UNESCO World Heritage Site – Cathedral and Alcázar of Seville

The interior of the Patio de las Doncellas (Court of the Maidens) in the Real Alcázar, with its ornate arched arcades. The commemorative inscription 'SEVILLA' runs along the upper edge, with the mint mark of the Madrid Mint at the upper left. The issuing state 'ESPAÑA' and the year '2024' appear below the design.

The Real Alcázar of Seville is one of the oldest royal palaces in Europe still in use. Its origins date back to the Moorish period of the 10th century; the palace complex as it stands today was built mainly under King Peter I, who from 1364 had it extended in the Mudéjar style — a synthesis of Islamic craftsmanship and Christian architectural language, nowhere more evident than in the Patio de las Doncellas. This courtyard, with its delicate stucco arches, polychrome tiles and central water basin, is regarded as a masterpiece of Andalusian palace architecture. The Alcázar remains to this day a residence of the Spanish royal family during state visits to Seville, and is thus, both functionally and historically, a living part of the Spanish state.

Seville Cathedral, completed in the early 16th century on the ground plan of the demolished Almohad mosque, is the largest Gothic church in the world and the burial site of Christopher Columbus. The neighbouring Archivo General de Indias has, since 1785, housed around 43,000 volumes of records on the history of Spain's American colonies and the Philippines — a unique archive of sources for the global history of the early modern era. UNESCO added all three sites together as an ensemble to the World Heritage List in 1987, honouring their extraordinary historical density at the heart of Seville. Spain honoured this ensemble in 2024 as part of its UNESCO World Heritage series with a 2-euro commemorative coin.