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Seville. Casa de Pilatos and Its Amazing Gardens

It is difficult to understand why Casa de Pilatos from Seville is called a house and not a palace. With 500 years of history behind it and some amazing flower gardens, this is one of the most beautiful and intriguing havens in Seville.

Casa de Pilatos it is said to have been inspired by the original house of Pontius Pilate. However, not everyone agrees on this. Almost 500 years ago, the first Marquis of Tarifa went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and upon his return he completed the house his parents started building. The house must have looked pretty unusual for the time and people mistakenly identified it for a copy of Pilate's House, since it was situated on the Seville's Holy Via Crucis.

First thing we saw when entering Casa Pilatos was a huge, white, typical Andalusian patio, which looked even whiter in the hot summer sun, with a gorgeous fountain in the middle. The patio is built in Mudejar style, a style that by know you are probably already familiar with and that can be found all over Seville. However, the Mudejar style is beautifully mixed with Renaissance Italian influences that give the place a unique atmosphere.

Casa de Pilatos is very stylish and still used as a private residence by the Medinaceli family, one of the oldest and most respected families in Seville.

The upper store can be visited only with the guided tour and features some important paintings and old furniture. The guide also explained us a few things about the history of the house which helped us put things in perspective. For the ground floor however, there are audio guides available at the entrance and they will provide you with more information you'll ever care to know about Casa de Pilatos.

Casa de Pilatos is flanked by two gorgeous flower gardens, one to the left and one to the right. We were lucky enough to have visited it in May when the roses were in bloom, and as I'm a sucker for pretty flowers, I declared this the best flower garden in whole Seville.

The gardens showcase the best of Andalucia. The statues and fountains can be easily admired while enjoying the blissful shadow of the tall trees, and though the gardens are nowhere near as large as the Royal Alcazar's gardens, they are very dense and need at least 30 minutes to take all the details in.

The courtyards and even the building itself are decorated with beautiful roman statues and busts of Spanish kings and Roman emperors from the ruins of Itaca and the columns are an important architectonic feature.

Similar to the Royal Alcazar, we found some incredibly decorated ceilings, engraved walls and intricate tiles here too. And though you might think that by seeing one you've seen the other, you couldn't be more wrong. The two of them might have some similarities, but are so different in character and they are both a must see.

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