Mike Randolph is a writer, photographer and video producer based in Madrid, Spain. www.spainbymikerandolph.com
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Seville’s Plaza de España was built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition World’s Fair, and is regarded as a shining example of Neo-Mudéjar architecture. While not strictly Islamic, it was good enough for legendary film director David Lean to use as a stand-in for the officer’s club in Cairo in his epic motion picture Lawrence of Arabia, which was first released exactly 50 years ago. Photo ©Mike Randolph
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Seville’s Alcázar is Europe’s oldest royal palace still in use. Originally built by Almohad Berber-Muslims, the fortress was expanded by later Christian kings and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hidden underneath the palace are the Baths of Lady María de Padilla, above, which were used to collect rainwater. Photo ©Mike Randolph
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The narrow, serpentine streets of Seville were not designed that way by accident. Building houses close together on winding streets has an advantage that anyone who has been to Seville in the summer will be able to appreciate–avoiding the ferocious Andalusian sun. Direct sunlight never penetrates the alleys for long, if at all, and that helps keep the houses as cool as possible.
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Completed in the 16th Century, the Seville Cathedral is the largest Gothic building in the world, and the third largest church of any kind. Among the many New World treasures within the cathedral also lies the man who made it all possible, Christopher Columbus. Photo ©Mike Randolph
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A waiter stands under a few dozen legs of jamon in a bar in Seville, Spain. Photo ©Mike Randolph
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A woman selling snails outside the main market in Seville uses a wooden plank to prevent her charges from wandering off into parts unknown. Good thing they don’t move too fast. Photo ©Mike Randolph
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A rower slides along the dark waters of the Guadalquivir River in Seville, Spain. Photo ©Mike Randolph
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Clients wait their turn to be served at a butcher stall in Seville’s main market. Photo ©Mike Randolph
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Using wisps of thin, delicate, 14-karat gold, an artisan in Seville brushes layer after layer of gold leaf on to an adornment that will hang in the cathedral. Photo ©Mike Randolph
