• Travelsignposts Home
  • Country Guides
  • City Guides
  • River Cruises
  • Europe Photos
  • About Us

Spain Travel

  • Home
  • Trip Planner
  • Photos
  • Videos
  • Map
  • Weather
  • Site Map
  • Destinations
  • Sightseeing
  • Shopping
  • Food
  • Getting around
  • Useful facts
  • News & Events
You are here: Home / Sightseeing / Plaza de Toros – Seville’s Legendary Bullring

Plaza de Toros – Seville’s Legendary Bullring

By Helen Page Leave a Comment

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Plaza de Toros – Seville’s Magnificent Bullring is the Oldest in Spain:

Seville Plaza de Toros

Plaza de Toros – Seville

The Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Sevilla is a mouthful, but beyond this long name is a magnificent Seville bullring that is the oldest in Spain. Plaza de Toros is popularly known to the locals as “the Cathedral” because it is considered one of the most beautiful bullrings in the country.

Plaza de Toros

Construction of Seville’s Plaza de Toros began in 1761 and, under a succession of architects, it was finally completed in 1881 . The white building with its bright yellow trims has an impressive late-Baroque and neo-classical façade and its arcaded arena holds some 14,000 spectators. On the west side is the Puerta del Príncipe (the Prince’s Gate), where victorious toreros get carried through on the shoulders of the admiring spectators.

The bullring is owned by La Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Sevilla, the Noble Order of bullfighters in Seville.

Bullfighting in Seville

Bullfighting has deep roots in Seville and the province is the birthplace of celebrated bullfighters like Juan Belmonte García, Joselito el Gallo, Pepe Luis Vazquez, Curro Romero and others. Although many of the younger generation in Spain, who are more in tune with animal welfare, are turned off by this blood-letting sport, it nevertheless remains popular, especially in Seville.

Bullfighting in Seville was immortalized in Bizet’s Carmen and we came across the fiery Carmen on a pedestal across the road from the Plaza de Toros main entrance.

Bullfighting Season

The bullfighting season starts from Easter Sunday, at the end of Semana Santa, and continues through the April Fair and ends in October. Special fights are held on the feast of Corpus Christi, Feast of the Virgen de los Reyes (the city’s patron), the last weekend of the Feria de San Miguel and on October 12 for the Day of the Virgen del Pilar. Most of the bigger-name corridas (bullfights) take place on Sunday evenings and many of the famous matadors appear during the Feria de Abril, Seville’s famous Spring Fair. Ticket prices range from €10 to €3,200 for the best seat in the house.

Seville Plaza de Toros

Plaza de Toros, Seville

Guided Tour of the Bullring

The Plaza de Toros is one of the most visited monuments in Seville. I must say that we do not agree with any sport that involves the killing of animals, but even if you do not approve of this blood-spilling sport, it is worthwhile visiting the bullring to get a sense of Spain’s bullfighting culture. The bullring can only be visited as part of a guided tour which can be booked when you are there.  Alternatively, you can join a private walking tour of Seville, which includes a visit to Seville’s bullring.  The visit starts in the spectator stands from where you can admire the beautiful architecture of the bullring, be in awe of its size and imagine the roar of the crowd as the toreros and the bulls go through their routine. The Palco del Principe (Prince’s Balcony) is reserved for the Royal Family.

On this tour you’ll also see the Art Gallery, the Chapel where the toreros pray before entering the bullring and the enfermeria (emergency hospital) where the unfortunate ones get emergency treatment. At the Museo Taurino (Bullfighting Museum) you can learn about the history of bullfighting in Spain over the ages. The museum has a collection of bullfighting memorabilia, including portraits of famous toreros, bullfighters’ costumes, capes and miscellaneous images.

At the entrance is a souvenir shop selling posters of bullfighters, books, postcards and a range of articles relating to the Plaza de Toros.

The Plaza de Toros de la Maestranza is located at Paseo de Cristobal Colón, 12 which runs alongside the Guadalquivir River. The riverfront area is a pleasant area for enjoying a relaxing stroll and you can even go on a Guadalquivir River cruise from here.

You can see our photos of the Plaza de Toros at Travelsignposts’ Seville photo gallery Here.

Opening Times:

Daily 09:30 – 20:00 (May to Oct) and 09:30 – 19:00 (Nov – Apr) except on bullfighting days when it is open until 15:00.

Address:
Plaza de Toros
Paseo de Cristobal Colon
Website:  www.realmaestranza.com
Tel: +34 954 22 45 77 or +34 954 22 14 90

See more Seville Info HERE

Map of Seville:

Things to do in Seville

Click here to get a free PDF of this post

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Sightseeing Tagged With: bullfighting in seville, bullfights in sevilla, bullring seville, plaza de toros seville, sevilla plaza

avatar

About Helen Page

Helen Page is a prolific blogger and ardent traveller; she runs Travelsignposts with her professional writer and photographer husband Tony.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You can also find us on

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Latest Additions

  • Vibrant Valencia – much more than paella…
  • Museu Picasso, Barcelona: A Homage to an Artistic Genius
  • The Addictive Pimientos de Padrón
  • Feria de Abril 2017 – Seville’s Famous Spring Fair
  • Semana Santa in Seville: Holy Week 2017

Plan and Book Your Trip


eNews and Updates

feedburner Sign up now to get emailed news as well as other site updates!

Get the Guerrilla Travel Photography ebook here now!
City Guides
Country Guides
River Cruises

Who is behind Travelsignposts?

Helen and Tony Page at Singapore Changi Airport

We're Helen and Tony Page, and we love travelling - lucky as we've been doing it for the last few decades!

Tony has long been a professional photographer and writer, but Helen now writes most of the posts and takes a lot of photos herself!

Travelsignposts is our main travel planning site, but we've just launched Travelsignposts China and Tony also runs the Travelsignposts Photo and Guerrilla Travel Photography web sites, as well as publishing the Take Better Digital Photos and Guerrilla Travel Photography eBooks.

Read more about Helen and Tony or contact them.

Other Countries

  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Devon & Cornwall
  • England
  • Estonia
  • Europe (General)
  • Finland
  • France
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • Scotland
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine

Resources

  • Take Better Digital Photos eBook Take Better Digital Photos eBook
  • Take Better Digital Photos Free eCourse
  • Travel Signposts Photo – our main travel photography site
  • Guerrilla Travel Photography eBook Guerrilla Travel Photography eBook

Copyright © 2023 ·Lifestyle Pro Theme · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress · Log in

Get a free PDF of this post!
Just enter your email address below and we'll send it to you immediately.

Please enter your Email Address