The Alcazar of Seville and its Gardens in Literature
With these verses, and under the title Jardín Antiguo (Old Garden), the Sevillian poet Luis Cernuda masterfully described the sensations he felt in the beautiful gardens of the Alcázar in Seville. Gardens in which poets from all over the world have fallen in love for thousands of years. An eternal love inherited in verses such as those of the Andalusian poet and king Al-Mutamid, who lived in the Alcázar of Seville to later suffer his exile. And among his cries, he also mourned the loss of his beautiful gardens of the Alcázar in poems such as La amada (The Beloved).
Visit the scenes of Game of Thrones in the Alcazar of Seville
The fifth season of "Game of Thrones." Surely you have seen or heard of the most awarded series of recent times. The second episode of the season takes us to the exotic Dorne, the country of sands described by George R.R. Martin in his famous novel series "Song of Ice and Fire." In this dream country there are Water Gardens, the beautiful residence of the Martell House, inspired by the golden age of Al-Andalus and filmed on the grounds of the Alcázar.
There was no better place to recreate Dorne. The co-creator of the series has confessed about the Alcázar of Seville that "it is as if it had been designed for us many years ago." The creators of the series have confessed on several occasions that the Alcázar and the Gardens of the Alcázar of Seville, for their history and great beauty, make the perfect place for the filming of the wonderful world of Dorne.
In our guided tours of the Alcázar Gardens in Seville you will be able to recognize all these settings and others where the series has been recorded, such as the Mercury Pond or the Ambassadors Room. We will tell you about it in a different and suggestive way, so that you can immerse yourself in the magic and mystery of Dorne.
Romances that took place in the Real Alcázar of Seville
But in the gardens of the Alcázar of Seville, there have been more kisses and oaths of love than those declared in "Game of Thrones." And the most famous of these love stories is, without a doubt, the one starring Doña María Padilla.
María Padilla was the lover of King Pedro I, nicknamed Pedro El Cruel, who was deeply in love with her. Although in life they were always lovers, the truth is that they met a year before Pedro married Blanca de Borbón through an arranged marriage.
Although Pedro was not in love with Blanca, he agreed to the wedding for political reasons, as was done at the time. But during his wedding trip, Pedro learns that Blanca had been unfaithful to his stepbrother Fadrique, whom he would later assassinate in the very rooms of the Alcázar. That is why he repudiates her and later remarries another woman. This is Juana de Castro, with whom she would have her heir, a son.
Hidden in the Gardens of the Alcázar, and located under the Hall of the Roof of Carlos I and the Patio of the Cruise of the Gothic Palace, is the entrance to the Baths of María Padilla. Legend has it that María Padilla used to go to these baths, and that in them, love was professed in the darkest nights. An enchanted place of the Gardens of the Alcázar that you have to visit to discover all its mysteries.
