Day 1 - Seville to Torre de la Reina

Seville Cathedral	Cycling north along the river in Seville
The Roman city of Italica	Mosaics in Italica
Hotel Torre de la Reina	Gardens at Hotel Torre de la Reina

A short day to start. The thinking being to get the first "sello" in Seville Cathedral, then stay a short distance outside Seville, and really get cracking the following morning.

The 25 kms for the day was taken up in cycling into the centre of Seville, getting a stamp and cycling back out along the river, to wend my way to the first hotel stop at Torre de la Reina, in a small town of the same name (just south of Guillena)

Along the way you can take in the old Roman town of Italica which has had some form of archeological protection for around 100 years, and has therefore been preserved from the ingression of modern developments.

Torre de la Reina was the site of one of the rearguard encampments of King Ferdinand the Saint's troops, during the conquest of Seville. At the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th centuries, it was the property of the Queen Doña María de Molina, who gave her name to the building. Today the fort is the only rural building of its period in the area around Seville.

The military fort was expanded into a rural 'hacienda', which was Renaissance in style and which served as a model for other haciendas and urban buildings in Seville. The whole complex has been declared a National Monument. The complex and the gardens have been well restored.

Dinner in the hotel was a bit of a let down as the cooking did not match the grandeur of the surroundings.

Torre de la Reina Hotel web site

Camino de Santiago - Via de la Plata Map of my route

Day 2 Day 2 of my route