Around the show
Before and after the show
Two landmarks within reach of Calle Cuna, the Metropol Parasol and the Palace of the Countess of Lebrija, and how to fit them around a flamenco evening.
Book the Casa de la Memoria show ↗Plan around the half hour
A flamenco evening at Casa de la Memoria is built around a fixed point: the physical tickets are collected half an hour before the show. The performance itself runs about an hour, and the room has no bar or restaurant service. That leaves two open windows, one before and one after, for dinner, a walk or a landmark. Decide first which of the two you want to spend on food, then fit sightseeing into the other. If you book a late performance, use the earlier hours for a landmark; if you book an early one, keep the evening after for dinner. The booking page shows the start times for your date, so choose the date first and plan from there.
Plaza de la Encarnación
The operator lists a bus stop on Plaza de la Encarnación, which makes the square a convenient landmark for the walk to Calle Cuna. According to Wikipedia the Metropol Parasol stands on this square in Seville's old quarter. A traditional market, restaurants, a performance square, an archaeological museum and a rooftop terrace share the structure. It is a short stop before the show if you arrive early.
The parasols up close
Wikipedia says the Metropol Parasol, known as Las Setas or the mushrooms, was designed by the German architect Jürgen Mayer and completed in April 2011. It is roughly 150 by 70 metres and about 26 metres high, built from micro-laminated Finnish pine, and marketed as the world's largest wooden structure. The article adds that the parasols have become Seville's third-most visited urban landmark. The street-level market sits on level 1. Its roof forms the open plaza under the parasols, and the upper levels hold the panoramic terraces.
Underground: the Antiquarium
Level 0 holds the Antiquarium, where Roman and Moorish remains found on site are displayed. Wikipedia explains that construction was frozen in the 1990s after ruins from the Roman and Al-Andalus eras came to light. If you have time and an interest in archaeology, the lower level shows what lay beneath the square. Check the site's own opening hours on the day, since hours and ticketing change.
The palace next door
The building that houses Casa de la Memoria once held the stables of the neighbouring Palace of the Countess of Lebrija, now a house museum. Wikipedia says visitors may explore the ground floor at will, with guided tours of the upper floor, and notes the Roman mosaics that pave most of the ground floor. The museum keeps its own hours and ticket rules, so check them before building an afternoon around it. Because the palace and the flamenco centre are neighbours with a shared past, a visit to one helps explain the other, and the Roman mosaics make a strong contrast with the brick and stone of the show room.
After the show
Seville's tourist board says flamenco can be heard daily in the city's tablaos, in neighbourhood peñas, in themed spaces and in certain bars. If the show has made you curious, that list is a starting point for another evening. In even years the Bienal fills the calendar for nearly a month. Whatever you plan, give yourself time to walk back through the old centre after the show and let the singing settle. The tourist board lists several tourist information points in the city and guided tours through its associations; ask at one of them if you want a suggestion for the following morning.
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