Plaza de España in Seville, the 1929 Expo Square With a Tiled Alcove for Every Province

Plaza de España in Seville looks like the oldest thing in the city's park and is one of the newest. It was built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, a world's fair meant to show off Spain and repair its ties with the countries of Latin America. The architect, Aníbal González, gave it everything the era wanted from a national monument: a huge brick semicircle, two tall towers, colonnades, a canal and more painted tile than most cities have in total.

The scale is the first surprise. The building curves around the square in a wide half circle, open toward the trees of María Luisa Park, with a canal running along the inside of the curve. Bridges cross the canal toward the building. In the middle of the square sits a fountain. Walk along the colonnade and you're under a ceiling of brick and tile. Step out onto the bridges and you see the whole crescent at once.

The alcoves

Along the base of the building runs a line of tiled alcoves, one for each province of Spain, arranged in alphabetical order. Each has a bench, a tiled map of the province and a painted scene from its history, with the province's coat of arms above. Spanish visitors look for their own and take a photograph sitting on its bench. It's a good game for visitors from elsewhere too, and a quick tour of Spanish history in ceramic, from Roman times to the age of exploration.

The four bridges across the canal are meant to stand for the old kingdoms of Spain, and the ceramic balustrades on them, blue and white and yellow, are some of the most photographed tiles in the city. The tilework comes from the tradition of Seville's Triana district across the river, which has made glazed tiles for centuries.

When to go and how to see it

The square is open and free, and it's a public space rather than a ticketed sight. Seville is very hot from June to September, and the square has little shade outside the colonnades, so early morning and the hour before sunset are the times to come. Late afternoon light turns the brick a warm orange and catches the tiles. In the middle of a summer day the open stone reflects heat and the square empties.

You can rent rowing boats on the canal, which is a slow and slightly silly way to see the building from below, and worth doing once. Flamenco performers often set up in the colonnade, and buskers play under the arches. Expect vendors selling fans and castanets.

Climb to the upper gallery where it's open for a view across the whole semicircle. It's the best angle for a photograph that shows the full curve, the canal and the fountain together. For close-ups, the alcoves and bridges reward a slower walk.

In film and around it

The square has stood in for faraway places on screen, including scenes in Lawrence of Arabia and in Star Wars: Episode II, where it became part of the planet Naboo. Fans come to find the exact colonnade. The building itself houses government offices, so most of it stays closed to visitors.

María Luisa Park, which wraps around the square, is the city's main green space and worth an hour on its own, with shaded paths, ponds and other pavilions from the 1929 exposition. From there it's a short walk to the Real Alcázar and the cathedral in the old centre, which makes the square an easy first or last stop on a day in Seville.

For more on travelling around Spain and Europe, the Travel Marketing site has field notes from the road.