Seville Travel guide

The fertility of this land and its favourite climate with mild winters and about 3000 hours of sun per year (if you ever have visited it in August, where temperatures can arrive to some 47°C, perhaps you will deny to call it favourite) made Phoenicians and Carthaginians settle here. Later came Romans, like almost to any place in Europe, and two of their emperors, Trajan and Hadrian, in fact were born here.

Andalusia is the Spanish Autonomous Community with the greatest number of inhabitants and the second in surface. Its varied landscapes, the benignancy of its climate and the friendly character of its population have turned it into one of the most attractive regions.

3000 hours of sun per year, many kilometres of golden sand beaches and those beautiful natural ports made it a safe refuge already for Phoenician navigators, thousands of years before Christ.

The coast of Huelva and Cadiz corresponds to the Atlantic Ocean and is characterized by fine sand. The Mediterranean coast, from the Strait of Gibraltar to Almeria, on the other hand offers smoother climate with less wind and higher water temperatures.

Andalusia is crossed by Guadalquivir river, the "father" of old civilisations who have left along its borders an impressive monumental track, as well as the high mountain ranges of Sierra Morena and Sistemas Beticos.

The offer for visitors is extremely varied, from golden beaches to those beautiful mountain ranges with their highly interesting fauna, and the famous "white villages" with their richdom in folklore and artisans. There are great possibilities for most different sports as well, from skiing in the Sierra Nevada to surfing at the coast of Cadiz, where you will find ideal conditions as nowhere else in Europe.

Andalusia is the "mother" of the Spanish folklore which is probably best known abroad: here you will live the magic of Flamenco and bullfighting in their most authentic style, and myths like Don Juan and Carmen were born here. A land of great traditions, which has understood as well to assimilate the progress.

Also later on Seville was the home of famous and infamous figures of history, the legendary "Don Juan" started from here to conquer the hearts of women across all Europe, while Columbus started from a port close to Seville to discover a new world. Prosper Merimée's "Carmen", who couldn't make her decision between the officer Don José and the bullfighter Escamillo - the consequences you can watch still today in opera houses - was a worker in Seville's old tobacco factory. By the way, this factory serves today as University, a fact that might give you a glimpse on Andalusian talent for improvisation.

The traditions of Semana Santa go back to 16th century, when the Catholic Church decided to present the Passion of Christ to the population in an easily understandable way: they had made huge wooden figures of Saints by the greatest artists of that time and those figures were carried with the processions. The realism of this representation impressed people deeply indeed, and still today the Sevillanos are cheering the Holy Virgin of their parish church in a way that is often hard to understand for spectators.
Ahead of the procession comes a group of so-called Nazarenos, in long gowns with hoods, behind them Penitents, with crosses on their shoulders, then the figures of the Saints carried by Costaleros, each of whom has to carry a weight of up to 100 kg. All those men are members of a Cofradia, a brotherhood dedicating to organize one of those processions. There are 52 Cofradias in Seville.

Those processions are deeply impressing for the spectator, and thousands of tourists come to Seville each year in Easter week.

All but different is Feria de Abril, taking place two weeks later. Originally it was just a cattle-market, but through the years it turned out to be one of the greatest popular festivities in Spain. You will have the opportunity to see the typical flamenco dresses, which almost all women, never mind their age, wear. Innumerable casetas, provisional houses, are built on the terrain and decorated with colourful lamps. In the morning arrive the landowners on horses or in horse-coaches. In the afternoon starts a great party of Flamenco and sherry-wine in each Caseta that will take all the nightlong. That is repeated day by day during an entire week. During this same week take place as well the most important bullfights in town.

In the following weeks there are similar but of course much smaller Ferias in many of the villages and towns around.

Another certainly attractive event for visitors is the Day of Inmaculada. In the night from 11th to 12th of December come together all the Tunas (student's fraternities in traditional medieval dresses) of the city - and many of all the country - at the statue of the Virgin Inmaculada, between cathedral and Alcazar, to perform their traditional songs.
The next morning takes place the Danza de los Seises in the cathedral, a dance performance of children as well in traditional dresses.

In the evening of January 5th , there is the colourful Procession of the three Magi, who pass on horse-coaches and give small presents and sweets to the children.

Bullfighting is certainly one of the best known, although at the same time most polemical, Spanish popular customs.
This Fiesta could not exist without the Toro Bravo, a species of bull of an archaic race that is only conserved in Spain. Formerly this bull's forebears, the primitive urus, were spread out over wide parts of the world. Many civilizations revered them, the bull-cultus at the Greek island Creta is quite well-known (Taurokathapsia) . The Bible reports on sacrifices of bulls in honour to the divine justice. Also in the religious ceremonies of Iberian tribes living in Spain in prehistorically times bulls played an important part, not to mention the bull sacrifices that used to take place in ancient classical Greece.

The origins of the Plaza, the bullring, probably are not the Roman amphitheatres but the Celt-Iberian temples where those ceremonies were held. In the province of Soria, close to Numancia, one of them is conserved and it is supposed that their bulls were sacrificed to the Gods.
While the religious cultus to the bull goes back to Iberians, it was the Greek and Roman influences that converted it into a spectacle.

During the Middle Ages it was a diversion for the aristocracy to torear on horseback. That was called suerte de cañas. In 18th century this tradition was more or less abandoned and the poorer population invented the bullfight on foot. Francisco Romero was a key-figure in laying the rules for that new sport.

For its fans La Corrida is of course rather an art than a sport, not to speak about the challenge of the man fighting against the beast. It is an archaic tradition that has survived in this country, just as the Toro Bravo has done.

What is a Corrida about? If you are not familiar to Corridas, you will find here, listed chronologically, everything that happens. So you may decide by yourself if you want to see one when you are visiting Spain. A Corrida starts with the paseillo, with everybody involved in the bullfight entering the ring and presenting themselves to the public. Two Alguacilillos, on horseback, direct themselves to the presidency and symbolically ask for the keys to the "puerta de los toriles". Behind that door, there are the bulls.
With the door being opened and the first bull entering the ring the spectacle starts. It consists of three parts, called tercios, being separated by horn-signals. There are three toreros in each Corrida, by the way, and each will have to torear two bulls.

In the first tercio the bullfighter uses the capote, a quite large rag of purple and yellow colour. Now enter two picadores, on horseback and armed with a sort of lance.
The second part is la suerte de banderillas. Three banderilleros have to stick a pair of banderillas into the attacking bull's back.

In the final "suerte suprema" the bullfighter uses the muleta, a small red rag. He has to show his faena, his masterity to dominate the bull, and to establish an artistically symbiosis between man and beast. The Corrida ends with the torero killing the bull by his sword.

In 1992 this event was repeated when Expo took place again in Seville, attracting thousands of visitors from around the world.

Seville - History

According to legend, Hercules founded Sevilla and its origins are linked with the Tartessian civilisation. It was called Hispalis under the Romans and Isbiliya with the Moors. Its high point in its history was following the discovery of America.

Sevilla lies on the banks of the Guadalquivir and is one of the largest historical centres in Europe; it has the Mohammedan minaret of La Giralda, the cathedral (one of the largest in Christendom), and the Alcázar Palace. Part of its treasure includes Casa de Pilatos, the Town Hall, Archive of the Indies (where the historical records of the American continent are kept, the Fine Arts Museum (the second picture gallery in Spain), plus convents, parish churches and palaces. Seville has a rich and fascinating history. The Romans governed the whole of Spain for more of six centuries. Their first colony was Italica, which may still be visited today. The Roman ruins and remarkable mosaics of Italica are located less than 9 kilometres to the north of the city, just outside the village of Santiponce. There is also a well-preserved Roman theatre in Santiponce, which is signposted from the main road.

Italica was the birthplace of three emperors and one of the earliest Roman settlements in Spain founded in 206 BC. It rose to considerable military importance in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Throughout the middle Ages, the ruins were used as a source of stone for Seville, but fortunately the amphitheatre has survived, although these days it is crumbling perilously. Beyond this are about twenty mosaics, including an excellent coloured floor with birds, Neptune and the Seasons.

The Romans changed the face of the countryside and towns, building aqueducts and long straight roads to link the major towns. Today some of the best-preserved artefacts from this period can be found at the city's magnificent Archaeological Museum.

But it was the Moslem civilization, which was to have the most lasting impact on the city. Their reign lasted for nearly 800 years in Andalucia from 711 until 1492 when the Catholic monarchs defeated the Moslem kingdom of Granada. Some of the city's most magnificent buildings stand as a legacy to this era, including the Torre del Oro, Torre de Plata, Giralda, Patio de los Naranjos, the area of Triana, the Macarena Walls and the Alcazar. Since Roman times, pottery has been made in Triana, which was named after the Emperor Trajan. It was traditionally a working class district, famous for the bullfighters and flamenco artists that came from its predominantly gypsy community. There are also many buildings dating back to Moorish times here, including the Iglesia de Santa Ana.

From the riverbank restaurants and bars along Calle Betis there are magnificent views of the city's towers and belfries. In the 15th century, a Carthusian monastery was built in what was then a quiet, isolated area north of Triaa. Later this was the site of Expo 92. The monastery buildings were restored and several pavilions of strikingly modern design built at considerable cost.

The Macarena Walls date from 1135, the time of the Almoravides, and were strengthened by the Almohades in the 12th and 13th centuries. Walls surrounded the whole city until they were pulled down in the 19th century. The names of the gates appear on the map as memories of a fortified city. Later the mudejares used their skill to create beautiful Moorish-style buildings, such as the Palacio Pedro 1, part of Seville's Reales Alcazres. There are several Mudejar churches dating from this period, including the Iglesia de San Marcos, the Iglesia de Santa Catalina and the Church of San Pedro.

It's easy to be fooled into thinking this is a Moorish palace, some of the rooms and courtyards seem to come straight from the Alhambra. Most of them were actually built - by Moorish workmen it's true - for King Pedro the Cruel of Castile in the 1360's. Who, with his mistress, Maria de Padilla, lived in and ruled from the Alcazar. Pedro embarked upon a complete rebuilding of the palace, employing workmen from Granada and utilising fragments of earlier Moorish buildings in Seville, Cordoba and Valencia.

Later monarchs, however, have left all too many traces and additions - the most mundane of which are probably the kitchens constructed for General Franco who stayed in the royal apartments whenever he visited Seville.

Interestingly, Mudejar architecture continued long after the Moslem period, one of the best examples being the Cassa de Pilatios, one of the most beautiful buildings you could visit in Seville. The first Marquis of Tarifa departed on a Grand Tour of Europe and the Holy Land in 1518. Two years later he returned, enraptured by the architectural and decorative wonders of High Renaissance Italy. He spent the rest of his life fashioning a new aesthetic, which was very influential. His palace in Seville was called the House of Pilate because it was thought to resemble Pontius Pilate's home in Jerusalem and later became a luxurious showcase for the new style.

By the 18th century, Spain had fallen into economic decline and in the 19th and early 20th centuries poverty led to political conflict and ultimately to civil war.

After the fall of Granada to the Christians, Spain entered an era of expansion and prosperity. The conquest of the New World made Seville on the most affluent cities in Europe, but much of this wealth was squandered on wars by the Habsburg kings. The 13-year War of the Spanish Succession saw Bourbons on the throne in place of the Habsburgs and, under the Treaty of Utrecht, the loss of Gibraltar to the British. Later ties with France dragged Spain into the Napoleonic Wars.

Following the Battle of Trafalgar, the Spanish King, Carlos 1V abdicated and Napoleon Bonaparte placed his brother, Joseph on the Spanish throne. The Peninsula War ensued and, with British help, the French were driven out of Spain. After the Bourbon restoration, Spain weakened by further strife, began to lose her colonies.