The Most Colorful Mansion in Seville Spain – Casa de Pilatos

Seville is more than 2000 years old, it is the capital city of Andalusia autonomous region in Spain.  If you do not know about Andalusia, then you want to relate tapas and flamenco, fiesta and gypsy!

The city of Seville is full of cultural heritage and monuments. Besides those important sites such as the Alcazar of Seville, Plaza de Espana and Catedral de Sevilla, the Casa de Pilatos is another palace that you may want to look at as it displayed an example of the 16th century Sevillian architecture.

The history of Andalusia is pretty interesting, it was once occupied by the Romans, and later by the Visigoths (nomadic tribes of Germanic peoples). The Moors of North Africa conquered the region in the 8th century and dominated much of the Iberian Peninsula for several hundred of years, so expect to see a mixture of Muslim elements instilling in their architecture.

Don’t judge a book by its cover

The exterior of Casa de Pilatos is plain and not as attractive as other monuments that you have seen in Seville. It looks pretty simple from the outside as you would think it is just another house in this neighborhood. However, when you enter the Casa, you may get a shock at how stunning the courtyard and the tiles rooms are.

The Courtyard Introduction

Marble columns with arches which represent strong Moorish style.

La Casa de Pilatos is the finest example of a civil palace (not a royal palace) in Seville. The building is a mixture of Italian Renaissance and Spanish Mudéjar (Moors), the stunning artwork especially the colorful tiles.

Azulejos

Casa de Pilatos is famous for its outdoor pavements and garden and not forgetting the azulejos (colorful tiles). You will encounter the azulejo almost every corner in Spain and Portugal.  However, in Portugal, the iconic color used is white and blue not as colorful as this one here.

On the floor too.

Arabic calligraphy

Evidence of Moorish elements, the Arabic calligraphy was found in the architecture buildings.

At the courtyard there are four statues at the four corners, they stand as a guard over the courtyard.  Three are from ancient Rome and one is from ancient Greece.  At the center of the courtyard is the fountain to balance out everything.

Wooden doors that lead to the Praetor’s room is also quite bizarre as it is made out of wood and carved with beautiful patterns.

The ceiling of the Casa de Pilatos

There are several rooms inter-connecting with each other and all have so many details to look at from bottom to the top. I was so tired craning my neck to see the artwork at the top of the ceiling and the amazing thing is these little details are three dimensional and popping out.

Antique Collections of Casa de Pilatos

Trojan helmet

Casa de Pilatos Room

Only Guided tour for the Second floor

There are residents staying on the second floor and the only guided tour is allowed to visit.  There are also extra charges to include the second floor.

Garden

The garden is not big but very pretty.

Staircase down

You can see the ceiling and side of the walls are all decorated with colorful tiles.  Imagine the amount of work needed for all these, simply bizarre and breathtaking.

Vendor outside of Casa de Pilatos

Final thoughts:

Casa de Pilatos is a stunning mansion with one of the largest azulejo collection in the world. You can spend the whole day looking at the details from the floor, tiles and the ceiling.