Today's Seville is a combination of all those influences. You see that at the site of the 1929 exposition of Spanish-speaking countries, especially in the extravagant Spanish Pavilion.

You see it in the Santa Cruz Quarter, which was the Jewish section during Moorish times but is now a colorful shopping district filled with winding streets and pocket-size plazas. And at the 14th-century Alcazar palace built in the Mudejar style that is still used by King Juan Carlos.

But one of the best places to see it is at the Cathedral of Seville (the third largest in Europe after St. Peter's and St. Paul's) which features a cathedral built over a mosque. Most of the mosque was destroyed, but luckily, not the Giralda tower, the 322-foot minaret erected in the 12th century. Instead, it was incorporated into the Christian building.

The cathedral houses a magnificent choir and altar. Equally impressive is the grave of Christopher Columbus. Apparently he was first buried in Santo Domingo. When Spain lost that, he was moved to Cuba. When Spain lost that, his remains were brought back to Seville, which was where he had arrived after his first trip to the New World. In order to be buried in the cathedral, however, he had to be a nobleman, so he was posthumously made a count and laid to a final rest.

The best view of Seville is from the top of the Giralda tower. To get there you walk up around and around on winding ramps that make some 34 turns in all, to the bell tower. And there Seville spreads out at your feet.

There's an old saying that goes: "He who has not seen Seville has not known wonderment." It had to have been composed at the top of the Giralda tower.

Then again, you could say that about a lot of the cities in Spain.

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E-mail: carma@desnews.com