Where Design Meets Devotion: Taberna Convento in Seville, Spain
A beloved tavern reborn with reverence and Sevillian soul
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In the heart of El Viso del Alcor, a small town in Seville, a beloved village bar has been beautifully reborn. Taberna Convento, the soulful centrepiece of the town square, is a space where the past lingers and good design speaks softly. Transformed by Alejandro Cateto and his studio CatetoCateto who know the place not just in plan but in memory. A place of crossroads and encounters, where kids still run in for water, and where life continues to unfold.
A sacred renovation with everyday soul
More than a renovation, this is a reclamation of tradition, community, and atmosphere. Positioned in front of the town’s convent, the protagonist of Holy Week, this tavern offers candlelit evenings, and the slow rhythm of Sevillian summers.
The redesign doesn’t erase the past, it honours it in a thoughtful new identity, balancing architectural sensitivity, contemporary craft, and the deep-rooted spirit of Andalusian culture.
Material memory and devotion in the details
The intervention leans into natural materials and local textures: lime mortar, hydraulic tiles, a wooden bar, and of course, demijohns. Earthy hues ground the space in the terrain of Andalusia, while purple accents nod to the Holy Week, bridging the spiritual and the sensory. There’s nothing contrived here, every element feels rooted, familiar, yet subtly elevated.
Here tradition is reframed in a curated reverence: images arranged with care, candles woven into the architecture, and a space that whispers more than it shouts. It’s a design that slows you down, encouraging a pause between sips, and deeper look at the wall before the next procession passes by.
Taberna Convento proves that design can hold memory, tradition and future all at once.
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