For a town which doesn´t usually feature on traveller´s destination list, Osuna in Spain´s Seville province has gained the accolade of Europe´s Most Beautiful Street. What a job that must be – travelling around the whole of Europe to check streets!
Most Beautiful Street in Europe
The award ´The Most Beautiful Street in Europe´ is for the small, yet long street in an undertstated town in Andalucia. Osuna has a population of around 17,000 people. It´s quite an imposing town from a distance, not so outstanding once you´re in it, but it does have a surprising amount of Baroque architecture. And apart from the most beautiful street itself it definitely deserves a visit or stop over when in Seville province or nearby Córdoba province.
Calle San Pedro
Calle San Pedro is the first place to go and it is, as Unesco called it a ´walk through the 18th century´ and according to the Seville Tourist Board an ´open-air museum of architecture.´
A big shout out for a small town and a call to leave the over touristy big cities and explore more authentic towns like Osuna, and there are many. Don´t get me wrong, the big 3 cities of Andalucia – Córdoba, Granada and Seville are fabulous but leave those behind and explore in depth the smaller towns where Spanish is the main language heard ( as it should be) and you´ll experience Spain.
What to See in Osuna
Calle San Pedro, along with other streets, have exceptional examples of Andalucian Baroque architecture, most of which have undergone few modifications over the years. Calle San Pedro is a long, sloping street which is lined with villas and mansions showing the evolution of this style of architecture.
The main gem is the Marquises de la Gomera Palace, a house decorated with pale stone gargoyles, twisting columns and family crests. The street itself has been a ‘Historic-Artistic Site’ since 1967.
The Colegiata de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción is a Catholic church built in the 16th century and declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1931, it houses an art museum and has far-reaching views of the town and beyond. Also there´s plenty of parking, it´s on the outskirts of town, if you want to leave your vehicle and explore on foot.
The Monasterio de la Encarnación, La Universidad and the Plaza Mayor are worth checking out on your city ramble.
See the post about where I stayed in Osuna – Hotel Palacio Marques de la Gomera.
See hotel options in Osuna on Booking.com.
See my post about Hotel Palacio Marques de la Gomera in Osuna.