Sessions in Seville

There are few places where the winds of time are so ever-present, as they are in Seville. The cobblestones have been worn by countless people and the streets filled with people since ancient times. Not far away is the port of Cadiz, said to be the oldest remaining settlement in Europe.

Garden in Alcazar of Seville.

Seville may be the quintessential representation of southern Spain. The city of Carmen, Don Juan and a certain barber. But today I’m roaming the ancient streets in the footsteps of a foreigner. Traces of Christopher Columbus can be found all over Andalusia.

He stayed at Monastery of La Rabida outside Huelva, where he became friends with Queen Isabella’s confessor. His first voyage across the Atlantic ocean sailed from the port of Palos de la Frontera near Huelva, where his house is open for visitors in nearby Puerto de Santa Maria. He prepared for the voyages in Seville, where many places bear his name.

The tomb of Columbus.

I end my journey in front of the tomb of Columbus, located inside the world’s largest Gothic cathedral. Years ago I found the tomb of Vasco da Gama inside the beautiful Mosteiro dos Jerónimos in Lisbon, but the monument to Columbus is of a much grander scale.