Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Alcazar Gardens: A Stand Out In Orange

          The gardens at the Royal Alcazar Palace in Sevilla are lush with trees and hedges.  When I visited this palace and garden in the southern part of Spain last January, I don't think I saw even a single flower in bloom.  Yet that didn't disappoint me in the least. The color orange takes center stage against the green backdrop in this beautiful, Moorish influenced palace and garden. And it seems to be all this garden needs to stand out.


Orange dominates in the structures


that separate garden rooms and cover palace walls.


And the garden, like the rest of this beautiful Spanish town, is studded with orange trees loaded with fruit.


Lots and lots of orange trees.


These oranges are too bitter to eat but, in addition to providing bright color in the garden, they make a delicious marmalade.

             I love a gateway to a garden. This orange doorway with its iron gate intrigues visitors to wander in and discover yet another garden room.  There are lots of brick pathways, manicured hedges, trees and tall palms that fan out against the sky.                                                       
                                           

And it seems like a never ending path.
In fact, I didn't even finish walking the entire estate.  But I was able to walk through an upper level covered walkway (seen in the photo below) that had great vistas of the gardens and a grove of more orange trees on the other side of this building.


The beautiful courtyard below, like the palace, features mudejar architectural detail.  It is an amazing place.


                   The row of monogrammed pots lining the exit is a nice royal touch at the end of the garden.


            But, of course, there is really only one way to end a great day spent walking through a garden in Andalusia, Spain:  with sangria, tapas and flamenco.  And that is exactly what I did.   Ole!