An Inside Peek: The Ayuntamiento of Seville

For all of the places I’ve visited in Seville, several are behind closed doors, off-limits to me and the common folk: Palacio San Telmo, cloistered monasteries rumored to be breathtaking, that silly old pijo club in Plaza San Francisco where you need a member’s card to get a gintoncito.

Thankfully, many of these clandestine places open their doors during special feast days and holidays, and Seville is no exception. The Morón Air Force Base holds an annual public day before Christmas, and Andalusia Day means places like the Parliament and Town Hall are open during the Jornadas de Puertas Abiertas, and last year I got a peek of the city’s newest museum, the Antiquarum. No work in city offices = come one, come all.

Laying between Plaza Nueva and Plaza San Francisco, Seville’s town hall building, called the Ayuntamiento, is a 16th Century stone brick that houses the local government. Everything to budget cuts to weddings take place here, and the plaza that lies out front is home to the city Christmas tree, protests and large-scale outdoor markets, as well as where the “ball drops” on New Years Eve.

While the stately building’s neoclassical design is as beautiful on the outside Eastern façade as it is on the inside, I was more transfixed by the details, both ornate and emblematic of Seville.

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About Cat Gaa

As a beef-loving Chicago girl living amongst pigs, bullfighters, and a whole lotta canis, Cat Gaa writes about expat life in Seville, Spain. When not cavorting with adorable Spanish grandpas or struggling with Spanish prepositions, she works in higher education at an American university in Madrid and freelances with other publications, like Rough Guides and The Spain Scoop.

Comments

  1. Love how you are uncovering more secrets of Seville, one of my favorite cities in Spain. Thanks.

  2. Fascinating stuff, great photos! Palacio San Telmo is open to visitors, I think it’s Friday and Saturday. That pijo bar is rather nice (I’m not a member, but I was invited by one).

  3. Thanks, ladies!
    Nancy, uncovering new sites keeps Sevilla new to me – I also visited the cemetery and wished I would have gone earlier!
    Fiona, just how much was a copa at that place!?

  4. I especially love the ornate bishop on the chair. I wonder how much of the gold Columbus brought back from the New World went to make stuff like that!

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  1. […] We get a day off of work, and many private places open their doors to the public, like the Town Hall or the Congressional […]

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