Seville is Andalusia’s largest city, capital and administrative centre. Crammed with magnificent churches, monuments and Moorish architecture, it is also one of the most active ports of the Iberian peninsular located in the fertile valley of the Guadalquivir River, which is planted with patchwork fields of wheat and olive groves.
The vast gothic Cathedral is here, with its famous Giralda minaret offering the best place for a bird’s-eye view over the city. The elaborate Mudejar palace of Alcazar with its marvellous gardens and Santa Cruz quarter with its cramped streets, flower covered balconies and richly decorated facades are two very different and exciting places to visit. Close by is the ruined settlement of Italica, one of the Roman Empire’s most important cities with its huge amphitheatre and intricate mosaics. The list of fascinating places in this city is simply endless.
Seville assumed an important role in the arts and was the birthplace of the myth of Don Juan who conquered the hearts of women across Europe: the heroine of the opera Carmen was a worker in Seville’s old tobacco factory, and you can still watch the consequences of her indecisiveness in opera houses today. In 1492 Christopher Columbus began his journey from a port close by to discover a new world. The 17th century was a period of artistic splendour with painters such as Velazquez, Murillo and Valdes Leal and sculptor Martinez Montanes being born in the city and leaving their important legacies for everyone to appreciate today.
The city has been in the world’s spotlight on two occasions in the twentieth century: in 1929 it hosted the Latin American Exhibition which made important urban improvements in the city, and more recently Expo 92 reinforced its image as a modern and dynamic city.
With literally thousands of bars and tapas bars, winding streets, pretty squares and buzzing nightlife, this city is the very heart of Andalusian culture with its bullfighting and flamenco music.
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