Sevilla El Centro

MUSEO DEL BAILE FLAMENCO. See flamenco as you’ve never seen it before. Let life-size virtual dancers whisk you away to the heart of a gypsy camp, where screen after screen lights up with color and song to convey the history, music, and technique of this Andalusian art. The museum also features daily live performances and flamenco classes Monday through Thursday. (C. Manuel Rojas Marcos, 3. ☎954 34 03 11; www.museoflamenco.com. Open daily 9am-7pm. €10, students and groups €8, children €6. 30min. performances M-Th 7pm, €12; 1hr. performances F-Sa 7:30pm, €25. Flamenco classes M-Th 6:30pm, €10. MC/V.)

CASA DE PILATOS. This palatial residence has been inhabited continuously by Spanish aristocrats since the 15th century, and it effortlessly merges Andalusian architecture and art. On the ground floor, Roman artifacts coexist with tropical gardens in mudéjar patios. The second floor features rooms decorated over the centuries with oil portraits, sculptures, painted ceilings, and tapestries. (Pl. de Pilatos, 1. ☎954 225 298. Open daily Apr.-Sept. 9am-7pm, Oct.-Mar. 9am-6pm. Guided tours every 30min. 10am-6pm. Ground level €5, with upper chambers €8; children under 10 free; EU citizens free Tu 1-5pm.)

OTHER SIGHTS. Calle Sierpes, which starts in Pl. San Francisco, cuts through the Aristocratic Quarter. At the beginning of this street, a plaque marks the spot where the royal prison once loomed. Some scholars believe that Cervantes began writing Don Quixote here. Taste a sweet Spanish tradition at the Convento de Santa Inés: the nuns sell pastries and cakes through the courtyard’s torno (revolving window). (C. María Coronel. Sweets €2.50-7, sold by the kg. and dozen. Mixed box of pastries €10-12. Open M-Sa 9am-1pm and 5-6:45pm.) The Ayuntamiento, Sevilla’s city hall, has 16th-century Gothic and Renaissance interior halls, a domed ceiling, and a Plateresque facade. Art exhibitions take place here, framed by the building’s beautiful stone work. (Pl. de San Francisco; enter from Pl. Nueva. ☎954 590 107. Visits June Tu-Th at 6 and 6:30pm, from mid-Sept. to May at 5:30 and 6pm. Passport or other official documentation required. Free.)