In 1992, to celebrate the 500th Anniversary of Christopher Columbus discovering the Americas in 1492, an expo reminiscent of Disney’s Epcot was developed outside of the United States (Epcot, of course, had itself borrowed heavily from past World’s Fairs). On Cartajua Island in Seville, Spain, the theme was “The Age of Discovery.”
It was a massive place, requiring a few days at least to fully explore. It was renowned for its gates and bridges but especially for architecture which represented various parts of the world. Highlights included the Pavilion of Japan, which was the world’s largest wooden structure, and the extremely popular Spanish Pavilion, a modern-at-the-time cube and sphere piece of architecture. Expo ’92 had a bunch of spectacle. Interesting elements included:
- A hundred countries represented with Pavilions
- Its own mascot Curro, who had the shape of a bird, legs of an elephant and beak and crest the colors of a rainbow.
- A cool mist spray so guests could handle the hot Seville summers
Most of the Pavilions were quickly, maybe coldheartedly dismantled after the Expo. What remains serves various purposes that include as attractions for new parks in the same location and even as a trade school. Check out what the Epcot clone’s area looks like now. They’re not nearly as eery as some of the abandoned theme parks we’ve shown a light on in the past, but it’s interesting to see how Expo ’92 left a legacy on Seville.
First some long shots of the area. These photos are courtesy of Elliot Brown on Flickr.
Now some specific elements of Expo ’92. These next few photos are from Lars Plougmann. Here’s the Tower.
Now the access to the monorail station…
Here are photos of the monorails themselves, courtesy again of Elliot Brown.
Here are some great photos of the Monastery of Santa Maria de las Cuevas. It was declared a national monument in 1964, and restorations were made for Expo ’92. It became a museum of contemporary and ceramic art in 1997. Photos and background info courtesy of DODO DODO on Flickr. Pretty ironic username, huh?
Here’s the Jamaican Pavillion provided by Will Robson on Flickr.
Here’s the Moraccan Pavilion from Jules Antonio on Flickr.
There aren’t a lot of photos of Expo ’92 that we can use, but the ones we can are painting a clear picture of the previous majesty of this expo mostly forgotten by those who aren’t near what remains. I hope it was fun to look at what once was.
