Seville has kept much of its Moorish aspect. The Gothic cathedral (1401-1519), one of the world's largest, occupies the site of a former mosque, of which two parts remain—the Court of Oranges and the beautiful Giralda tower. The interior of the cathedral is extraordinarily rich and contains invaluable works of art and the tomb of Christopher Columbus. Adjoining the cathedral is the alcazar, built (14th cent.) in Moorish style by Moorish artisans on the order of Peter I (Peter the Cruel) and rivaling the Alhambra in its exquisite decorations and splendid halls. Among the many other notable buildings of Seville are the city hall (16th cent.); the former lonja, or exchange, which contains the archives of Spanish America; the university buildings, which were formerly a large tobacco factory (scene of part of the action of Mérimée's and Bizet's Carmen); and numerous churches and private palaces. Seville is the capital of bullfighting in Spain and a center of the Andalusian Gypsies, famed for their songs and dances.
The ancient Hispalis, Seville was important in Phoenician times. It was favored by the Romans, who made it a judicial center of Baetica prov. and who built the nearby city of Italica (where the emperors Trajan and Hadrian were born), of which some ruins remain. Seville continued as the chief city of S Spain under the Vandals and the Visigoths. In the 6th cent. Seville was a center of learning. Falling to the Moors in 712, it was (c.1023-1091) the seat of an independent emirate under the Abbadids and a flourishing commercial and cultural center under the Almoravids and the Almohads. In 1248, Ferdinand III of Castile conquered it after a long siege and made it his residence. It is said that 300,000 Moors, the majority of its population, left Seville at that time. With the discovery of the New World, Seville entered its greatest period of prosperity. It was the chief port of trade with the new colonies. In addition to its economic prosperity, it was the seat of a flourishing school of painting to which Velázquez, Murillo (both natives), and Pacheco belonged. In 1718, Seville was superseded as a port by Cádiz. Its economic recovery from the subsequent decline is only recent. In 1810 the French sacked the city. Seville was held by the Nationalists throughout the civil war (1936-39). The 1992 World Exposition was held at Seville.
City (pop., 2005 est.: city, 704,154; 2001: urban agglom., 1,180,197), capital of Sevilla province and Andalusia autonomous community (comunidad autónoma), Spain. Located on the Guadalquivir River, it is Spain's leading inland port and fourth largest city. Originally an Iberian town, Sevilla prospered under the Romans in the 2nd century BC. In the 5th–8th centuries AD it was the chief city in southern Spain under the Vandals and the Visigoths. In 711 it fell to the Moors, and under Muslim rule it was a cultural and commercial centre until the 13th century, when Spanish Christians under Ferdinand III captured it. About 1500 Sevilla became the centre of the Spanish colonial trade with the Americas. The French occupied the city (1808–12), and during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) it was held by the Nationalists. It is one of Spain's main tourist centres, with historic mosques, cathedrals, and the 12th-century Alcázar Palace. It was the site of the Iberoamerican Exposition in 1929 and the Universal Exposition in 1992. The University of Sevilla was founded in 1502.
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(born circa 560, Cartagena or Sevilla, Spain—died April 4, 636, Sevilla; canonized 1598; feast day April 4) Spanish prelate and scholar, last of the Western Fathers of the Church. He became archbishop of Sevilla circa 600 and presided over several councils that shaped church policy, including the fourth Council of Toledo (633). He also promoted the conversion of the Visigoths from Arianism to orthodox Christianity. His best-known work was Etymologies, an encyclopedia that became a standard reference work in the Middle Ages. He also wrote theological works, biographies, and treatises on natural science, cosmology, and history. He was canonized in 1598 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722.
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(born circa 560, Cartagena or Sevilla, Spain—died April 4, 636, Sevilla; canonized 1598; feast day April 4) Spanish prelate and scholar, last of the Western Fathers of the Church. He became archbishop of Sevilla circa 600 and presided over several councils that shaped church policy, including the fourth Council of Toledo (633). He also promoted the conversion of the Visigoths from Arianism to orthodox Christianity. His best-known work was Etymologies, an encyclopedia that became a standard reference work in the Middle Ages. He also wrote theological works, biographies, and treatises on natural science, cosmology, and history. He was canonized in 1598 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1722.
Learn more about Isidore of Sevilla, Saint with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Seville (Spanish: Sevilla [seˈβiʎa], see also different names) is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Sevilla. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level. The inhabitants of the city are known as Sevillanos (feminine form: Sevillanas) or Hispalenses. The population of the city of Seville was 699,145 as of 2007 (INE estimate). The population of the metropolitan area (urban area plus satellite towns) was 1,450,214 as of 2007 (INE estimate), ranking as the fourth largest metropolitan area of Spain.
The city was known from early Roman times as Hispalis. The nearby Roman city of Italica is well-preserved and gives an impression of how Hispalis may have looked in the later Roman period. Existing Roman features in Seville include the remnants of an aqueduct.
After successive conquests of the Roman province of Hispania Baetica by the Vandals and Visigoths, in the 5th and 6th centuries, the city was taken by the Moors in 712 and became an important centre in Muslim Andalusia. It remained under Muslim control, under the authority of the Umayyad, Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, until falling to Fernando III in 1248. The city retains many Moorish features, including large sections of the city wall.
Following the Reconquest, the city's development continued, with the construction of public buildings including churches, many in Mudéjar style. Later, the city experienced another golden age of development brought about by wealth accumulating from the awarding of a monopoly of trade with the Spanish territories in the New World. After the silting up of the Guadalquivir, the city went into relative economic decline.
Seville's development in the 19th and 20th centuries was characterised by population growth and increasing industrialisation.
Seville fell very quickly to General Franco's troops near the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 due to its proximity to the invasion force coming from Morocco. After the initial takeover of the city, resistance continued amongst the working class areas for some time, until a series of fierce reprisals took place.
The University of Sevilla is housed in the original site of the first tobacco factory in Europe, La Antigua Fabrica de Tabacos.
Parks and gardens
Other prominent parks and gardens include:
The climate of Seville is Mediterranean, with oceanic influences. The annual average temperature is , which makes this city one of the warmest in Europe.
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 Holy Week and the colourful and lively fair held two weeks after. During Feria, families, businesses and organisations set up casetas, marquees, in which they spend the week dancing, drinking, and socialising. Traditionally, women wear elaborate flamenco dresses and men dress in their best suits. The marquees are set up on a permanent fairground in which each street is named after a famous bullfighter.
Seville is a gastronomic centre, with a cuisine based on the products of the surrounding provinces, including seafood from Cádiz, olive oil from Jaén, and sherry from Jerez de la Frontera.
The tapas scene is one of the main cultural attractions of the city: people go from one bar to another, enjoying small dishes called tapas (literally "lids" or "covers" in Spanish, referring to their probable origin as snacks served in small plates used to cover drinks.)
Local specialities include fried and grilled seafood (including squid, cuttlefish, swordfish and dogfish), grilled meats in sauces, spinach and chickpeas, Andalusian ham (Jamón ibérico), lamb's kidneys in a sherry sauce, snails, and gazpacho.
Typical sweet cakes of this province are polvorónes and mantecados from the town of Estepa, a kind 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, which provide the city's convents with a source of revenue, and Tortas de aceite, a thin sugar-coated cake made with olive oil.
Except for polvorones and mantecados, which are traditional Christmas products, all of these are consumed throughout the year.
The Seville oranges that dot the city landscape, too bitter for modern tastes, are commonly used to make marmalade.
The Sevillanas dance, commonly presented as flamenco, is not thought to be of Sevillan origin. But the folksongs called Sevillanas are authentically Sevillan, as is the four-part dance that goes with them.
Seville, and most significantly the traditionally gypsy barrio, Triana, was a major centre in the development of flamenco.
The motto of Seville is "NO8DO". The "8" is shaped like a skein of wool, or, madeja in Spanish. The motto, therefore, is a rebus, reading "NO madeja DO," a play on the sentence, "No me ha dejado," or "she [the city] has not abandoned me [the king]".
The motto, according to one legend, refers to the city's support of King Alphonse X in a 13th-century war with his son, Don Sancho. Another places the phrase in the mouth of Ferdinand III while riding into the city after expelling the Moors in 1248. This motto is seen in the city flag and throughout Seville, inscribed on manhole covers, and on some street signs.
The economic activity of Seville cannot be detached from the geographical and urban context of the city; the capital of Andalusia is the centre of a growing metropolitan area. Aside from traditional neighborhoods such as Santa Cruz, Triana and La Macarena, those further away from the centre, such as Nervión, Sevilla Este, and El Porvenir have seen recent economic growth. Over the past twenty years, this urban area has seen significant population growth and the development of new industrial and commercial parks.
Due to its size and location, Seville is economically the strongest of the Andalusian cities. The infrastructure available in the city contributes to the growth of an economy dominated by the service sector, but in which industry still holds a considerable place.
The 1990s saw massive growth in investment in infrastructure in Seville, largely due to the hosting of the Universal Exposition of Seville in 1992, which saw the economic development of the city and its urban area is supported by good transport links to other Spanish cities, including a high-speed AVE railway link to Madrid, and a new international airport.
In addition:
The town of Seville and its agglomeration have, by their situation in the heart of the plain of the Guadalquivir, maintained dynamic agricultural activity. Agroalimentary industry is flourishing there. Nevertheless, for a long time the area has been looking to the future, while investing massively in industrial activities, supported by the existing infrastructures. The service sector and new technologies are increasingly important. Seville concentrated, in 2004, 31% of large Andalusian companies and 128 of the 6,000 largest national companies. In 2005, the metropolitan area counted a working population of 471,947 people, of which 329,471 (69.81%) worked within the city centre.
The city of Seville makes a significant contribution to scientific research, as it houses the first and largest DNA bank in Spain, through the local company Neocodex. Neocodex stores 20,000 DNA samples and is recognised internationally. In addition, Seville is also considered an important technological and research centre for renewable energies and the aeronautics industry.
Through its high-tech centres and its fabric of innovating companies, the Andalusian capital has risen to among the most important Spanish cities in term of development and research. Moreover, the scientific and technological activity of the three Seville universities has to be added, whose certain laboratories and research centres work in close connection with the local socio-economic power. Thus, the Parque Científico Tecnológico Sevilla Tecnopolis gathers private and public actors in various fields of research.
The principal innovation and research orientations are telecommunications, new technologies, biotechnologies (in relation to local agricultural specificities), environment and renewable energy.
Sevilla is served by the TUSSAM (Transportes Urbanos de Sevilla) bus network which runs buses throughout the city as well as outlying areas surrounding Sevilla. El Metrocentro Tranvia is a tram line consisting of four stops, running from el Prado bus station, past the University and the Cathedral, and stopping at Plaza Nueva where the direction of service reverses.
By the end of 2008, the city hopes to see completion of its first metro line, almost 28 months later than originally planned. The project experienced several delays caused by various reasons, including the relocation of archaeological findings and the need for a deeper tunnel under the Guadalquivir River, to avoid possible water leakages.
The Santa Justa train station is served by the AVE high-speed rail system, and is operated by the Spanish formerly state-owned rail company Renfe.
Currently in progress as well is the Sevici community bicycle program which has integrated bicycles into the public transport network. Across the city, bicycles are available for hire at low cost and green bicycle lanes can be seen on most major streets. This network of lanes (carriles) is also currently being expanded.
