Real Alcázar de Sevilla

The Real Alcázar is the most beautiful building in Seville and, for many visitors, the highlight of a trip to Spain. It began as a fortress of the Muslim rulers of al-Andalus and grew over the centuries into a sprawling complex of palaces, patios and gardens, each layer added by a new dynasty without erasing the last. Its heart is the Palace of Pedro I, built from the 1360s by a Christian king who so admired the art of his Muslim neighbours that he brought craftsmen from Granada and Toledo to build it. The result is the finest example of Mudéjar architecture anywhere: carved plaster as fine as lace, ceilings of interlocking cedar, tiled dados in geometric patterns that seem to move as you walk past, and inscriptions in Arabic praising both God and the king. The Patio de las Doncellas, the Courtyard of the Maidens, is the set-piece, a long reflecting pool between sunken gardens framed by scalloped arches; the Hall of Ambassadors beyond it is crowned by a gilded wooden dome like a night sky. Elsewhere, the Gothic Palace built by Alfonso X holds vast tapestries commemorating Charles V's conquest of Tunis, the vaulted Baths of Doña María de Padilla collect rainwater beneath the gardens, and the House of Trade, where Spain administered its American voyages, opens off the Patio de la Montería. Then there are the gardens, which many visitors love even more than the palaces: terraces of orange trees, myrtle hedges and palms, the Mercury pond and the Gallery of Grotesques, pavilions, fountains and a maze. The upper floor, the Cuarto Real Alto, is still used by the Spanish royal family when they stay in Seville, which makes this the oldest royal palace in Europe still in use. Book ahead: entry is by timed slot, and the best times sell out in spring.

The Alcázar is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site listed in 1987 together with the Cathedral and the Archivo de Indias, and the three stand around the same small square, so a single long morning can take in all of them. Its history is the history of Seville: the Abbadid and Almohad rulers built palaces here, Ferdinand III took the city in 1248 and moved in, Pedro I rebuilt in the Mudéjar style, Isabella and Ferdinand received Columbus after his voyages, and Charles V married Isabella of Portugal in its halls in 1526. Film and television crews have long loved it too, and fans of Game of Thrones will recognise the Water Gardens of Dorne in its patios and pools.

Visiting well: tickets are sold for half-hour time slots, and online ticket holders skip the main ticket office in the Patio de Banderas and go straight to the dedicated entrance at the Puerta del León, the Lion Gate on the Plaza del Triunfo. Arrive in good time, since there can be a security queue even with a ticket in peak season. The general ticket covers the ground-floor palaces and gardens; the Cuarto Real Alto, the upper royal apartments, is visited on a guided tour for a supplement with limited places, and is worth it for the views and the sense of a living palace. Opening hours are longer from April to September than in winter, and the palace closes on a handful of holidays and occasionally for official events. There is little shade in the outer gardens in summer, so bring water and a hat. Night visits and summer concerts in the gardens are offered in some seasons and are magical if you can catch one.

A route that works: start in the Patio del León and the Hall of Justice, cross the Patio de la Montería to the façade of Pedro I's palace, then take your time in the Patio de las Doncellas, the Hall of Ambassadors and the intimate Patio de las Muñecas, the Courtyard of the Dolls. Move on to the Gothic halls and their tapestries, go down to the Baths of María de Padilla, and save at least an hour for the gardens, ending at the Mercury pond and the Gallery of Grotesques. Allow two and a half hours if you can. Afterwards, the lanes of Santa Cruz begin just outside the walls through the Patio de Banderas, and the Cathedral is a two-minute walk away.