A Walk with Cristine
I propose a route through “Aníbal González’s Seville” in eight stops, linking his everyday life with his major works.
Aníbal González’s
House–Studio
San Vicente Street, 52 – San Lorenzo District
This is where he lived and worked from 1917 onward. It was both his family home and his architecture studio.
Take a close look at the exposed brick façade, the continuous balconies, the wrought-iron grilles, and the ceramic tiles: it is almost a manifesto of Andalusian regionalism applied to domestic architecture.
Within these walls, much of the Seville we will later discover was conceived.
Museum of Fine Arts of Seville
As an art lover, Aníbal González frequently visited this museum.
Here one can sense the cultural background that nourished his vision: genre painting, Andalusian landscapes, Sevillian Baroque art (Murillo, Valdés Leal), and that decorative exuberance he later translated into brick, ceramics, and wrought iron.
This is a key stop for understanding the “sensibility” behind his architecture.
Trajano Cinema – Hotel Cristine Bedfor Seville
One of his great legacies is the Neo-Mudéjar building on Trajano Street, where Cristine Bedfor Sevilla now stands. Since its inauguration in 1922, this space has been a theater, a cinema, and a stage for the city’s cultural life, forming part of a street with a deep artistic tradition.
Francisco Pacheco, painter, teacher, and father-in-law of Velázquez, worked here; from his workshop at Trajano No. 31, he passed on the essence of the Sevillian school to an entire generation of artists.
This neighborhood, long associated with artistic creation, now welcomes Cristine Bedfor Sevilla with the same spirit of encounter and cultural dialogue.
Seville City Hall and Plaza Nueva
As municipal architect, Aníbal González spent many working hours here.
At City Hall, urban plans were debated and, little by little, the Seville that would culminate in the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 took shape.
The Plateresque façade (not his work) connects with his taste for historical styles, while Plaza Nueva reflects the representative and administrative role of the city in which he played such an important part.
The Former Teatro San Fernando Cafe
A meeting place for artists, intellectuals, and politicians, where Aníbal González used to gather with friends and colleagues.
From here we head down toward the river.
The Paseo de las Delicias was one of his favorite places for walking. It is the ideal transition to the great stage of the 1929 Exposition: tree-lined avenues, the Guadalquivir alongside, and the María Luisa Park in the distance. Here we sense his way of understanding the city: architecture always in dialogue with landscape, water, and greenery.
María Luisa Park
This ensemble is his great laboratory of regionalism:
Mudéjar Pavilion (Museum of Popular Arts and Customs): brick, horseshoe arches, glazed ceramics—a Neo-Mudéjar interpretation of Andalusian tradition
Royal Pavilion: more restrained, now housing municipal offices, an example of official architecture that retains its Andalusian roots
Plaza de España and the Monument to Aníbal González
We conclude the architectural route with his masterpiece, built for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. The semicircle of buildings embraces the square as a metaphor for Spain’s embrace of the Americas, and with its benches, bridges, and the combination of brick, ceramics, iron, and water, it summarizes the entire journey. Facing the square stands the monument to Aníbal González (2011), honoring the architect who brought Seville into modernity without losing its Andalusian essence.
Casa Aníbal
As could not be otherwise, we end seated at the table. We arrive at Reyes Católicos Street, home to Casa Aníbal, a restaurant located in the very heart of Seville’s historic center, close to the Triana district and the Guadalquivir River. It offers local cuisine and pays tribute to the legacy of the celebrated Sevillian architect Aníbal González.
