Seville

Seville (səvĭl`, sĕ`–), Span. Sevilla, city (1990 pop. 678,218), capital of Seville prov. and leading city of Andalusia, SW Spain, on the Guadalquivir River. Connected with the Atlantic by the river and by a canal accessible to oceangoing vessels, Seville is a major port as well as an important industrial, cultural, and tourist center. Wines, fruit, olives, cork, and minerals are exported. Its industries include the manufacture of tobacco, armaments, explosives, perfume, porcelain, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, and machinery. It has a university (founded 1502).

Points of Interest

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.

History

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.

---

Sevilla

 English Seville ancient Hispalis

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.

---

Seville

a port in SW Spain, on the Guadalquivir River: chief town of S Spain under the Vandals and Visigoths (5th--8th centuries); centre of Spanish colonial trade (16th--17th centuries); tourist centre. Pop.: 709 975 (2003 est.)