Metropol Parasol (Las Setas)

The world's largest wooden structure, the Metropol Parasol stands in the old La Encarnación market square like a surrealist mushroom forest from the future. Completed in 2011 to a design by German architect Jürgen Mayer H., the undulating parasol roof is made from laminated wood panels bonded with polyurethane and rises up to 28 metres. It is simultaneously divisive and magnetic — Sevillians argued fiercely about it before it was built and continue to argue about it, which usually means a city has done something interesting with public space.

A walkway runs along the top of the parasols, offering panoramic views across the old city for a modest entry fee. Below ground, the Antiquarium museum displays the Roman and Moorish ruins found during excavation. The square beneath the structure is a pleasant place to sit in the shade, and the surrounding streets in the Alfalfa neighbourhood have some of the better tapas bars away from the main tourist circuit.

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A story
Construction of the Metropol Parasol began in 2005 on a site originally excavated for an underground car park. Workers hit Roman-era ruins and a 12th-century Moorish house. After years of legal wrangling over what to do with the finds, the solution was a museum in the basement — the Antiquarium — and a radically modern structure above. The Antiquarium's Roman mosaics, displayed beneath glass walkways, are some of the finest in Andalucía.