a restaurant. Osuna is a city that brings together one of the richest historical sites on the Peninsula. It was the capital of a powerful duchy that gave it splendor and wealth. We will take a walk around the Collegiate Church, an outstanding work of the Renaissance, whose majestic volume dominates the town; Inside it houses two jewels, the Ducal Pantheon and a museum with splendid oil paintings by José de Ribera. Downhill the Plaza Mayor and long streets such as Seville and San Pedro open up, full of churches, convents and noble palace-houses.

After the visit, we will move to Antequera, making a stop in Estepa for coffee.

In the morning, we will take a private guided tour of the Alcazaba, city walls. The remains of the old medieval town occupy the upper part of the hill that dominates the city, which in its highest area, the Alcazaba, a formidable example of Muslim military architecture on whose base Roman materials emerge. Before entering the Alcazaba, we will cross the imposing Arco de los Gigantes, anteroom of the monumental Royal Collegiate Church of Santa María, today without worship, considered one of the best achievements of the Andalusian Renaissance.

Antequera is a crossroads, a place of passage that has become over time one of the largest Andalusian monuments. We will take a one-hour guided walk through the historic center. The rest of the day is free for lunch and rest.

We check-out. We will go to Archidona, in the background we will be accompanied by the Peña de los Enamorados, a source of inspiration for romances and legends that Washington Irving himself collected in his work. We will make a stop at the Plaza Ochavada in the town of Archidona, where our romantic traveler would find some of the most characteristic places, a French-inspired project that is impregnated with nuances derived from the Andalusian and popular tradition.

Hermitage of the Virgen de Gracia. Archidona

We continue the visit to the Hermitage of the Virgen de Gracia. Surprisingly, the sanctuary of the patron saint next to the castle, preserves in its building the body of the upper town mosque, one of the oldest in the Peninsula and the only one in Malaga.

After the visit, we continue to Loja (Granada)

Leaving Archidona behind, we resume our way to Loja (Granada), check in at the hotel. We will enjoy lunch in this city. After lunch, we will take a guided visit to the Alcazaba and the Church of the Incarnation.

Washington Irving draws the following portrait of Loja: «It is wild and picturesque, being built on the foot of an arid mountain. The ruins of a Moorish fortress crown a rocky mound that stands tall in the center of the city. The Genil river bathes its foot, winding between rocks, groves, gardens and meadows, and flowing under the Moorish bridge that crosses it. Above the city everything is wild and sterile, while in its lower part the richest vegetation and the freshest greenery that can be imagined thrive … The Sierra Nevada, or royal mountains of Granada, crowned by perpetual snow, make up the distant limit of this varied landscape, one of the most characteristic of romantic Spain ».

Montefrío Castle

First thing in the morning, we check-out to start the last roads that lead us to the romantic Nasrid destination of our North American traveler. We will move to Montefrío, a unique place where we will visit the Villa Castle, which was built on land considered strategic in defending the borders of the Kingdom of Granada with spectacular views. In the surroundings, the Church of the Villa, built on the site of an old mosque, according to the design of Diego de Siloé, is a Gothic-Renaissance temple and is located the center of interpretation of the last frontier of al-Andalus.

Church of the Incarnation

Continuing with the visit, going down from the Castle, we will visit the surprising Church of the Incarnation, one of the best exponents of neoclassicism in Andalusia. It recalls the Roman pantheon of Agrippa for its round plan and its dome.

National Geographic Lookout

As if it were a postcard, the National Geographic Viewpoint will delight us with one of the most impressive panoramic views of this town and according to this magazine among the top ten in the world. A privileged watchtower, a gift for the eyes and memories.

Íllora Castle

We continue our journey to Íllora, where we will enjoy the rich gastronomy of Granada and where at the end of lunch we will visit the Castle.

Cowboys font

Continuing our trip we will pass through the town where Federico García Lorca was born and where Washington Irving felt a contained emotion when he felt the proximity to Granada. After a short stop for coffee, we will arrive in Granada.

Granada

In the late afternoon, we will arrive in Granada. Check in at the hotel and free dinner

Acommodation

The Alhambra

A majestic work of the Nasrid legacy, we will visit the monument where Washington Irving stayed for some months in the Palace of Carlos V, and the rest of the time in some royal apartments that had been prepared at the time for Queen Elizabeth of Farnese, although the author The common thread of our trip enjoyed all the spaces of the Nasrid Palaces that we will visit. Alcazaba, Palace of Carlos V, Partal and Generalife Gardens. After the visit, free lunch.

Albayzin

Continuing with the visit after lunch, we will visit the suburb of the Nasrid city, visiting the neighborhood is stopping in time. We will walk through its winding slopes and streets, visiting the Mirador de San Nicolás, the Dar Al-Horra Palace, ending towards the Paseo de los Tristes.

Cathedral. Royal chapel. Corral del Carbón

In the morning, we will visit the Cathedral of the city. Taking advantage of its location, we will visit emblematic places for its architecture and the framework in its streets, such as the Corral del Carbón and the Alcaicería.

Royal chapel

Place of tomb of the Catholic Monarchs, we will visit the sacred place of the Conquerors of the Nasrid city.

In the afternoon, after lunch, check-out and transfer to the airport or train station.