Overview
“Hercules built me, Caesar surrounded me with walls” — so says the legend of Seville’s foundation, though neither claim is true. The first city on the site of modern Seville was Hispalis, taken by the Romans in 205 BC at the end of the Second Punic War. It became the capital of the province of Baetica, named after the river Betis (Guadalquivir). Nearby Italica, a purely Roman town, was the birthplace of Emperors Hadrian and Trajan.
Around 409 AD, the Roman order in Spain collapsed as Germanic tribes — Suevi, Alani, and Vandals — overran Iberia. The Vandals settled in the south before moving on to Africa, leaving their name to the region Andalucía. Between 469–478, the Visigoths conquered the peninsula and established a regional capital on the old Roman site.
In 712, Arab armies took Sbila (Seville), bringing it into the Islamic world. Under Muslim rule — first the Umayyads, then as part of the Caliphate of Córdoba, and later capital of the Almohad kingdom — Seville reached extraordinary heights. A Moorish chronicler wrote: “If one asked for the milk of birds, it would be given.” An apocryphal story tells that, when offered vassalage to either Castile or Morocco, the city’s emir replied: “I would rather tend the camels of the King of Morocco than the swine of the King of Castile.”
The Almohad victory at Alarcos (1195) secured Seville’s Muslim status, but after the Christian triumph at Las Navas de Tolosa (1212), the days of Moorish Seville were numbered. In 1248, Ferdinand III of Castile captured the city.
Much of Seville’s lush, subtropical feel comes from the Muslim era — date palms, oranges, jasmine, plumbago. Few secular Moorish buildings survive, but the Giralda remains: first the mosque’s minaret (completed 1184), now the cathedral’s bell tower. Its upper belfry and weather-vane, El Giraldillo, were added in the 16th century. The narrow medieval streets of Santa Cruz — once the Jewish quarter — recall the layout of an Arab medina.
Unlike the sweeping Christianisation that followed 1492 elsewhere, Seville preserved much Islamic influence. Medieval Castile, even during the Reconquista, maintained a complex cultural exchange with Al-Andalus. The finest example of this is the Alcázar, a royal palace built by Muslim artisans for the Castilian King Pedro the Cruel (1350–1369) on the site of the former emir’s palace. It appears almost Eastern in its inspiration — fragrant gardens and all — despite being built under a Christian monarch. Pedro earned his epithet: he murdered a king of Granada here during a jousting confrontation and stole a ruby that later became part of the British Crown Jewels.
The first fully Christian monument in the city is the cathedral, begun in 1401 on the site of the demolished mosque. It is the third-largest church in Christendom and the largest Gothic building in Europe — vast, heavy, and majestic rather than subtle. The interior, dark and solemn, comes alive during Holy Week. Treasures include the Chapel of La Virgen de la Antigua (patroness of transatlantic voyagers), the tomb of Columbus (returned from Santo Domingo after 1898), and Murillo’s famous St Anthony of Padua, once stolen and later rediscovered in a New York junk shop. Its reredos — 20m x 13.2m — is the largest in the world. As the builders declared: “Let us build a church so big that we will be thought insane.”
Seville’s greatest period began after the discovery of the Americas. Columbus had departed from Palos, near the monastery of La Rábida where he lived; Seville, the nearest major city with convenient river access to the Atlantic, became the centre of New World traffic. In 1503, the Casa de Contratación was established here to regulate American trade, granting Seville a monopoly. Between 1500 and 1588, the city doubled in size, becoming Spain’s largest and attracting adventurers from across Europe. Both Magellan and Vespucci set sail from Seville.
The Renaissance left elegant marks on the city:
• Casa de Pilatos (1519), built for the Marquis of Tarifa, with Goya bullfight scenes.
• Ayuntamiento (1534), a major Plateresque work.
• San Telmo Palace and Magdalena Church, fine examples of 17th-century Baroque.
• Archivo de Indias, designed by Herrera of El Escorial fame, housing all documents related to the conquest of the Americas.
The tradition of grandeur continued into the imperial era, seen most clearly in the Royal Tobacco Factory, now part of the University, made famous in the legend of Carmen.
Seville also nurtured great artists: Zurbarán, Murillo, and Velázquez were all born here. Velázquez’s Aguador de Sevilla, painted when he was about twenty, launched his career. Cervantes spent his youth in the city, and Tirso de Molina, creator of Don Juan, was a friar in the building that is now Seville’s Museum of Fine Arts.
Decline began after 1680 when the Guadalquivir River silted up, reducing navigability. A plague in 1649 had already killed 60,000. In 1707, the Casa de Contratación moved to Cádiz, and Seville entered a long sleep.
By the late 18th century, Andalusia suffered from poverty, brigandage, and political stagnation. Carlos III tried to spur reform, but conditions remained harsh. In 1829, Washington Irving wrote that “the most petty journey is taken like a warlike enterprise.” By 1840, George Borrow admired the blossoms of Seville’s thousands of orange trees but found “misery and beggary” in the streets.
Paradoxically, this romantic decline inspired foreign writers. The legends of Don Juan, Carmen, and Figaro — born in literature and set on the operatic stage — solidified Seville as the iconic image of Spain abroad.
After Spain lost its final colonies in 1898, interest in the shared Hispano-American heritage surged. Seville hosted the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, building national and international pavilions in the beautiful Parque de María Luisa. The Plaza de España, designed by Sevillano architect Aníbal González, became its crowning achievement. The grand Hotel Alfonso XIII completed the ensemble.
The monarchy fell in 1931. The following year, General Sanjurjo launched an unsuccessful coup, briefly seizing Seville — a sign of brewing turmoil. In 1936, at the outbreak of the Civil War, Seville was the only major Spanish city to fall immediately to the Nationalists, under General Queipo de Llano. Through intimidation and brutal repression, he secured the city, especially crushing resistance in Triana. Despite heavy loss of life, the city’s monuments survived, unlike those in Granada and elsewhere.
Under Franco (1939–1975), Seville regained its position as Andalusia’s grande dame, earning a reputation for conservative elegance. Prosperity returned through industries connected to the region’s agriculture — brewing, olive oil refining, and food processing.
The surrounding provinces of Seville and Cádiz remain famous for latifundia — large estates whose land-tenure systems date back to Roman times. In the 1930s, debates over land reform fueled unrest that helped ignite the Civil War; echoes of this persisted into the 1980s. Many aristocratic estates remain dedicated to hunting or bull breeding, dominated by families like the Domecqs.
In 1983, Andalucía became an autonomous region with its parliament in Seville. Despite high youth unemployment and resulting street crime, the city remains a magnificent destination for visitors.
Flamenco and Bullfighting
Both are best experienced in Andalucía — and best of all in Seville. The city’s significant Roma (Gypsy) population preserves authentic flamenco traditions, blending Arab guitar, deep cante (song), and expressive dance.
Seville’s bullring, La Maestranza, is one of Spain’s oldest (18th century), dating from the codification of modern bullfighting rules.
Holy Week (Semana Santa)
The week before Easter is celebrated with extraordinary fervor. Beginning on Palm Sunday, numerous cofradías (religious brotherhoods) process toward the cathedral carrying enormous carved pasos depicting scenes from the Passion. The floats, borne by teams of costaleros, move slowly through the streets accompanied by hooded penitentes.
Despite the solemn subject, the atmosphere in Seville is festive and intense. After the processions, bars stay open until dawn. The next morning, the streets are empty and strewn with the remains of the night before.
Important tip: If staying at Hotel Murillo and walking to Caserío Vasco for dinner, leave before processions begin.
Feria de Abril
Held one week after Semana Santa, Feria began in the 19th century as a cattle market but quickly evolved into a showcase of Andalusian culture — horses, carriages, flamenco dresses, food, and music. Every element of Andalucía is represented, from wealthy landowners to humble gypsy families.
As Sacheverell Sitwell wrote:
“You may think as I do that the Feria de Sevilla must be the most beautiful public spectacle in the world today.”