Plaza de Armas - a train terminal that no longer exists, next to a bus terminal that did not exist before...
Ready to get confused over what exactly "Plaza de Armas" refers to in Seville? (N.B. All the place names mentioned below also appear in the Seville City Layout & Orientation post and the custom Google Map displayed there.)
Due to redevelopment, Plaza de Armas on the western edge of the Old Town is no longer a busy plaza - but the plaza still survives in its bleak modern form on the corner of the busy riverside thoroughfare, Calle Torneo, and Calle San Laureano (Calle San Laureano is the beginning of an end-to-end series of west-to-east streets that cuts Seville Old Town in half).
Seville's Plaza de Armas Railway Station used to be the biggest train station in Seville, being the terminus of train services from northern stations such as Madrid and Cordoba - hence it was also commonly known as Seville's Cordoba Station. The other major station was known as Seville's Cadiz Station (at San Bernardo, south-east of Seville's centre), receiving trains from Cadiz and the south.
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| Plaza de Armas Railway Station when it was still the biggest train station in Seville - in its earlier glory days. Image Credit: geografiadesevilla.wordpress.com |
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| Now a shopping & entertainment complex. Image Credit: Evaristo Rodriguez Mateo, in this 2008 photo of the old "Estacion de Cordoba" at Seville's Plaza de Armas, geo-mapped on Google's Panoramio.com |
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With the World Expo 1992 held in Seville, a set of plans were made in the 1980's to build Spain's first high speed rail line which would be between Madrid and Seville, and to close the Cordoba Station, and to make a new main train station for Seville and the high speed trains in Santa Justa (not far outside Seville's Old Centre, to the east).
The Cadiz Station would be closed slightly later than the Cordoba Station, and a replacement San Bernardo Station would be placed underground together with a new underground connecting track linking the southern line to the new Santa Justa Station - thus southern and northern lines would now be directly linked by the underground connection. (The underground San Bernardo Station also became integrated with Seville's Metro service when that began in 2009.)
Together with these plans, the older smaller inter-regional bus station at Prado de San Sebastian (just next to and west of San Bernardo) would continue to serve destinations to the south and east, but be complemented with a new and larger bus station for the other routes including buses to Madrid, the Plaza de Armas Bus Station - built and opened to coincide with Expo 1992, next to (separated by the busy Calle Torneo) the old Plaza de Armas Railway Station.
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| Here is the functional-looking Plaza de Armas Bus Station in Sevilla, that was newly built in 1992. Image Credit: Ivan Fernandez, Estacion de Autobuses Plaza de Armas, geo-mapped on Google's Panoramio.com |
The old Plaza de Armas Railway Station gained a new lease on life in 1999 as a shopping and entertainment center, and it now houses cinemas, bars, clubs, restaurants, boutiques and a supermarket (Centro Comercial Plaza de Armas).
So the present Plaza de Armas Station is an inter-regional bus station serving destinations to the north and west, and is Seville's newest and largest bus terminal; and it sits next to - across a busy road - the old Plaza de Armas Railway Station (which was also known as Seville's Cordoba Station) - that used to be Seville's largest railway station, but is now a shining temple to modern consumerism; and what is left of the Plaza with the same name, is tucked away as an afterthought behind this renovated shopping mall. (Explore the surrounds on this Wikimapia Plaza de Armas map.)
This friendly baker deserves a special mention - just diagonally opposite the Plaza de Armas Bus Terminal, near Calle Arjona 5. Calle Arjona / Calle Torneo is a large thoroughfare with lots of fast moving vehicular traffic, so there isn't much foot traffic passing this panederia. But just order a drink and sit down, and the baker himself will slice open a fresh bread roll, then cut some slices of charcuterie meat of your choice to fill it - and there you have your quick snack or lunch for a price which can hardly be beat at any other kind of place. It's a no frills joint, that's fresh, cheap and clean; what more could you ask for? And the service is so friendly (he'll make you feel happy you came to Seville) that you don't need any Spanish to feed your hunger and have a short relaxing rest in this bright little shop.
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