Metropol Parasol
Begin under the Setas, as everyone in Seville calls the Metropol Parasol: a huge canopy of laminated wood and concrete resting on six pillars above Plaza de la Encarnación. It is 150 metres long, 70 wide and about 26 high, and every rib of the grid has its own curve, so the whole roof seems to ripple as you walk beneath it. The Berlin architect Jürgen Mayer took his cue from the vaults of Seville Cathedral; the locals saw mushrooms instead, and the nickname stuck.
The structure grew out of an open competition the city held to rehabilitate the square. In January 2003 the design was already one of five finalists, out of 335 entries, for the European Mies van der Rohe Prize for contemporary architecture, and work began on 26 June 2005. Today it has become an icon of the historic centre, and it works on several levels: a traditional market and places to eat at street level, a space for shows, and the Antiquarium, an archaeological museum, in the base.
Up top are a terrace and a walkway with a panoramic view over the old town, and that walkway is the real reason to buy a ticket. The full ticket also covers the museum, which many visitors find rather empty, so go for the view rather than the exhibits. Ask at the desk whether your ticket allows two entries within 48 hours: if so, come back in the evening for sunset and for the Aurora light show that runs after dark.
From the Setas it is 890 m, about 12 minutes, to Casa de Pilatos, a palace begun more than five centuries before this canopy.
