Seville
)|time zone = CET (GMT +1)|image_skyline = |image_skyline_size = |founded = 8th-9th century BC|native_language = Spanish|community = Andalucía|community_link = Andalusia|province = Sevilla|province_link = Sevilla (province)|divisions = |neighborhoods = |mayor = Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín|political_party = PSOE|political_party_link = Spanish Socialist Workers' Party|area = 140|altitude = 7|population = 704,154|date-population = 2005|population-ranking = |density = 5.029 hab./km²|date-density = |website = http://www.sevilla.org/|postal_code = 41001-41080|area_code = |
Seville (
Spanish:
Sevilla, see also
different names) is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern
Spain, irrigated by the river
Guadalquivir(). It is the capital of
Andalusia and of the province of
Sevilla. The inhabitants of the city are known as
Sevillanos (feminine form:
Sevillanas). The population of the city of Seville proper was 704,154 as of 2005 (INE estimate). The population of the urban area was 1,043,000 as of 2000 estimates. Population of the
metropolitan area (urban area plus satellite towns) was 1,317,098 as of 2005 (INE estimate), ranking as the fourth-largest metropolitan area of Spain.
Roman
Hispalis ( in
Greek sources; and
Hispal in some sources (
Mela ii. 6, Sil. Ital. iii. 392), in the province of
Hispania Baetica. Though Greeks and Romans repeated a founding myth connected with
Heracles' visit to the
Hesperides the historical site was occupied by the
Tartessos in the 8th or 9th century BCE. Later it was a trading colony occupied by the
Phoenicians and the
Carthaginians, who destroyed the city in
216 BCE. In
206 BCE,
Scipio Africanus founded
Italica nearby, to settle his wounded veterans, and began the reconstruction of Hispalis. It was made a colony by
Julius Caesar; and although an attempt seems to have been made to exalt the neighbouring colony of
Baetis above it, the very site of which is now doubtful, it ranked, in
Strabo's time, among the first cities of
Turdetania, next after Corduba (modern
Córdoba) and Gades (modern
Cádiz); and afterwards even advanced in dignity, so that, in the time of
Ptolemy, it had the title of
metropolis, and under the
Vandals and
Goths it ranked above Corduba, and became the capital of Southern Spain. In the
Roman Empire it was the seat of a
conventus juridicus, and bore the titles of
Julia Romula and
Colonia Romulensis. Its ancient coins have been described and catalogued by
Enrique Florez. (Strab. iii. pp. 141, 142; Hirt.
Bell. Alex. 51, 56;
Dion. Cass. xliii. 39;
Plin. iii. 3;
Itin. Ant. pp. 410, 413, 416; Geog. Rav. iv. 45; Philostr.
Vit. Apoll. v. 3, 6; Auson.
Clar. Urb. 8; Isidor.
Etym. xv. 1; Inser.
ap. Gruter, pp. 201, 257, Orelli, vol. ii. p. 396;
Florez,
Esp. S. vol. ix. pp. 89, 90; Coins
ap. Florez,
Med. de Esp. vol. ii. p. 543; Mionnet, vol. i. p. 24, Suppl. vol i. p. 42; Eckhel, vol. i. p. 28.)
Hispalis became
(
Arabic أشبيليّة) under the
Moors. The
architecture of the older parts of the city still reflects the centuries of
Moorish control of the city, beginning in 711. After a brief independence as one of the
taifa principalities, from 1023 to 1091, when it was the seat of the
Abbadids while the
Caliphate of Cordoba collapsed, Seville then fell to the
Reconquista of
Ferdinand III of Castile in 1248.
Seville was governed from
Cordoba but as a port it retained strategic importance: Emir
Abd ar-Rahman II built a fleet and arsenal at Seville in the mid-9th century.
| View of the Cathedral of Seville and the Archivo de Indias |
| | The distinctive cloaks and hoods of the Easter Holy Week processions |
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| Night view of Bridge of Triana from Betis Street |
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| Seville AVE Railway Station |
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Seville the port
The city sits well inland, but a mere 6 meters above sea level. Seville was long an important
sea port, prior to the silting up of the
Guadalquivir. From Seville
Ferdinand Magellan obtained the ships for his circumnavigation. Much of the
Spanish Empire's silver from the
New World came to Europe in the
Spanish treasure fleet that landed in Seville, and Seville holds the most important archive of the Spanish administration in the Americas (the
Archivo General de Indias). The American riches made it a magnet for people around Spain, ranging from
latifundia nobles and foreign merchants (who were brokered by Spanish
cargadores) to an active petty crime scene, pictured in the
picaresque genre. The American silver was rapidly transhipped to Antwerp or Genoa, seat of the bankers who had advanced steady funds to the Spanish Crown. Other treasures of the Americas passed first through Seville: the first commercial shipment of
chocolate from Veracruz arrived in Seville in 1585.
The city was the biggest of
Spain in
16th and
17th centuries, with a population of 130,000 in
1649, the year of the
Great Plague of Seville. It was the beginning of the city's fall from importance, but Seville was an important artistic center of the baroque.
Seville was a stronghold of the liberals during the
Spanish Civil War, 1820-1823.
Due to its proximity to Africa, during the
Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, Seville fell soon to the insurgent army led by
Francisco Franco.
Modern Seville
Seville was the home of
Expo 92 World's Fair. The showpiece
Alamillo bridge spanning the Guadalquivir designed by
Santiago Calatrava, was built for this occasion. Seville hosted the
European Summit in June
2002; this was met with a counter-summit by those opposing
neoliberalism and the tightening of European regulations on
immigration. The final assembly and the test flights of the
Airbus A400M military aircraft will be done in the new
EADS-CASA plant built near the
San Pablo Airport.
Today Seville is a stronghold of the Socialist Party (
PSOE). In the
2004 Spanish general election, they had a majority of 30.4% over their nearest rivals - higher than in any other Spanish provincial capital city. The
mayor of Seville is
Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín.
The
city's cathedral was built from
1401–
1519 after the
Reconquista on the former site of the city's
mosque. It is the largest of all medieval and Gothic cathedrals, in terms of both area and volume. The interior, with the longest
nave in Spain, is lavishly decorated, with a large quantity of
gold evident. The Cathedral reused some columns and elements from the mosque, and most famously the
Giralda, originally a
minaret, was converted into a
bell tower. It is topped with a statue representing
Faith. The Giralda is the city's most famous symbol.
The
Alcázar facing the cathedral is the city's old Moorish
Palace; construction was begun in
1181. Additional construction continued for over 500 years.
The
Torre del Oro was built by the
Almohad dynasty as watchtower and defensive barrier on the river. A chain was strung through the water from the base of the tower to prevent boats from traveling into the river port.
The
Parque Maria Luisa was built for the
1929 Exposición Ibero-Americana World's Fair, and remains landscaped with attractive monuments and
museums.
The
Easter Holy week,
"Semana Santa", and the
Seville Fair,
"La Feria de Sevilla" (also
Feria de Abril, "April Fair") are the two most well-known of Seville's festivals. Seville is internationally renowned for the solemn but beautiful processions during Semana Santa, and the colourful and lively fair held two weeks after. During Feria families set up
casetas or tents in which they spend the week dancing, drinking and socializing with their whole extended families. The women wear elaborate flamenco dresses and the men dress in their best suits. The fair grounds are set up like a type of village in which each street is named after a famous
torero, or bull fighter.
Typical of this province are
polvorones and
mantecados from the town of
Estepa, a sort of
shortcake made with
almonds,
sugar and
lard;
Pestiños, a honey-coated sweet fritter;
Roscos fritos, deep-fried sugar-coated ring doughnuts;
magdalenas or fairy cakes;
yemas de San Leandro, made by
nuns in the city's
convents, providing the convents with a source of revenue; and
Tortas de aceite, a thin sugar-coated cake made with olive oil.
All of these are consumed throughout the year.
*
University of Seville*
Pablo de Olavide UniversitySeville is known for its hot summer weather, reaching even 50.0°C (122.0°F) on
August 4,
1881, the
record heat for Europe.
The
Sevillana flamenco dance, the one most people think of when they think "flamenco" is not actually of Sevillan origin. But the folksongs called
Sevillanas are authentically Sevillan, as is the four-part dance that goes with them.
The
Seville oranges that dot the city landscape, too sour for modern tastes, are the best for making
marmalade; they are irrigated with "grey" wastewater.
Kansas City, Missouri's
Country Club Plaza was designed to mimic downtown Seville, including a scaled replica of the Giralda.
The world-famous picturesque novel
Rinconete y Cortadillo by
Miguel de Cervantes takes place in the city of Seville. Cervantes started to write and think about his masterpiece
Don Quixote while he was incarcerated in a Seville prison.
*Roman emperors
Trajan and
Hadrian were born in
Italica*Renaissance composer
Cristóbal de Morales*16th century novelist
Mateo Alemán*Playwrights
Lope de Rueda Hermanos Alvarez Quintero*Historian of New Spain
Bartolomé de Las Casas*Explorer
Juan Díaz de Solís, born in
Lebrija*Spanish Linguist and Grammarian
Antonio de Nebrija, born in
Lebrija*Baroque painters
Velázquez and
Murillo*Explorer and astronomer
Antonio de Ulloa*Romantic poet
Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer*Bullfighters
Juan Belmonte,
Curro Romero and
Joselito el Gallo*20th century poets:
**
Vicente Aleixandre (
Nobel Laureate)
**
Antonio Machado**
Manuel Machado, his brother
**
Luis Cernuda*Composer
Joaquín Turina*Actresses
Carmen Sevilla and
Paz Vega*Dancer
Antonio, el bailarin*Singers
Isabel Pantoja,
Juanita Reina,
Paquita Rico,
El Caracol, and a large etcetera...
*Comedians
Paco Gandía,
Josele,
Pepe da Rosa and the Cadaval brothers, Jorge and Cesar, better known as
Los Morancos.
*Football (soccer) players
Rafael Gordillo,
Antonio Ramiro, "Antoñito" and
Jose Antonio Reyes,
Fernando Muñoz, "Nando",
Ricardo Serna*Track and field runner
Antonio Jiménez Pentinel (European Champion in 3000-meters steeplechase)
*Olympic swimmer
Fátima Madrid*Politicians
Felipe González,
President of the Government of Spain from 1982 to 1996, and
Alfonso Guerra, vice president from 1982 to 1991
*Hometown of two rival
football (soccer) teams
Real Betis Balompié and
Sevilla FC.
*Seville also unsuccessfully bid for the
2004 and
2008 Summer Olympics, which it lost to
Athens and
Beijing, respectively. For political reasons, it was unable to bid for the
2012 Summer Olympics as
Madrid was also interested in submitting its own bid. Seville had already shown its ability to cope with other international sport events such as the Tennis
Davis Cup in 2004 and the
7th Athletics World Championships in 1999.
*Seville also hosted in
2003 the UEFA Cup Final in the new Olympic stadium. The final was between
Celtic F.C. (Scotland) and
Futebol Clube do Porto (Portugal). The match finshed in extra time 3–2 to Porto after a 2-2 draw at 90 minutes. Approximately 80,000 Celtic fans travelled to the city which was transformed into a sea of green and white with a carnival atmosphere.
*Seville FC are 2006
UEFA Cup Champions, their first European trophy after an emphatic 4-0 victory over
Middlesbrough FC (England). The final that was played at the Philips Stadion
Eindhoven home of
PSV Eindhoven on May 10th 2006.
|
Seville's Motto on a manhole cover. |
The motto of Seville is "NO8DO". The "8" is shaped like a wool
hank, in
Spanish madeja. This makes the motto, as a
rebus, read "NO madeja DO," which is a pun on "no me ha dejado" = "it has not abandoned me". This refers to the city's support for king
Alphonse X in the war with his son
Don Sancho in the
13th century. This motto is seen throughout Seville, inscribed on
manhole covers.
*
Kansas City, Missouri,
United States*
Angers,
France*
Columbus, Ohio,
United States*
Guadalajara, Mexico,
Mexico*
Cartagena de Indias,
Colombia*Seville is the setting for the legend of
Don Juan (inspired by the real aristocrat
Don Miguel de Mañara).
*Seville is the primary setting of many operas, the best known of which are Bizet's "Carmen," Rossini's "The Barber of Seville," Verdi's "La Forza del Destino," Beethoven's "Fidelio," Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and "The Marriage of Figaro," and Prokofiev's "Betrothal in a Monastery."
*The episode "
The Grand Inquisitor" in
Dostoevsky's
The Brothers Karamazov is set with Christ's return to Seville.
*Seville is the setting of the novel and film
Nadie conoce a nadie, which incorporates the elaborate Sevillian processions during
Holy Week.
*Seville is the setting of the novel "The Seville Communion" by
Arturo Pérez-Reverte.
*The
Plaza de España in the
Parque de María Luisa appears in George Lucas'
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones as well as in
Lawrence of Arabia.
*Seville appears in the first chapter of science fiction novel
Ringworld by
Larry Niven.
*Seville is both the location and setting for much of the
1985 Doctor Who television serial
The Two Doctors.
*Seville is given as the setting of part of the action on Tom Cruise's
Mission Impossible II, but wasn't shot there. The portray of the
Holy Week in the film holds no link to reality.
*The
Patio de los Naranjos in the
Catedral appears in
Kingdom of heaven''.
*Seville is also used as one of the locations in Dan Brown's "
Digital Fortress". According to the author he started to think about writing his
The Da Vinci Code when he was doing a course on Art History at the
University of Seville.
Image:SevillaGiralda.jpg|The Giralda TowerImage:Sevilla Street.jpg|Typical Sevilla street in Old QuartersImage:OrangeTree.jpg|One of the many orange trees that line Seville's roadsImage:CanosCarmona3.JPG|"Caños de Carmona", old Roman AqueductImage:Sevilla Plaza de toros.JPG|Seville Maestranza de Caballería bullringImage:Sevilla innenstadt.jpg|A city centre squareImage:Sevilla torredeloro goldturm.jpg|Torre del Oro as seen from TrianaImage:Sevilla_Guadalquivir.JPG|Guadalquivir RiverImage:Sevilla Plaza de Espana fuente.JPG|Plaza de EspañaImage:Sevilla reales alcázare garten.jpg|Alcázar of Seville gardensImage:SemanaSantaSevillaLaPaz1.jpeg|One of Seville's Holy Week processionsImage:HermanaKansasCitySevilla.JPG|Indian Scout statue in Avenue of Kansas City (Seville's sister city)*
*
Seville metro*
*
Official website of the city council.**
Tourism section of the city council website, in English.
*
Seville Photos Sights, Street Life, Flamenco.
*
Seville in Google Maps.
