It’s Wednesday, so I’ve got another photo from my time in Sevilla. This time, it’s from Sevilla’s Plaza de España, which is definitely one of my favorite things in the city. You might recognize it from the Star Wars movies – they turned it into a space palace for them!
Sevilla’s Plaza de España is across the street from Parque María Luisa, one of the greenest spaces in the city. It’s a half-circle surrounded by gorgeous old buildings. Actually, they’re only kind of old by Spain standards – the Plaza de España was built in the 1920s for the World’s Fair. I definitely thought it was much older until very recently!
The Plaza is the first thing I saw in Sevilla that really surprised me in a good way. I came across it by chance on a disgustingly hot day in my first week there, and the sheer scale of it blew me away. During my first week in the city, I was feeling worried, lonely, and upset about my semester abroad. Finding the Plaza de España made me feel hopeful again.
I ended up having a terrible study abroad experience and have a lot of unpleasant memories associated with Sevilla. But in spite of my negative feelings, the city is undeniably beautiful and I love taking little ‘trips’ back there through my photos.
Besos!
-Jess
You and me both! I always thought Sevilla was a beautiful city but any mention of that city is forever tainted by a really unpleasant living experience with an old roommate while I lived in Madrid (and the trip I took there with NYU was really stressful as well). One day I need to go back there and make my own memories.
Ooh I remember you telling me about her, she sounded nuts! Hope you get to go back to Sevilla to make your own (hopefully pleasant) memories soon. 🙂
it is a wonderful place, I like it so much. Star wars wasn´t the only famous film which was shot there Lawrance of Arabia and The ditactor of sacha baron cohen have used this background
Ooh I didn’t know about those movies! Thanks for letting me know, if I see them again I’ll have to look out for Plaza de España.
Spain was a famous background for Hollywood movies, especially in the 60s and 70s. Films like Spartacus (Santley KubriK), Patton, King of Kings, Indiana Jones, Moby Dick and more were shot here. In fact the most of American Western were made in Almeria
I love Plaza de Espana, it’s so unbelievably ornate and unusual – it was surreal to see it in The Dictator (as Miguel pointed out), but it’s amazing to see what they did with it through CGI in Star Wars, Episode One!
I haven’t seen The Dictator, but maybe I’ll check it out now just out of curiosity. The Star Wars scene was pretty cool to see though.