Royal Alcázar and Archive of the Indies
Chapter 2/12 · Sevilla
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You are in Plaza del Triunfo. The gate in the wall is the Lion Gate, the main entrance to the Royal Alcázar, a group of palaces from different periods. Its jewel is the Mudéjar palace that King Peter I had built between 1356 and 1364, with craftsmen from Toledo, Granada and Seville. The royal family still uses it when visiting the city, which is why it is said to be the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe.
Inside is the Courtyard of the Maidens, with a long pool between two sunken gardens. In the Alcázar, Queen Isabella the Catholic gave birth to her son, Prince John, on 30 June 1478. And films and series such as Lawrence of Arabia and the fifth and sixth seasons of Game of Thrones have been shot here.
The square building opposite is the General Archive of the Indies. Juan de Herrera designed it for King Philip II as a merchants' exchange, and in 1785 King Charles III ordered the documents of Spain's overseas administration to be gathered there; the first ones arrived from Simancas that same year. In 1987 UNESCO declared the cathedral, the Alcázar and the Archive of the Indies a World Heritage Site. Now we head into the narrow lanes of the Santa Cruz quarter.
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