Metropol Parasol (Las Setas) & the Antiquarium
Why is it significant?
Walk out into Plaza de la Encarnación and let your eyes climb the giant honeycombed canopies floating above you, a forest of pale timber mushrooms rising out of a city of churches and whitewashed walls. Sevillians call it Las Setas, the mushrooms; officially, it is the Metropol Parasol.
Key Facts
| Place | Metropol Parasol (Las Setas) & the Antiquarium |
|---|---|
| Address | Plaza de la Encarnación, 41003 Sevilla, Spain |
| Geo Coordinates | 37.39360, -5.99170 |
| Part of Walk | From Baroque Domes to Las Setas: Seville's Architecture Between Sierpes and Casa de Pilatos |
| Generated | Generated |
Walk out into Plaza de la Encarnación and let your eyes climb the giant honeycombed canopies floating above you, a forest of pale timber mushrooms rising out of a city of churches and whitewashed walls. Sevillians call it Las Setas, the mushrooms; officially, it is the Metropol Parasol.
For decades this square was a problem. A convent stood here until it was demolished during the French occupation; then a nineteenth-century market, which was itself pulled down in the 1970s. For years the site was a car park and a hole in the heart of the city. In the 1990s, work began on an underground car park... and the diggers hit Rome.
Beneath your feet lies the Antiquarium, where the excavations have been preserved. You can walk on raised walkways over the remains of Roman houses with mosaic floors, a fish-salting works, and streets of Hispalis, together with houses from the Islamic city built on top centuries later. The car park was abandoned, and a competition was held for something worthy of the find.
The winner was the German architect Jürgen Mayer H., and the result opened in 2011: a structure about one hundred and fifty metres long and almost thirty metres high, made of laminated timber and often described as one of the largest wooden structures in the world. At street level, the Encarnación market came back, with its fish and vegetable stalls. Up top, a winding walkway gives you the best panorama of the old town, from the Giralda to the domes you have seen today.
It was controversial, late and far over budget, and some still find it an alien landing among the bell towers. But that, in a way, is Seville's whole story: Romans, Visigoths, Almohads and Christian kings, each building on top of the last. So end this walk by climbing up to the walkway at sunset, look down on five centuries of rooftops... and decide for yourself who got it right.