Seville City
Sevilla in Spanish and pronounced Ce-bee-ya (se’βiya), is the 4th largest city in Spain and one of the most romantic and lively metropolitan areas in the Iberian Peninsula.
Seville’s distinct personality is the result of many cultures that have inhabited and ruled it for over 2000 years. The renaissance and baroque architecture of the city is beautifully blended with the influences from Moorish culture which ruled Seville between 712-1248 AD and can be seen in the famous monuments and places such as Alcazar.
Although very little of Hispalis (the Roman city), is left for us to see you can imagine how the city looked like by visiting the nearby Roman city ruins of Italica.
Following the Reconquesta by the Christian army the city’s development and growth continued unabated. King Fernando III, King of Castilla and León moved his court to the Alcázar of Seville, the former Moorish palace. A royal residence, the Alcázar was built in a Moorish lush style and the huge gothic cathedral was built during the 15th century.
The golden age of Seville was during the establishment of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. Seville to this day boasts the only inland port in Spain with Guadalquivir being navigable for 80km inland from the sea. The city was awarded the monopoly of trade within the Spanish territories in the New World with Gold and Silver poured in from the Spanish Americas. Seville minted silver and gold coins became the 1st universally accepted European currency predating the modern Euro by over 400 years.
NO8DO - ‘It has not Abandon me’The official motto can be seen across the city, on important building, tourists’ attractions and even bus stops! NO8DO is omnipresent and you cannot fail to notice it as you travel across the city. The motto is in fact a play on words, made from combining the Spanish syllables (NO and DO) and a drawing in between–the figure ‘8’. The figure represents a skein of yarn, ‘madeja’ in Spanish. When read aloud, ‘No madeja do’ sounds like ‘No me ha dejado,’ which means ‘It [Seville] has not abandoned me [King].’ Kings Alfonso X, ‘The Wise King’ was a scholar king, a poet, astronomer, astrologer, musician and linguist. When Alfonso’s son, Sancho IV of Castile, tried to make a grab for the throne from his father, the people of Seville remained loyal to their beloved ‘Wise King’. After defeating his son, King Alfonso X rewarded the fidelity of the ‘Sevillanos’ with the words that now appear on the official emblem of the city of Seville. Seville did not abandon the King so it shall be honoured forever with NO8DO ‘It has not abandoned me’. |
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Places to Visit in Seville
Santa Cruz is the primary tourist neighbourhood of Seville, Spain, and the former Jewish quarter of the medieval city. Santa Cruz is bordered by the Jardines de Murillo, the Real Alcázar, Calle Mateas Gago, and Calle Santa Maria La Blanca/San José. The neighbourhood is the location of many of Seville's oldest churches and is home to the Cathedral of Seville, including the converted minaret of the old Moorish mosque Giralda.
Alcázares Reales de Sevilla (Royal Palace of Seville). Alcázar is dreived from the Arabic ‘al-qasr’, meaning ‘palace’. The Almohades built the original palace around 1100AD when it was known as Al-Muwarak. The palace is one of the best remaining examples of mudéjar architecture. Subsequent monarchs have added their own marks to the Alcázar. The upper levels of the Alcázar are still used by the royal family as the official Seville residence and are administered by the Patrimonio Nacional. |
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The Plaza de España – This is the most easily recognised building and probably the image that most people have of Seville. In 1929 Seville hosted the Spanish-American Exhibition and numerous buildings were constructed for the exhibition in Maria Luisa Park, among them the Plaza designed by Aníbal González. Aníbal created the most famous of Moorish Revival architectural masterpiece. Plaza de España showcased Spain’s industry and technology exhibits. Celebrating the Spanish nation there are many tiled alcoves with each representing a different province of Spain. The Plaza is built in a huge half-circle surrounded by highly decorated buildings and is accessible over the moat by numerous bridges. Today the plaza is used as Government buildings, including El Ayuntamiento (Town Hall). A popular way to view the building is by renting out a rowing boat and drifting around the moat. |
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Torre del Oro (Gold Tower) - The tower was a military watchtower built in the Moors during the Almohad dynasty to oversee and control access to Seville via the Guadalquivir river. Constructed in the 13th century, the tower served as a prison during the Middle Ages and as a secure enclosure for the protection of Gold and Silver brought by the Spanish fleet from the Americas colonies (hence the tower's name). The tower is divided into three levels, with the third and uppermost being circular in shape and added in 1760. This tower has a lesser known half sister: La Torre de la Plata, an octagonal tower. |
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La Giralda (The Cathedral Bell Tower) – After the Reconquesta the Cathedral was built on the former site of the city's mosque. The Giralda was originally the city’s mosque minaret but was converted into a bell tower and integrated into the new Cathedral. The Giralda is the city's most famous symbol and measures 105 meters in height. The tower's interior was built with ramps rather than stairs, to allow the 'Muezzin' to ride on horseback to the top. Muezzin is the person that calls Muslims to prayers from the minaret and getting up and down the tower 5-times a day was not a task taken lightly! The tower is topped with a statue, known locally as El Giraldillo representing Faith. Catedral de Santa María de la Sede (The Cathedral) - This is the largest Gothic cathedral and the third-largest church in the world. The interior has the longest nave in Spain with the central nave rising to a height of 42 metres and is lavishly decorated, with a large quantity of gold evident. One of the outstanding features of the cathedral is various scenes depicting life of Christ. The altarpiece was the lifetime work of a single craftsman, Pierre Dancart. In 1401 the Seville’s leaders decided to build a new place of worship as the ancient Muslim mosque was in a bad state of repairs following the 1356 earthquake. The cathedral was built to demonstrate Seville's wealth, as it had become a major trading centre especially with the Gold and Silver from the Americas colonies. |
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Itálica –Located north of the modern day Santiponce, 9 km NW of Seville was founded in 206 BC by the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus in order to settle Roman soldiers wounded in the Battle of Ilipa, where the Carthaginian army was defeated during the Second Punic War. The name Italica bound the colonia to their Italian origins. Italica was the birthplace of Roman emperor Trajan. Emperor Hadrian added temples, including a Trajaneum and rebuilt public buildings. Italica’s amphitheatre seated 25,000 spectators and was the third largest in the Roman Empire. The city's Roman population at the time is estimated to have been only 8000. A shift of the Guadalquivir River bed, probably due to silt build up that followed removal of the forest cover left Italica isolated and literarily high and dry. As no modern city was built over Italica there is an unusually well-preserved Roman city with treasures on display in the Museo Arqueologico of Seville including the famous marble colossus of Trajan. |
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