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Another museum, with performances.

Erroneously said to be based on the house of Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem, this 15th-century gem is the most sumptuous of Seville’s urban mansions. It is a delightful blend of Mudéjar (Christian-Islamic), Gothic and Renaissance styles, punctuated with Classical statuary. Look for the head of the Greek boy, Antinous, who died as a teenager and was deified by his grief-stricken lover, Emperor Hadrian, in the 2nd century (see La Casa de Pilatos, Seville).

Few palaces are more opulent than this 15th–16th-century mansion. A mix of Mudéjar (Christian-Islamic), Flamboyant Gothic and Renaissance styles, it is also adorned with Classical sculptures, including a 5th-century BC Greek Athena and important Roman works. A noble residence to this day, it is filled with family portraits and antiques from the last 500 years.

This Moorish castle is one of the best preserved in Andalucía. Its horseshoe-arched main gate bears an inscription dating its construction to AD 967. Some 14 square towers provide vistas far and wide.

One of the few castles newly built after the Christian reconquest, this was also one of the first in Spain to be built according to Italian Renaissance tenets. Despite its forbidding situation and exterior, its inner courtyard is exquisite, with staircases, pillars and arches carved from Carrara marble.

Restored by the Christians, this 13th-century castle towers above the town and affords spectacular views.

Also in Italian Renaissance style, this structure has the soaring grace of a fairytale castle. Unfortunately, it was gutted in the early 1900s, but a reconstruction of one of the patios gives you some idea of its original splendour.

The cathedral was primarily the work of famed Renaissance architect Andrés de Vandelvira, although the west façade was designed later, decorated with Baroque sculptures by Pedro Roldán. Every Friday between 11:30am and 12:45pm, one of Spain’s holiest relics, the Reliquía del Santo Rostro de Cristo, is brought out for the faithful to kiss. It is believed to be the cloth that St Veronica used to wipe Christ’s face on the road to Calvary. An impression of the holy face is said to have been miraculously left upon it (see Jaén City).

In remote hills and mountains gypsies escaped Christian persecution by turning caves into homes. Although flooding and other natural mishaps have decimated these communities in recent decades, many gypsies return to their former dwellings to perform lively and authentic flamenco shows for visitors.

The French writer’s 1826 novel The Last of the Abencerrages was a bestseller.