Setas de Sevilla

The Metropol Parasol, which every Sevillano calls Las Setas, the Mushrooms, is the city's great modern landmark and one of its best viewpoints. Designed by the German architect Jürgen Mayer H. and opened in 2011, it is a vast honeycomb of laminated timber raised on six trunks over the Plaza de la Encarnación, in the old town north of the Cathedral, and it is often described as one of the largest wooden structures in the world. It was controversial at first — expensive, late and startling among the Baroque churches around it — but it has become a beloved part of the city, giving shade to the square below and a new way to see Seville from above. The building works on several levels. Underground, excavations for its foundations uncovered the remains of Roman houses with mosaics and a Moorish dwelling, now displayed in the Antiquarium museum. At street level is the neighbourhood food market of La Encarnación. Above that is a raised public plaza used for events. And on top, lifts carry visitors up to a curving walkway that snakes across the roofs of the parasols, rising and falling between viewing points, with the Giralda, the domes of El Salvador and the rooftops of the old town spread out around you. The standard ticket, the General Experience, combines the 360-degree viewpoint with Feeling Sevilla, a short multisensory show about the city in the Feeling Hall that runs every fifteen minutes, and access after dark to Aurora, a light show across the structure that begins at sunset. It is a modest price for one of the best views in Seville, and it is open late, which makes it one of the few major sights you can save for the cool of the evening.

Timing is everything here. The walkway is completely exposed, so a summer afternoon on top of the Setas can be punishing, while the hour around sunset, when the city turns gold and then the lights come on, is magical. The site opens from mid-morning every day and stays open until around midnight in winter and later in summer, with last admission half an hour before closing; Aurora starts at sunset, which means early evening in winter and much later in summer. A visit takes about forty minutes, and the official site says that you can return within forty-eight hours of your first entry, subject to availability, which lets you see it by day and again by night on a single ticket.

Practicalities: buy tickets on the official website or at the ticket office on the lower level, where the access to the viewpoint is next to the entrance of the Antiquarium. Capacity is limited, so book ahead for sunset in high season. Changes and cancellations are possible within the terms on your ticket. Around nine-tenths of the route is accessible, with ramps and lifts between floors, though the walkway itself has some steep ramps. A combined ticket with a seat at the flamenco tablao in the same building is also sold, and is an efficient way to fill an evening. Getting there is easy on foot from the Cathedral, about ten to fifteen minutes north through the shopping streets; the south entrance on the Calle Imagen is the most convenient from the centre.

Make an evening of it. Go up an hour before sunset, then come down and explore the neighbourhood, which is one of the liveliest in the old town for tapas: the streets around the Encarnación, the Plaza del Salvador and the Calle Regina are full of bars. The Church of El Salvador, free with a Cathedral ticket, is a few minutes south, and the Casa de Pilatos is a ten-minute walk east. Visit the market in the morning if you want to see it working, since its stalls close by early afternoon, and look for the Antiquarium if Roman Seville interests you.