The Cathedral of Saint Mary of the See (Spanish: Catedral de Santa María de la Sede), better known as Seville Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It was registered in 1987 by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, along with the adjoining Alcázar palace complex and the General Archive of the Indies. It is the third-largest church in the world (its size remains a matter of debate) as well as the largest Gothic church.

The compound which makes up the Royal Alcazar of Seville was founded in the early Middle-Ages, when the ancient Roman city of Hispalis, the Spali of Gothic times, evolved to be renamed Ixbilia. According to the most trustworthy sources, it was at the beginning of the tenth century – in 913, to be specific – that the Caliph of Cordoba, Abdurrahman III an-Nasir, ordered new government premises, the Dar al-Imara, to be built on the southern flank of the city. Seville’s centre of power was linked to the city’s port, the hub of its economic activity. The city’s ancient port, on the grounds of the current Plaza del Triunfo, or the ‘Explanada de los Banu Jaldún’ as it was then called, moved west towards the main course of the Guadalquivir, while the river’s subsidiary arm, flowing from the current Alameda de Hercules through Tetuan street to the Plaza Nueva, gradually lost its importance as an urban waterway as it dwindled. Only during flood periods could it reclaim its place.

The Giralda was built during the Muslim period with the inspiration of the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech, although the upper part was completed during the Christian period. Legend has it that when the Muslims were defeated they asked that the tower be demolished so that it did not fall into Christian hands, something that would encourage Alfonso X to keep it to become part of the city's history.

Plaza de España is a semi-circular brick building, Renaissance/neo-Moorish in style, with a tower at either end (tall enough to be visible around the city, these towers - north and south - are major landmarks). In front of the building, following the curve of its façade, is a 500-metre canal crossed by four bridges, and in the centre of it all is the Plaza itself. You can rent small boats to row in the canal - the Plaza is known as "the Venice of Seville". A major tourist attraction, it is the finishing point of horse-and-carriage rides.