The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Unesco to you and me, has named a street in small town southern Spain as the most beautiful in Europe.

Not in Rome or other picturesque capitals like Paris or Amsterdam, or even the cobblestone beauty of nearby Seville, but a small Andalusian town of 17,000 people.

Calle San Pedro, in the historic heart of the Seville town of Osuna in Andalusia, southern Spain, is said to be a ‘walk through the 18th century’ and a pure example of Andalusian baroque style and architecture that has undergone very few changes over the centuries, historians say.

Unsurprisingly, it has been a ‘Historic-Artistic Site’ since 1967. 

A long street of large houses and mansions that showcases the evolution of several architectural styles that have been seen in Spain over the centuries, many consider Calle San Pedro an “open-air museum of architecture,” as described by the Seville tourism board.

Wide, straight, and on a slight slope, Calle San Pedro’s main attraction is the Marquises de la Gomera Palace, an imposing building with a white facade covered in gargoyles and family crests.

Other attractions on the street include the Cilla del Cabildo, built in the 18th century, the Palacio de Cepeda, now the local court building, and a variety of different houses and mansions of all sizes and architectural intrigue, something that surely contributed to Unesco naming it the most beautiful in Europe.

In fact, Calle San Pedro is so photogenic that it has long attracted film directors and location scouts and was the setting for well-known Spanish productions such as Carmen, by Vicente Aranda, and Engaños, by Álvaro Begines.

The town of Osuna itself is no stranger to the big screen, however. Nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Sur, around 80km from Seville and 100km from Málaga, the picturesque town’s bullring (Plaza de toros) was home to the Game of Thrones crew for 14 days of filming during Season Five of the hit HBO show.