The upper apartments of the Alcázar can be viewed by special permission. I would strongly urge the visitor to obtain this permission. If he applies to the _conserje_ at the Palace of Pedro, he will be informed that admission is impossible without an order from the King of Spain. Such was my experience. I then asked for an order at the offices in the Patio de las Banderas, but the courteous officials were firm in their refusal, stating that 'no one but the King can give permission to visit the upper part of the Alcázar.' Still determined, I ventured to address His Majesty by letter, and in a few days I received a reply from the Intendencia General de la Real Casa y Patrimonio at Madrid. The letter was written by the royal secretary, and is a beautiful example of the ornate caligraphy in which educated Spaniards delight. I was told that 'the Señor Marqués de Irún, Alcaide of the Reales Alcázares, would grant me the desired permission.' At the hotel I inquired where the Marqués de Irún resided. No one knew. My host searched through a Seville directory. The name of the Marqués de Irún was not to be found in its pages. Finally, armed with the letter from the royal palace, I presented myself at the offices in the Patio de las Banderas, and displayed the missive. The effect was magical. The officials were even more polite than before. One of them wrote a note, which he asked me to give to the _conserje_, and I was bowed out of the office. The _conserje_ in the Patio de la Monteria scanned the open-sesame. And at last I gained entrance to the upper apartments of the Royal Alcázar. The visitor who has secured his permit will be rewarded. There is much to see in these chambers. Notice, first of all, the fine staircase constructed at the end of the sixteenth century. The seventeenth-century tapestries in the salons are magnificent examples of this art. Most of the subjects are Dutch; some are copies of pictures by David Teniers. In the first hall, at the head of the principal staircase, there is some handsome artesonada ceiling decoration of the fifteenth century. In the Oratory of the Catholic Kings there is the most notable specimen of ceramic art to be seen in Spain. It is a lovely retablo of _azulejos_, designed by Franciso Niculoso, an Italian, in 1504. Niculoso introduced this kind of _azulejo_ painting into Seville. The central picture represents the Visitation of the Virgin to St. Isabella. A smaller subject is the Annunciation, and there is a curious genealogical tree of the Saviour. The decorations are fantastic. In the Comedor there is a splendid laced ceiling of _Mudéjar_ workmanship, dating from the fifteenth century. The walls are covered with interesting tapestry pictures.