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The construction of many buildings was undertaken in Maria Luisa Park, the venue of the Spanish-American Expo. In the year 1893 The Dutchess of Montpensier had donated substantial areas of Maria Luisa Park to Seville , to be developed as a public park .In 1911 Jean-Claude Forestier, a French gardener redesigned the gardens to their present shapes.
The Plaza de Espana was the spectacular centerpiece of the Spanish- American Expo. It was designed for this purpose in 1929 by Anibal Gonzalez. It forms the essence of the revival architecture of the Moorish period. The buildings run around the edge in a semi-circle having a diameter of two hundred meters .It offered a forum to exhibit Spain’s technology and industry. Numerous attractive bridges over the moat connect it to these buildings which are presently used as government offices but it has retained its beauty. The centre is adorned with an artificial lake and a huge fountain that is lighted up at night. It has two towers by its sides. A combination of marble columns, tiles and mainly bricks were used in the construction of the Plaza. Today the architectural style used is identified as Sevillian Regionalism.
There are many alcoves, displaying polychromatic ceramic tile work, along the walls of the plaza, which represent the different provinces of Spain. The Parque de María Luisa within the vicinity offers a tranquil get-away from the city and serves as an important green area of Seville. One of the most feasible ways to see the Expo is to sail around the moat by renting a row boat. The Tourists find it interesting to land in their own province and get their picture clicked.
The Plaza de España, an exposition building, has become an intrinsic part of Spanish architecture and one of the most identifiable structure of seville. A lot of time can be spent here ambling in the precincts of the the courtyard. This makes it a spectacular place worth seeing. The plaza de America, having the Pavilion of Fine Arts was one of the main square of the exhibition of 1929. Today it serves as Seville’s Archaeological Museum.
Plaza de España has formed the backdrop for a number of events like being used in the movie Lawrence of Arabia wherin it features as "Cairo Great Britain Army Headquarters" .In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, it was used, though with digital modifications as a setting for Naboo. The first scene, in Dan Brown’s thriller Digital Fortress, occurs in the Plaza de Espana.
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