Photos, pictures and images of the Alcazar of Seville, Spain. Seville was ounded as the Roman city of Hispalis it fell to to Muslin conquest of the Iberian Penninsular in 712. Seville came under the rule of the Caliphate of Cordoba and from the 8th to the 13th century was the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate followed by the Almoravid then Almohad dynasty. 500 years of Islamic rule has left Seville with a rich architectural heritage and the Alcazar of Seville is one of the great buildings that shows the influence of Islamic culture on Spanish architecture. The original nucleus of the Alcázar was constructed in the 10th century as the palace of the Moslem governor, and is used even today as the Spanish royal family's residence in this city, thereby retaining the same purpose for which it was originally intended: as a residence of monarchs and heads of state. The Alcazar of Seville has pure arabesque architecture as well as parts of the palace that are Gothic and from the Renaissance. Seville is a reminder of the sophistication of the Islamic rulers that once governed the Hispanic Penninsular. The mathematic genius of the Islamic architects can be seem in the intricate plasterwork in the Alcazar and the palace is one of the best remaining examples of mudéjar architecture. Built and rebuilt from the early Middle Ages right up to our times, it consists of a group of palatial buildings and extensive gardens. The Alcázar embraces a rare compendium of cultures where areas of the original Almohad palace - such as the "Patio del Yeso" or the "Jardines del Crucero" - coexist with the Palacio de Pedro I representing Spanish Mudejar art, together with other constructions displaying every cultural style from the Renaissance to the Neoclassical. The Alcázar and its gardens is a palatial fortress erected beginning in 712 by the conquering Arabs to control the Guadalquivir. It boasts a crenellated enclosure from the Almohad period as well as several interior spaces dating from before the Reconquest. After 1248 it became a royal residence and was renovated under the reign of Peter the Cruel. The palace constructed in the interior of the Alcázar in 1364-66 illustrates the syncretism proper to Mudejar art which borrows its techniques and decorative expression from the Arabian art of Andalusia. The Patio de las Doncellas is evocative of a captivating aesthetic which survived Christianization with its finely worked stuccos, wooden artesonados ceilings, the azulejos of the galleries, and the fountain that rises in the middle of the courtyard. The work of decoration of the apartments, the fountains or the pavilions undertaken between the 15th and 17th centuries, partially respected the original palace, its general layout, and the traditional refinement of an Andalusian palace. Download photos, pictures and images of Seville as stock photos or photo art prints.