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Parque
de Maria Luisa | Paseo de Colon |
Plaza de España
The Maria Luisa Park in Seville
by Josephine Quintero
For all its old fashioned grace, Seville has been
one of the most forward-looking and progressive cities of Spain
during this century. In the 1920's, while they were redirecting
the Gudalquivir and building the new port and factories that are
the foundation of the city's growth today, the Sevillenos decided
to put on an exposition. In a tremendous burst of energy, they turned
the entire southern end of the city into an expanse of gardens and
grand boulevards. The centre of it is Parque de Maria Luisa, a paradisical
half mile of palms and orange trees, elms and Mediterranean pines,
covered with flower beds and dotted with hidden bowers, ponds and
pavilions. Now that the trees and shrubs have reached maturity,
the genius of the landscapers can be appreciated - this is one of
the loveliest parks in Europe.
The park is designed like the Plaza
de España in a mix of 1920's Art Deco and mock Mudejar
by the architect, Anibal Gonzalez. Scattered about and round the
edge are more buildings from the 1929 fair, some of them surprisingly
opulent, built in the last months before the Wall Street crash undercut
the scheme's impetus - a good example is the stylish Guatemala building,
off the Paseo de la Palmera.
Towards the end of the park, the grandest mansions
from the fair have been adapted as museums. The farthest contains
the city's archaeology collections. The main exhibits are Roman
mosaics and artefacts from nearby Italica, along with a unique Phoenician
statuette of Astarte-Tanit, the virgin goddess once worshipped throughout
the Mediterranean.
Nearby is the Royal Tobacco Factory, forever associated
with the fictional gypsy heroine, Carmen, who toiled in its sultry
halls. Today it is part of the university.
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