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Seville is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain, irrigated by the river Guadalquivir. It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Sevilla. The inhabitants of the city are known as Sevillanos (feminine form: Sevillanas).
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The city's cathedral was built from 1401–1519 after the Reconquista on the former site of the city's mosque. It is the largest of all medieval and Gothic cathedrals, in terms of both area and volume. The interior, with the longest nave in Spain, is lavishly decorated, with a large quantity of gold evident.
The Cathedral reused some columns and elements from the mosque, and most famously the Giralda, originally a minaret, was converted into a bell tower. It is topped with a statue, known locally as La Giraldilla, representing Faith. The Giralda is the city's most famous symbol.
The Alcazar facing the cathedral is the city's old Moorish Palace; construction was begun in 1181, continued for over 500 years, mainly in Mudejar style, but also in Renaissance. Its gardens are a blend of Moorish Andalusian and Christian traditions.
The Torre del Oro was built by the Almohad dynasty as watchtower and defensive barrier on the river. A chain was strung through the water from the base of the tower to prevent boats from traveling into the river port.
The Town Hall, built in the 16th century in Plateresque Style by Diego de Riano. The Facade to Plaza Nueva was built in the 19th century in Neoclassical style.
The Parque Maria Luisa was built for the 1929 Exposicion Ibero-Americana World's Fair, and remains landscaped with attractive monuments and museums.
FESTIVALS OF SEVILLE
The Easter Holy week, "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 Semana Santa, and the colourful and lively fair held two weeks after.
During Feria families set up casetas or tents in which they spend the week dancing, drinking and socializing with their whole extended families. The women wear elaborate flamenco dresses and the men dress in their best suits. The fair grounds are set up like a type of village in which each street is named after a famous torero, or bull fighter.
CAKES AND SWEET PASTRY FROM SEVILLE
Typical of this province are polvorones and mantecados from the town of Estepa, a sort of shortcake made with almonds, sugar and lard; Pestinos, a honey-coated sweet fritter; Roscos fritos, deep-fried sugar-coated ring doughnuts; magdalenas or fairy cakes; yemas de San Leandro, made by nuns in the city's convents, providing the convents with a source of revenue; and Tortas de aceite, a thin sugar-coated cake made with olive oil.
All of these are consumed throughout the year.
SEVILLE THE PORT
The city sits well inland, but a mere 6 meters above sea level. Seville was long an important sea port, prior to the silting up of the Guadalquivir.
From Seville Ferdinand Magellan obtained the ships for his circumnavigation. Much of the Spanish Empire's silver from the New World came to Europe in the Spanish treasure fleet that landed in Seville. The city was home to the Casa de Contratacion, the government agency which oversaw all overseas trade.
Seville holds the most important archive of the Spanish administration in the Americas (the Archivo General de Indias). The American riches made it a magnet for people around Spain, ranging from latifundia nobles and foreign merchants (who were brokered by Spanish cargadores) to an active petty crime scene, pictured in the picaresque genre.
The American silver was rapidly transhipped to Antwerp or Genoa, seat of the bankers who had advanced steady funds to the Spanish Crown. Other treasures of the Americas passed first through Seville: the first commercial shipment of chocolate from Veracruz arrived in Seville in 1585.
The city was the biggest of Spain in 16th and 17th centuries, with a population of 130,000 in 1649, the year of the Great Plague of Seville. It was the beginning of the city's fall from importance, but Seville was an important artistic center of the baroque.
Seville was a stronghold of the liberals during the Spanish Civil War, 1820-1823. Due to its proximity to Africa, during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939, Seville fell soon to the insurgent army led by Francisco Franco.
MODERN SEVILLE
Seville was the home of Expo 92 World's Fair. The showpiece Alamillo bridge spanning the Guadalquivir designed by Santiago Calatrava, was built for this occasion.
Seville hosted the European Summit in June 2002; this was met with a counter-summit by those opposing neoliberalism and the tightening of European regulations on immigration. The final assembly and the test flights of the Airbus A400M military aircraft will be done in the new EADS-CASA plant built near the San Pablo Airport.
Today Seville is a stronghold of the Socialist Party (PSOE). In the 2004 Spanish general election, they had a majority of 30.4% over their nearest rivals - higher than in any other Spanish provincial capital city.
SPORTS IN SEVILLE
Seville is the hometown of two rival football (soccer) teams: Real Betis Balompie and Sevilla Fútbol Club.
Seville also hosted in 2003 the UEFA Cup Final in the new Olympic stadium. The final was between Celtic F.C. (Scotland) and Futebol Clube do Porto (Portugal). The match finshed in extra time 3–2 to Porto after a 2-2 draw at 90 minutes.
Seville FC are the 2006 UEFA Cup Champions, their first European trophy after an emphatic 4-0 victory over Middlesbrough FC (England) in the final, played at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven on May 10th 2006.
They are also the holders of the European Supercup which they won with another emphatic 0-3 defeat of F.C. Barcelona (Spain) in Stade Louis II in Monaco on August 26th 2006. Real Betis are the 2005 King's Cup (Copa del Rey) Champions, and were the first team from Andalusia to compete in the UEFA Champion's League competition in 2005-2006.
from Wikipedia.org, the Free Encyclopedia
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