4/18–Seville Santa Cruz and Cathedral afternoon

Emerging from the restaurant, we head in the direction of Santa Cruz, an area that is supposed to the one of the most picturesque of the city – which means, also, of course, one of the most crowded.  There are lots and lots of restaurants and cafes, and all are packed, making us very happy we stopped for food and drink when we did. The Jewish Ghetto spreads out from the corner of the Real Alcazar, into small little cobblestone lanes with pretty squares and interesting buildings.  We content ourselves with meandering through the lanes, snapping pictures of the architecture, plazas and narrow alleyways leading out of the ghetto.

 

Our main goal is La Susona, the home of Susona Ben-Suson, a local legend from the late 1400’s.  As the story goes, Susona was the daughter of a wealthy Jewish merchant, Don Diego De Susona,  who had converted to Christianity to appease the Spanish powers of the time.  Many Christians were suspicious of these “conversos,” thinking they weren’t true converts and wanted to bring back Judaism, which led to the Spanish Inquisition.  Susona’s father was worried about the threat to conversos and held a secret meeting to talk about an armed uprising.  Susona was in love with a young noble at the time, and afraid he would be in danger during an uprising, told him about the secret meeting.  Shortly, her father and his friends were arrested, tried and executed for the plans.  Susona was so overcome with regret, she never left her house again, and left instructions that when she died, her head was to be hung up outside the house as a testament to her grief (supposedly it hung there until the 18th century!). A more treacherous (or I should say treasonous) Romeo and Juliet story!  Thus, the reason for our explorations here. 

The house is supposedly hidden in a courtyard and hard to find, but we’re very excited to actually walk right to it and stand in the little square thinking about how it must have been in the 14 and 1500s. There is even a little plaque on the house with a scull that marks the place where Susona’’s head was hung.

We’ve covered a lot of ground already, and we still have a few hours to spend in the city. So, we start looking to see what else we can do before meeting at the plaza for our bus ride back tot he ship.  Retracing our steps, go try to visit the Hospital de los Venerables. It is a home for elderly priests, built in a restored baroque church.  All my information says it should be open, but unfortunately it is locked up tighter than a drum.  Bummer.  On to Plan B – we’ll visit the Cathedral after all.

Its a quick walk back to the Plaza del Triunfo and the Cathedral entrance.  Luckily we’ve managed to time it right and the line isn’t anywhere near as long as it was earlier.  We are in the courtyard in a matter of minutes, taking pictures of the intricate carvings, detailed marble work and beautiful statue dominating the courtyard.

The line goes surprisingly quick, and before we know it, we’re inside paying the entrance fee and entering the largest Gothic Cathedral in the world.  Immense is the first thought that comes to mind. This place is simply massive.  And opulent.  And otherworldly.  It is hard to know where to begin. So we just follow the nave around to the right, passing under the massive gothic arches capped with stain glass to the tomb of Cardinal Juan de Cerventes from 1453, then onto the Chapel of our Lady Virgin of La Antigua. 

Then it is on to the tomb of Christopher Columbus.  Of course, the mystery still remains whether any of Columbus’ bones are really in the tomb – and not still in Havana where we know they were held until the Spanish-American war broke out, or Santo Domingo as the Dominicans believe. Whatever the true story, the tomb itself is something to behold – from all angles.

Our time is getting short, and there is no way we can cover this entire monolithic structure.  So, we settle for a few more chapels, then a look at the high altar, which is beyond compare – so much gold, so much detail.

 

Then it is back out on the street, making our way up toward the Plaza Jerez where we are to meet our bus chaperone. Once we are confident we are within a 3 minute walk, we stop at a little self serve cafeteria for a farewell drink.  We snag a perfect table right out on the walkway(with cool Coca Cola sponsored fences) and watch the procession of Feria clad ladies and gents parade by either on foot or horse drawn carriage. 

Sadly finishing our drink, we walk back to the plaza, past the grand marble and limestone buildings that make up the historic area of Seville.  What a great town. This is definitely a return town – even though we hit a lot of the highlights today, it would be great to come back and stay for a few days to really explore the city in depth.