09 Dic 10 hidden gems in Seville even locals don’t know about

Obviously, one of the best ways to know a city as local is having the opportunity to study in this city. Either through a summer program, semester program or volunteer program, study abroad is one of the best options to know a country and a city.  And it is not different for Seville: a real immersion experience that will allow you to know the language, the culture and the people.

Whether you are thinking about taking this step, have a look on which are the most beautiful hidden gems in Seville. Now in these days that even small cities has become a target for crowds of travelers, you will be able to find a new spot where not everyone has heard about and are not in the travel guides. They are waiting for you to be discovered while you live in the city, away from the beaten track.  Add these barely known venues to your bucket list.

1. Charity Hospital

It is true. Religious buildings pervade Seville. You can even find streets where you can see up to four temples while strolling through them. But there is one, that due to the iconographic program of its church, its hidden location, just few meters from the great cultural center of Seville, makes it substantially different. But curiously, it goes almost unnoticed by Seville visitors: that is the Charity Hospital.

2. House-palaces of Pilate, House of the Duchess of Lebrija and House of the Pinelos

If there is a living legacy in the city from 16th century sevillian society, those are its house-palaces. These palaces were owned by the nobility, usually art collectors and demanded for their dwellings the most up-to-date style of the moment. Walking through the spaces of these house-palaces is possible to understand the extent to which the Indian Adventure signified to the people who lived here.

3. The Museum of Popular Arts and Customs and the Archaeological Museum

Both museums, outstanding buldings from the Ibero-American Exhibition of 1929, are visited for very few visitors. Visitors can find here two spaces entirely for them alone. Not only they have a astounding architecture, but also the collections are worth appreciating to learn more about Andalusia’s past and present.

4.The Mudejar route through the streets of San Luis and Calle Feria

As used to sing Pata Negra, “Seville has two very different parts, one where tourists are and another where people live”.

People live where most of the Mudejar-style temples are located. As it happens, this area has been called Mudejar Center of Seville since 2013.

It is through the streets of the Macarena quarter, San Luis and Feria, where we can find temples such as those of San Marcos, Santa Marina or Omnium Sanctorum. All of them with a unique art in the world due to the historical circumstances that took place in Seville.

5. Flamenco Dance Museum

This is certainly one of the most interactive museums of the city and one of the hidden gems in Seville. It is worth visiting the Flamenco Musuem to get to know and assimilate different aspects of flamenco dance.

Here you can learn about its origins, its palos, as well as the testimonies of celebrities and important figures of flamenco. All this mixed with itinerant exhibitions that different contemporary artists usually dedicate to this art.

6. Macarena Museum

As it is well known, Seville has two main festivals, both in Spring: Holy Week and Feria de Abril.  In the absence of a museum focusing in these topics, the Holy Week spirit is best reflected at the houses of the Hermandades (Brotherhoods). For instance, Macarena Museum is a center of interpretation of this week focused on its Brotherhood.

7. Venues of the exhibitions of ’29 and’92

The urban transformation of Seville during the 20  century is explicitly understandable visiting the areas of the Ibero-American Exhibition (1929) and the Universal Exhibition (1992).

Related to America and connected by the Guadalquivir River, both exhibitions will help you to understand the contemporary history of the city. Probably cicling would be the best option to tour and to transfer between their two main locations: Maria Luisa Park and La Cartuja Island.

8. Antiquarium and Museum of Fine Arts

On Plaza Encarnación, Plaza del Duque and Plaza del Museo axis we find two places of special interest that stand out above the rest. On one hand, the Antiquarium, a place of scientific and tourist interest. An vivid example of what lies beneath the soil of the current city of Seville. On the other hand, the Museum of Fine Arts, a 13th century convent renovated in the 17th century, which treasures a magnificent collection of religious art.

9. San Jorge Castle

Apart from San Jorge Castle, it is worth to mention the parish of Santa Ana, The Ceramics Centre of Triana or any of its corrales (a typical Spanish comunal neighborhood).

Nevertheless, it is this castle that marks the development of this neighborhood of Seville. From pre-islamic times, it has been an important place being located next to the only “bridge” that linked Triana with Seville.  “A framework for reflection” is the motto of what is shown inside, The impregnable fortress of the Catholic faith and the Inquisition is “a framework for reflection”, a motto of what is shown inside.

10. Torre del Oro

The most typical and topical within the hidden gems in Seville. Nevertheless, the visitor usually just look this tower from the outside. In 2015 the lower part of this tower became a museum of the tower itself and a museum of the history of Seville as well. In addition to the collection that it houses, dedicated to the relationship of the sea with Seville, you can enjoy an exceptional view of the city and the Guadalquivir River from its rooftop.