Seville things to see

Once you have arrived in Seville by hire car, train or plane, the best way to explore the streets is on foot.

An afternoon stroll through the some of the city's prettiest backstreets, visiting the Casa de Pilatos and culminating in the shops of Calle Sierpes. Start at about 4pm on a weekday to arrive in Sierpes when the 'pasco' is in full swing and its shops and cafes are bubbling with life.

Starting in the Patio de las Banderas (Courtyard of Flags), take the Reales Alcazares exit. An archway in the far corner will lead you into the narrow streets of the Barrio Santa Cruz. Passing the covered alley, bear left into Calle Vida. Leave via the long Callejon del Agua which ends in the Plaza de Alfaro: steps to the right lead down to the Jardines de Murillo a city walk via cas a de pilatos (Murillo Gardens). Continue ahead, bearing left into the Plaza de Santa Cruz, framed by Sevillian mansions and with a 17thcentury iron cross in the centre. Further on, Calle Mezquita takes you to the Plaza Refinadores (Polishers' Square), overseen by a haughty statue of Don Juan.

Look for a small alley Calle Mariscal that will take you up to the Plaza de Cruces (Square of Crosses) and another square. At the top turn right into Calle Ximenez de Enciso, at the end of which turn left towards the Hotel Fernando III for Calle Cespedes. This road wends its way to Calle Levies, where you will be confronted by a huge redbrick building (once a noble house, then a convent and now a government building).

Bear left into the Plaza de las Mercedarias, then take Calle Vidrio until it becomes pedestrianised, turning left (by No 25) into a tiny alley, the Calle Cristo del Buen Viaje. This delivers you to Calle San Esteban. Turn left towards the restful Plaza de Pilatos, where a statue of the great painter Zurbanln will greet you.

The Casa de Pilatos Seville

The Casa de Pilatos  is said to have been modeled on Pontius Pilate's house in Jerusalem by its creator, the Marquis of Tarifa. Completed in 1540, it is decorated in Mudejar style but has none of the introversion and claustrophobia found in Pedro the Cruel's earlier Alcazar. Spacious and eclectic, it is a delightful combination of Italianate grace and Arab artistry. You enter first through a Roman style triumphal arch, crossing the apeadero (carriage yard) to its central patio where arcades of Moorish arches are echoed by Gothic arches on the floor above.

This courtyard contains some of the finest azulejos you are likely to see: dazzling, puzzle book pattern sin brilliant colors that include extraordinary, quasi-impressionist designs. The Roman statuary was imported from Italy. Walk to the right, through the Praetorian Chamber, to find a small garden. Continuing around the patio in an anticlockwise direction, you will encounter the chapel and Pilate's study, which open onto enchanting gardens blessed with trickling fountains and cascading bougainvillea.

A monumental staircase leads to a late Mudejar cupola (1537). You can take a rather abrupt guided tour of the upstairs apartments, which are packed with art treasures acquired over the centuries by the palace's aristocratic owners; parts of the house are still used for domestic purposes by the Medinaceli family. When you leave, turn right to walk past the Hostal Atenas (Calle Caballerizas) to reach the ochre and amber facade of the baroque Iglesia de San defonso. Directly opposite is a brown metal door that leads into the Convento San Leandro, a closed order convent where you can buy via a brass studded revolving drum its famous yemas.

Shopping Seville

Leave the adjacent plaza by the far corner, where Calle Boteros then Calle Odreros wind through to the Plaza Alfalfa, scene of a pet market on Sunday mornings. If you're puckish, the Homo San Buenaventura patisserie is heaven for cake lovers. From here you can follow the narrow Calle Alcaicerfa de la Loza (by the Carlos Antiguedades shop) into the city's most extensive pedestrian shopping area. First is the Plaza de Jesus de la Pasion, devoted to wedding dress shops, and followed by the popular Plaza del Salvador. Between the two sits the Church of EI Salvador, built mostly during the 17th century.

The Plaza del Salvador sits halfway up a length of shopping streets running north south. For a good circuit of the shops, walk up to the top of Calle de la Cuna, turn left  and then return down the city's main strolling and spending artery, Calle Sierpes. While passing along Calle de la Cuna look out for the Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija), another Sevillian stately home with a grand patio and stunning mosaics filched from Italica. At the top of Calle Sierpes, La Campana  is one of the best cake shops in Spain. At the southern end of the street is the Plaza Nueva and the Plateresque facade of the old Ayuntamiento (Town Hall, 1564); beyond is the Avenida de la Constitucion and the cathedral.

For dining consider the restaurants clustered around the north end of Calle Sierpes. Among these is Las Columnas de Baco (Calle Santa Maria de Gracia ), especially recommended if you want to escape the grime of the streets; it's significantly cheaper to eat at the bar than at a table.

Seville museums

A roundup of Seville's best museums

The Musco de Bellas Artes is the city's premier museum. For years it was closed for restoration, the completion of which was hastened by Expo '92. The building, constructed as the Convento de la Merced Calsada by Juan Oviedo in 1612, has three patios bordered by two floors of galleries that exhibit works from medieval times onwards. The main convent chapel's baroque ceiling is so gloriously coloured that it competes with the works below. Look out for the Seville School's religious paintings and sculptures, commissioned by the city's abundant convents, monasteries and hospitals.

The artists include EI Greco, Pacheco, Velazquez, Zurbaran, Leal, Murillo ... Also worth seeing are vistas of the Guadalquivir with steamships docked beside the Torre del Oro and Gonzalo Bilbao's 1915 tribute to the tobacco factory workers: Las Cigarerras.

There are two museums on the Plaza de America at the southern end of the Parque de Marfa Luisa. The Musco de Artes y Costumbres Populares  featuring costumes, portraits and agricultural oddities, offers insights into the traditions of Andalusia.

Opposite, is the Musco Arqueologico, containing the Tartessian Carambolo Treasure. This collection covers neolithic to Moorish times and includes Roman mosaics and statues from Italica and Ecija.

Seville churches

A long walk through the backstreets of the Barrio Macarena the 'Soul of Seville' to the Basilica de Macarena, past some of the finest churches.

In the centre of the Plaza de Armas, the Old Cordoba Railway Station (1889) is a fine example of Sevillian architecture that served as a reference point for the future styles of regionalism and modernism. Having housed the Sevillian Pavilion in Expo '92, it is now an upmarket commercial centre.

With the river at your back, walk to the next corner (Calle Marques de Paradas) and turn right. When the road splits, bear left along Calle Julio Cesar and continue until the Calle Reyes Catolicos. Turn left and the street narrows. If you look above the buildings you will glimpse the colorful cupola of the church of Santa Marla Magdalena. It is difficult to see the building clearly because of the trees but it is worth looking for an angle to do so.

Past the church, turn left onto Calle Bailen then right at the next small plaza, which has lots of interesting buildings, into the shopping street Calle San Eloy. Continuing to the end of the street, turn left into the small garden square of Plaza del Duque de la Victoria, which hosts a pleasant 'hippy market' . For more serious shopping, try the EJ Corte Ingles department store. Leave the plaza with EI Corte Ingles on your left and walk along Calle Jesus del Gran Poder, past the Plaza de la Concordia.

In front of the Farmacia Militar, turn right into Calle San Miguel then left when you reach Calle Amor de Dios, a street which seems to be an endless show case of Sevillian urban architecture. Immediately turn right into Calle San Andres and the small, mostly Gothic church of San Andres. Leave by Calle Cervantes, passing under the ceramic 'street chapel' of Nuestro Padre Jesus del Gran Poder. Ahead is the 14th century Gothic church of San Martin. Leave the Plaza San Martin by way of Calle Viriato. Some 100 meters away is the Gothic Mudejar church of San Juan de la Palma, finished in 1788; notice the baroque bell tower and the unusual rectangular stained-glass window over the entrance. To the right is the Renaissance facade of an old seignorial house which is now a shop.

From the plaza you can see the bell tower of the Convento de Espiritu Santo. Continue along the Calle San Juan de la Palma and follow the convent wall into Calle Duenas until you reach the entrance to the Palacio de las Duenas, a palace owned by the Duchess de Alba. It isn't open to visitors but if the gate is ajar you might catch a glimpse of the garden.

The Most Beloved Virgin Seville

Facing the church's main door, turn left and follow Calle de San Luis. Soon you will see, on the left, the three doors of the Iglesia de San Luis (1699), one of the best examples of Sevillian baroque. Continuing along Calle de San Luis pass the small church of Santa Marina to the right and the Parroquia de Gil before arriving at the Puerta de la Macarena, the gate in the old Islamic walls. Next to the gate, the Basilica de la Macarena was built in 1949 as a church museum to house Seville's most beloved Virgin La Esperanza Macarena. For a small fee you can see the statue, which leaves its pedestal only during Holy Week, when it is paraded through the streets.

Across the road from the basilica is the delightfully old-fashioned Bar Plata. Around the corner from here is the massive Hospital de las Cinco LIagas, which is now home to the regional parliament.