Galería de los Grutescos

Galería de los Grutescos stands within the gardens of the Real Alcázar in Seville, along one side of the palace grounds. The elevated passage lets you look across sections of garden below.

From this walkway, arches and decorative stonework combine Islamic architectural elements with later European influences. The structure began as an old Muslim wall. In the seventeenth century, Italian artist Vermondo Resta transformed that boundary into a gallery and viewpoint. Its design reflects the European fashion for adapting earlier structures to new garden styles. The surrounding gardens developed over centuries, with each section following its own layout and character.

The Pond of Mercury began as an irrigation reservoir supplied by a Roman aqueduct. It became a decorative pool in the late sixteenth century. Along the gallery, the stone details frame the gardens and palace buildings below, bringing architecture, landscape and changing periods together in one view.