GARDEN DESIGN IN SPAIN 



279 



The Alcazar lies in the south-east corner of Seville. In the time of 

 the Moors it covered a far greater area than at present, reaching as far as 

 the banks of the Guadalquivir and including the famous Torre del Oro 

 within its boundary. As may be seen from the sketch plan (illus., p. 280), 

 the gardens at present form an irregular triangle with parterres marked 

 off into squares and 

 divided from one an- 

 other by walls of 

 brick and tile ; the 

 compartments are ar- 

 ranged in quaint 

 patterns of cut box 

 and myrtle, and for- 

 merly contained the 

 eagles and armorial 

 bearings of Charles 

 V. Walks of gaily 

 coloured tiles or 

 azulejos are here and 

 there broken by 

 fountains set in 

 basins of simple de- 

 sign. 



The gardens are 

 entered in the angle 

 formed by the palace 

 fagade and the gal- 

 lery of Pedro el 

 Cruel. Here is a 

 large square pool 

 which collects the 



water necessary for irrigation. In the middle is a bronze fountain and 

 the pool is full of fish. There are several bathing pools about the gardens, 

 the largest being the vaulted 5<2woj where Maria de Padilla, mistress of Pedro 

 el Cruel, used to bathe. The bath of Joan the Mad (illus., p. 282), with its 

 domed pavilion and oblong tank all wrought in gaily coloured tiles, still exists 



CYPRESS ARBOUR kethe GENERTMJFE 



