Seville Revealed: The Architecture of Santa Cruz and Plaza de España

(13 reviews)

Seville audio tour: Seville Revealed: The Architecture of Santa Cruz and Plaza de España

This is a 2.7mi walking tour

It takes an average of 150 mins to complete.

Seville

Spain

$9.99

Access all 55 locations offline with the VoiceMap app

Buy for a Group

Reviews

About the Tour

Seville was not only shaped by empires and architects – but also by myths, revolutions, and moments of reinvention.

On this walking tour, you’ll wander through the most enchanting and architecturally rich parts of the city with Manuel, an architect and licensed guide, and leave feeling like an informed explorer instead of just a visitor.

The tour starts by the steps of Archivo de Indias, the repository of the early days of America’s history. You’ll see the grandeur of the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition, where a world’s fair was held in Parque de María Luisa (Maria Luisa Park). As you weave through the winding alleys of the Santa Cruz neighborhood, you’ll get a sense of how the medieval and modern past have shaped Sevilla. You’ll have time to appreciate the architectural grandeur of Plaza de España, a sweeping semicircle of tile and water built for the 1929 Exposition, and the majestic exteriors of La Giralda, the famous tower.

I’ll also tell you about the many layers of Seville’s identity – Islamic, Jewish, Christian, and modern – as you explore its most significant landmarks. The tour ends at Puerta de la Asunción, a part of Catedral de Sevilla (Seville Cathedral), the largest Gothic cathedral in the world.

During this 150-minute walking tour, you’ll also have a chance to see:

Calle Susona, where a haunting local legend sets the tone for Santa Cruz’s storied past, and Calle del Agua, once a route for ancient aqueducts
Plaza de Santa Cruz, a peaceful square reborn from a demolished church
The baroque elegance of the Hospital de los Venerables, home to religious heritage and fine art
Jardines de Murillo, where garden design meets urban transformation
Patio de Banderas, framing your first stunning view of the Giralda tower
Palacio de San Telmo, a Baroque masterpiece with a royal and ecclesiastical past
The Royal Tobacco Factory, now part of the university, and once the setting of Bizet’s Carmen
Abdel Aziz tower and arch, some almohad remains of the ancient medieval walls of Sevilla

This tour blends storytelling with scholarship, along with more than 100 pictures of the different spots you will visit, including some plans, details, interiors and reconstructions.

Whether it’s your first visit to Seville or your fifth, Walkitect invites you to slow down and appreciate the city’s historical depth, architectural insight, and stories hidden in stone, tile, and shadow.

If you are ready: ¡vamos!

Tour Producer

WALKITECT

6 tours

Hello and welcome! I am Walkitect, a travel company born in Andalucia in Spain, that offers specialist tours by architects for curious travelers.

Together we will explore the cultural, historical and architectural depths inside the Andalusian cities. While following our audioguides you will discover at your own pace how cities like Sevilla, Córdoba, Granada or Málaga developed through time and ended up becoming what they are nowadays. In Walkitect we consider travelling as something holistic, so our tours are based on architecture, history and art but complimented with biographies of important characters or gastronomical, music or literature recommendations.

In our audio guides you will walk with Manuel, a spanish master architect, expert in Islamic and medieval construction and licenced official guide that has spent his whole professional life studying and working in the cities of Andalucia, from east to west.

In Walkitect we also make deep cultural specialist private tours in Malaga, Cordoba, Granada, Sevilla and Cádiz, so if you want to walk with us visit www.walkitect.net

If you are ready... ¡vamos!

Preview Location

Location 31

Sevilla History 4

You are going to enter Jardines de Murillo, so continue straight along the path with the ivy wall on the left.

These is a tranquil and lush green space that compose a peaceful retreat bordering the Alcázar complex and connects with Santa Cruz neighborhood. The gardens are ... You are going to enter Jardines de Murillo, so continue straight along the path with the ivy wall on the left.

These is a tranquil and lush green space that compose a peaceful retreat bordering the Alcázar complex and connects with Santa Cruz neighborhood. The gardens are named in honor of the Sevillian Baroque painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and they were originally part of the Alcázar. The space was transferred to municipal use in 1911, allowing for its transformation into a public garden. The layout reflects the influence of historicist and regionalist landscape design, combining geometric paths, fountains, and ceramic benches with Mediterranean vegetation such as orange trees, palms, myrtles, and oleanders. Decorative azulejos (glazed tiles) and small sculptural elements provide tiny retreats to sit and relax

The site also includes commemorative monuments, such as the Column of Christopher Columbus, crowned with a lion and a globe, highlighting Seville's historical ties to the Age of Exploration in the center of these gardens on your right, or a tilework depicting Catalina de Ribera, a philanthropist noble from late 15th century Sevilla who participated in the construction and refurbishment of different hospitals, palaces, and monasteries of the city.

But while you enjoy the gardens, let's focus on the last episode of Sevilla's history. What happened to the city after the conquest in 1248?

After a hard siege that lasted for more than a year, Ferdinand the III, who was called the saint for his conquest of two of the main historical Islamic strongholds: Córdoba and Sevilla, received the keys from the last ruler of the city, Axataf.

Since then the city was integrated as one of the main capitals in Castile, where kings found themselves comfortable and spent long periods of time. But was this the end of the splendor of Sevilla? Not at all!

After the discovery of America, it was necessary to establish a main peninsular port to control all the goods coming from the American colonies and territories overseas. Sevilla had a clear advantage: a big city with massive walls, shipyards, and the most important thing, a port. But not a regular port: a port inland protected from any kind of pirate attack for miles.

So the Catholic Kings decided that the Alcázar, behind the wall on your left, would be the right place for establishing the "Casa de Contratación" or literally the "Hiring House," an administration in charge of the control and tax of all the goods coming from America. This made Sevilla one of the most important ports in the world, as it was the new worlds main gate in Europe.

The decadence of the Spanish empire, especially marked in the 17th and 18th centuries, affected Sevilla, particularly after a terrible plague epidemic in 1648 that killed at least 60,000 people, more than 40% of the city. But Seville continued being an important port with a powerful agricultural landscape until it was rediscovered as a cultural icon in the 19th century with the romanticism and the rise of tourism. Nowadays you are seeing how the capital of the Andalusian region continues being a massive city that somehow "shaped" the international perception of Spain.

Continue straight. Read More

View locations and route

How VoiceMap Works

Focus on your surroundings, not the screen

The VoiceMap app uses GPS to play audio automatically, at the right time and place, so you can focus on your surroundings, not the screen.

Follow a route with turn-by-turn-directions

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a fixed starting point. That lets us give turn-by-turn directions and use context to tell a better story.

Resume playback to go at your own pace

If you'd like to stop for a drink or go into a museum, end your tour then use the Resume feature to pick up exactly where you left off.

Listen as many times as you like

You can listen to your tours as often as you like using both the VoiceMap app and website.

Take virtual tours anywhere, like a podcast

Select Virtual mode in the VoiceMap app to listen to tours like a podcast - at home or in transit.

Buy for less on voicemap.me and sync

Once you've purchased a tour, it's added to your VoiceMap library. To access it in the app, just sign in using the same account.

Do tours without paying for data

Tours work offline, so you don't have to pay roaming fees. Just download them over WiFi before you get started.

Major Landmarks

Antigua calle Paco Palacios " "El Pali"
Puerta Jerez
Calzada romana
Híspalis Fountain
Portada monumental de Leonardo de Figueroa
Glorieta de Goya
Torre Norte
Torre abdel aziz
Arco de la Plata
Palacio de San Telmo
Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville
Parque de María Luisa
Monumento a Aníbal González Álvarez-Ossorio
Plaza de España
Jardines del Prado de San Sebastián
Murillo Gardens
Monumento a Don Juan Tenorio
Reja del Diablo
los venerables Seville
The callejón del Agua Palace
La Susona
Patio de Banderas
La Giralda
Puerta del Perdón y Patio de los Naranjos
Puerta de la Asunción

View all

Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Av. de la Constitución, s/n, Casco Antiguo, 41004 Sevilla, Spain
Total distance

4km
Final location
Av. de la Constitución, Casco Antiguo, 41004 Sevilla, Spain
Distance back to start location

142.7m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour begins close to the fountain located by the entrance of Archivo de Indias. It is easy to get there by bus taxi or walking if you are by the city center

Show Directions

Gift vouchers

Buy tours for friends and family who delight in discovery

Buy Now

Buy for a group

Get 15% to 50% off when you buy for a group

Buy Now

License this tour

Adapt this tour to use your brand and suit your guests

Find out more

Tips

Places to stop along the way

There are many places around to stop, feel free to explore and rest if you want in Maria Luisa Park, Murillo Gardens or Plaza de España. In Maria Luisa park you can find some kiosks and bars to rest, the same as in Santa Cruz.

Best time of day

The best time is always early in the mornings as the spaces are a bit less crowded, or late in the afternoons

Precautions

Sevilla is extremely warm, so be specially careful in sunny days and in summer avoid doing the tour between 14:00 until 18:00. When walking in summer always carry water, a hat, sunscreen and of course comfortable shoes.

Get The App

Download tours to use them offline

Listen hands-free with GPS playback

Get turn-by-turn directions

Scan the QR Code

“This app has become my go-to app for audio tours. I pretty much use it for every trip and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend VoiceMap for travelers to truly experience cities.”

App Store Review

“Great app. walk around at your own pace, stop where you want, move on or speed up when you want. Read the script before you go or during the commentary, speed it up or replay it. Repeat the tour whenever you like.”