Seville - Siviglia

Seville Sevilla
Coat of arms and flag
State	Spain
Region	Andalusia
Altitude	0-72 m a.s.l.
Surface	140 km²
Inhabitants	688.711 (2018 estimate)
Name inhabitants	Sevillians (sevillanos, hispalense)
Prefix tel	34 95
POSTAL CODE	41001-41020, 41092
Time zone	UTC 1
Patron	San Fernando, Nuestra Señora de los Reyes
Position Seville
Tourism site
Institutional website

Seville is the capital of the region Andalusia and of the homonymous province.

To know

Feria de Abril

Thanks to its artistic and cultural heritage, such as the Easter celebrations and the shows that take place as part of the April Festival (Feria de Abril), Seville is an important destination for international tourism. Since 2015 it appears in fourth place in the ranking of the most visited cities of Spain, after Barcelona, Madrid is Benidorm. On average, most visitors stay at one of the many hotels in the city for about three nights.

Since the 18th century and particularly since the Romantic era, Seville has been a source of inspiration for various European artists who saw the city as a fairytale place. About 150 plays, operas, operettas and comic operas have Seville as their background. Among these the best known are the strength of destiny by Giuseppe Verdi, taken from the work of the same name by Ángel de Saavedra, Carmen by Georges Bizet, il barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini, Don Giovanni by Mozart and le Marriage of Figaro always by Mozart.

Geographical notes

Seville is located in the alluvial plain of the Guadalquivir, in the center of a completely flat and low territory, with an average altitude above sea level of about seven meters. The maximum altitude is just 72 meters, largely surpassed by historic buildings such as the Giralda tower which reaches 104 meters. in height.

The historic center extends on the left or eastern bank of the Guadalquivir while the Triana and Los Remedios districts are on the opposite bank.

When to go

Seville is among the cities, if not the hottest city in Spain. Spring is without a doubt the best time to visit. Many tourists go to Seville with the intention of attending the religious events of Holy Week or those of Feria de Abril. These are high season periods with all the drawbacks that can lead to an influx of tourists above average. Summer is also part of the high season but this is hot and dry with temperatures often reaching 40 ° C even in June. Winters are quite mild but at night the thermometer can drop below freezing. Snow is a rare phenomenon in Seville. The last snowfall occurred on January 10, 2010.

Background

Objects from the Carambolo Treasure found in a Tartessian sanctuary near Seville, now on display in the archaeological museum

Remains of the Roman Hispalis found during the construction of the Metropol Parasol center on the Plaza de la Encarnación

Seville was founded by the Tartessi (or Turdetani, or Tartessiani), the most civilized of the Celtiberian peoples, as reported by Strabo and the Latin historian Rufo Festo Avieno. The Tartessi gave the city the name of Ispal which in Celtic means Flat earth. Roman legions under the command of Scipio the African conquered it in 206 BC. C. during the Second Punic War. The Roman consul decided to found a new city, Italica, a few kilometers from Seville, on the site of today's village of Santiponce. Italica was the birthplace of the Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian in 53 and 76 AD. respectively. The Celtic toponym was Latinized in Hispalis. At the time of Julius Caesar the city obtained the privileges of colony with the official name of "Colonia Iulia Romula Hispalis". With the creation of the new senatorial province of Betica the city of Cordoba it became the seat of the praetor while Hispalis became the capital of one of the four administrative "conventus" into which the province was divided.

In imperial times the city was equipped with a forum and was surrounded by walls. Almost nothing is left of the Roman Hispalis. Archaeological investigations, however, have allowed us to know the plan of the Roman city: the major cardo began in the north near the current church of Santa Catalina and ended in the south in today's calle Abades while the major decuman originated in the point where today stands the Santo Stefano church and ended in the west in the plaza del Salvador. The intersection of the two arteries was located in today's Plaza de l'Alfalfa. In the third century AD. C. Christianity was rooted in the province as evidenced by the martyrdom of Justa and Rufina, two sisters who, according to legend, refused to worship Astarte, a local deity of Phoenician origin.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, Hispalis hosted the itinerant court of the Visigoths for short periods. After the Muslim conquest of much of the Iberian Peninsula, the caliph chose to reside in the neighbor Cordoba. Hispalis, which the Muslims had renamed Ishbīliya, was sacked in the year 844 AD. C by the Vikings who had sailed up the Guadalquivir with their ships and again in 859, despite the strengthening of the ordered defensive system of the Emir of Cordoba. With the advent of the Almohad dynasty, Seville was chosen as the capital in 1147 and was covered with splendid monuments such as the Giralda, the Torre del Oro and the Alcazar.

A century later the city was reconquered by Fernando III of Castile who was also the first Catholic ruler to be buried in the cathedral of Santa Maria. Under the reign of his son, Alfonso X a first colony of Genoese merchants settled in Seville, favoring the commercial expansion of the port on the Guadalquivir. The cryptogram NO8DO that appears in the city emblem dates back to the time of this sovereign. It is the abbreviation of the phrase "no me ha dejado" or "he has not abandoned me" and refers to the loyalty that the city showed to the monarch during the civil war that he sustained against his rebellious son Sancho.

The heyday of Seville coincided with the discovery of America in 1492. Over the next two centuries, entire fleets of galleons landed continuously at the port on the Guadalquivir to unload slaves, gold and other precious merchandise from the West Indies. The Catholic Monarchs founded the Casa de Contratación, the body that held control of trade with the New World. The galleons, however, also carried the germs of deadly epidemics. Ever since the Genoese settled in the city, the city's population was decimated by recurring plague epidemics. The last occurred in 1648 and was also the most terrible as it caused the death of 60,000 people, almost half of the total population.

This was also the time of the Counter-Reformation which transformed Seville into a city-convent. In 1671 there were already 45 monasteries of monks and 28 convents of nuns belonging to major orders, Franciscans, Dominicans, Augustinians, Jesuits. The religious orders were followed by a large group of artists such as Valdes Leal, Murillo and Zurbarán, Martínez Montañés and Juan de Mesa who filled temples and convents with paintings, sculptures and altarpieces.

In 1614 a Japanese embassy led by Hasekura Tsunenaga arrived in Seville with the intention of establishing diplomatic relations between Spain and Japan. The expedition visited the king and the pope before returning home. Some of them, however, preferred to settle in Coria del Río where their descendants who bear the surname of Japòn still live.

The progressive swamping of the Guadalquivir determined the decline of Seville. In 1717 the Casa de Contratación was moved to Cadiz and in Seville only the monopoly and the manufacture of tobacco remained.

Gradually, as the Spanish Empire lost its dominion over the seas and their territories, Seville was falling into poverty in the 19th century. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a cultural renaissance with architectural variants such as the generation of 27, which took place at the University of Seville in 1927; crowned by the Ibero-American Exhibition of 1929, which reopened the city to the world and gave it an architectural boost. Thanks to the Exposition, the city built the María Luisa Park, where today there is one of the most visited monuments in the city and the scene of numerous films, the Plaza de España. Civil war broke out shortly thereafter.

From then until today, the city has not seen a cultural renaissance like that of the early 20th century, although it is always a landmark city in Spain and Europe. In addition to the history of its streets, Seville is famous for the month of April: its Holy Week is one of the most famous in Spain and his April Fair.

In 1992 the Universal Exposition took place, which ended up giving impetus to the city, building the necessary infrastructures for the development of the city such as the Santa Justa railway station or the Fifth Centenary. For this purpose, the Isla de la Cartuja has been recovered, where there are still some of the pavilions that were erected then and which houses the Isla Mágica theme park.

How to orient yourself

37 ° 23′28 ″ N 5 ° 59′51 ″ W.

Seville center

Neighborhoods

Seville is divided into 11 administrative districts each comprising in turn several districts o barrios. The districts and neighborhoods of major tourist interest are listed below:

How to get

By plane

Seville Airport

• 37.418056-5.8988891 Seville Airport (IATA code: SVQ). Below are the airlines that make connections with theItaly (update year 2018):

• BlueAir: from Bari, Catania, Lamezia Terme, Naples, Turin
• Ryanair: from Bari, Bergamo-Orio al Serio, Bologna, Cagliari, Catania, Naples, Pisa, Rome, Venice, Verona.
• Vueling: from Rome-Fiumicino e Venice-Marco Polo.

Connections

The bus line Airport Express of the company Tussam Bus EA shuttles between the airport and the Aiga suburban bus station, making stops in the city center including Plaza de Armas and Santa Justa station. The journey from one terminus to the other takes approximately 35 minutes. The Airport Express starts at 04:30 and ends at 01:20. Their frequency is 25-30 minutes.

Taxis to the city center really shouldn't cost more than € 25.  

By car

Driving is also an option for long-distance travel in Spain, but it's not as convenient or useful once in the city. Public transport works well in the city and most of the main tourist spots are within walking distance, so it is recommended that you find accommodation with a garage or research the parking area before traveling.

On the train

Santa Justa station

• 37.392239-5.9748892 Sevilla-Santa Justa station (Estación de Sevilla-Santa Justa). The "AVE" high-speed trains from Madrid Puerta de Atocha, taking 2 hours and 40 minutes to Seville via Ciudad Real, Puertollano is Cordoba, or in the direction of Barcelona-Sants. Traveling from rum raisin, Jaen, Granada is Algeciras (for the Morocco) usually means making a change. Travel time from Cordoba is normally less than 50 minutes, but an occasional slow train takes 1 hour and 40 minutes and continues on to Jerez de la Frontera is Cadiz. There are no trains across the nearby border Portugal.  

By bus

There are direct buses from Madrid (six a day, 6 hours), Valencia (two a day, 12 hours), Cordoba (six a day, 2 hours), Granada (every hour, 3 hours), rum raisin (six days, 3 hours), Cadiz is Jerez de la Frontera (every hour, 2 hours, as part of the longer TGM lines for Cartagena, Almeria and Granada), and from Portugal four a day from Lighthouse (90 min) e Lisbon (7 hours).

• 37.39169-6.003883 Estación de Sevilla-Plaza de Armas, Avenida del Cristo de la Expiración, ☎ 34 954 90 80 40. The main bus station where long-distance buses with national and international destinations stop. In particular if you want to continue your journey to the seaside resorts ofAlgarve you will have to rely on bus lines ALSA INT. ed EVA Transportes. The route Seville-Lighthouse it lasts about 3 1/4 hours but times may be longer depending on the traffic conditions recorded on the Infante don Enrique motorway (A22). 
• 37.38114-5.986014 Estación Prado San Sebastián (Metro station "Prado de San Sebastian", San Bernardo tram stop), ☎ 34 955 47 92 90. The smaller of Seville's two bus stations where various regional bus lines terminate. 

How to get around

By public transport

Public transport is managed by the company TUSSAM. To consult timetables and routes click here.

By metro

Seville metro map

You are unlikely to use it because it doesn't run close to the historic center, or other tourist spots. Its single line follows an arc, from the southwestern fronds to the southern end of the city center, stopping at Plaza de Cuba, Prado de San Sebastian and San Bernardo, then towards the southeast fringes. It operates Monday to Thursday from 06:30 to 23:00, until 02:00 on Friday and Saturday evenings. Tickets are € 1.30 for a single zone or € 4.50 for all 3 zones for unlimited travel.

By tram

Seville tram

Travel from the Prado de San Sebastian at the southern end of the center, on Av de la Constitución past the cathedral, to finish at Plaza Nueva. So it's just 2km of track, through an area where you will probably prefer to walk. The west extension of Triana and north to the train station could happen in the future.

By bus

They travel frequently and cover most of the city on their routes. You can buy bus cards at many newsstands. Trips cost € 0.60 or € 0.70, or € 1.50 to purchase a rechargeable bus card (which can be recharged at many newsstands).

If you want to use the local Tussam buses, you can get the single price of 1.40 € or you can buy a bonobus, a travel card of 10 trips. Bonobuses can be found in most kiosks and tabacaria (tobacconists). Regular timetables are maintained until around 11.30pm, after which night buses run on different routes every hour until 2am.

By taxi

They are easily accessible throughout the city. Many offer decent rates, but some taxi drivers take advantage of it.

By car

Driving in the old city is complicated but possible. There is a 45 minute limit for cars entering the old city Mon-Sat 8 am-10pm. It is imposed by cameras placed at the entrances of the old city. There is a € 200 fine for exceeding this limit. The rental company will be sure to meet the cost of € 50, not to mention the fees that will accumulate due to the time it takes to receive the quote in your country of departure.

There is very cheap parking available across the street from Av. De Málaga, 12. The lot is not guarded and if there are no agents in the cabin, entry to the lot is free. Don't give money to parking attendants who hang around outside. If they don't have a receipt to give, then it's a scam. Make sure you leave absolutely nothing in the car. Seville in general is known for car theft.

Another very common option is the use of carpooling like BlaBlaCar, a safe method of transportation used by many locals.

By motorbike

Scooters are available for rent at € 30 for the day and € 120 for the week. These are an inexpensive way to get around and a driver's license is not required.

By bike

Seville has a automated rental system of bicycles with stations throughout the city. Pay € 10 per week and you can use any bike available. You leave it at the station closest to where you are going. After registration, trips of 30 minutes or less are free. If you exceed 30 minutes, it is € 1 for the 1^to now, € 2 for each additional hour. Seville is building numerous cycle paths: a pleasant route covers most of the eastern bank of the river.

• Centerbici, C / Espronceda, 5, ☎ 34954211044, @[email protected]. 20€. 09:00 - 20:00. Bike rental and guided tours 

On foot

Walking is the best option for sightseeing: Seville is a big city but the points of interest are in the historic center which is compact. Strolling and bumping into beautiful old churches, charming cafes and hidden squares is part of the experience.

What see

Property listings can be found in individual articles urban districts.

Events and parties

• Holy Week in Seville (Semana Santa de Sevilla). The week before Easter. The most important religious event in the city takes place for about 12 days, being a celebration for which the residents consecrate themselves all year round. The feast of Holy Week in Seville dates back to at least the 16th century, but is believed to have existed earlier in the 13th century.  

A carriage during the April Fair

• 37.371111-5.99755 April Fair (Feria de Abril) (Real de la Feria in front of the Maria Luisa Park). From the last week of April to the first of May. Each spring, around 500,000 visitors attend the liveliest festival in the whole of Spain. Also known as "Feria de Sevilla" - an easing after the sadness of the Semana Santa. To say this is a big party would be an understatement. Most, if not all of Seville, spend a week off and plan the good months ahead. The fair is near the river. It covers a large area and contains hundreds of private and public casetas are arranged to form streets. The houses are small tents and you can enter the private ones only if invited. The public ones are great but just as fun. The day is naturally split in two and between noon and 8pm the streets of the fair are filled with horses as riders and carriages strut in traditional Spanish clothing. After 20:00 the streets clear up and "Calle del Inferno" comes to life. Discover traditional dresses, flamenco dances (and the "sevillanas", the traditional dance of the Seville region), guitars, and excellent tapas with the participants dancing with gusto and eating and drinking day and night.  

What to do

• 37.40833-6.000281 Isla Magica. It is a theme park set to discover America and opened in 1997.  
• Cruises. Lasting one hour, they start from under the Torre del Oro and travel a circuit on the Guadalquivir River. 
• Carriage rides. The carriage is pulled by horses which can be found near the cathedral and lead to the nearby park and other sites of interest. For the sake of the animals, try to avoid carriage rides in the heat of the day in the summer. 
• 37.39273-6.0371562 Climb to the top of Cerro de Carambolo (Accessible by the M-170, M-171 and M-173 from the Plaza de Armas bus station.). From this point you can see the whole city. 

Sports and outdoor activities

Watching football, football for example. Sevilla have two football teams that play in La Liga, the highest level of Spanish football: Real Betis and Sevilla FC:

• 37.356508-5.9839413 Real Betis (Benito Villamarin Stadium), Avenida de Heliópolis (Near Reina Mercedes Campus (at the end of Avenida de la Palmera)), ☎ 34 955 46 39 55. 
• 37.38411-5.9706424 Sevilla FC (Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan Stadium), Calle Sevilla Fútbol Club (near Plaza Nervion), ☎ 34 902 51 00 11. 

Plaza de Toros in Seville

• 37.38587-5.998595 Plaza de toros de Sevilla (The Real Maestranza), Paseo de Cristóbal Colón, 12, ☎ 34 954 22 45 77. Built in 1765, the Plaza de Toros in Seville is the oldest in Spain and the place where the Feria de Abril, the most famous bullfighting festival in the world. Inside there is a museum dedicated to the bull and the horse.  

To study

Attend some Spanish lessons or do activities in Spanish to connect with the locals.

• ^{[link not working]}LaCasa Sevilla, ☎ 34 666 882 981, @[email protected]. A fun way to learn and practice some Spanish while doing activities and exploring the city. 

Shopping

Property listings can be found in individual articles urban districts.

Seville is home to many beautiful artifacts, some of the best known being Spanish plates and tiles. Triana offers many ceramic factories where you can buy various tiles from authentic artisans. There are shops that design custom plates and tiles near the cathedral, especially on Calle Sierpes, but across the river in Triana are other worthwhile pottery shops. Depending on the time of year, but especially until Christmas, there are numerous craft fairs throughout the city.

Stroll through an open-air market. Vendors in many parts of the city sell on the streets, but on Sundays, when everything else is closed, some spots fill up. A market is located behind the Alcampo shopping center in Ronda del Tamarguillo on Avenida de la Paz (bus lines 30, 36 from Prado de San Sebastian), but is easily passed by a large flea market, which sells clothes, furniture, junk , books, shoes, CDs, food, tools and probably everything else northwest of Triana near Avenida Carlos III (on the left hand side on most tourist maps).

If you want to buy food, go to one of the markets near the city center, such as Plaza Encarnación. El Corte Inglés it is a most popular department store that you can visit for almost any need.

Clothing

Seville offers a wide range of retail clothing, although generally at high prices. The main shopping district is home to all the major international and Spanish clothing lines (such as Zara which has at least 4 separate shops in Seville). The streets and winding alleys of the Santa Cruz area (around the Cathedral) do a booming trade in Spanish and Andalusian themed t-shirts and cheap flamenco dresses for little girls. La Corte Ingles is a large chain of Spanish department stores that sell "American style" clothing.

How to have fun

Property listings can be found in individual articles urban districts.

• 37.38677-5.979221 LongRock room, Calle Blanco White, ☎ 34 673 15 21 32. Off the beaten track, it is a very popular live music venue. National rock singers perform there. 

Shows

Flamenco

Flamenco performance at the Museo del Baile Flamenco

Flamenco is very popular in Spain and it's not just for tourists; however it is difficult to find the right place. Take a tour of the many proposals in the district Antiguo helmet.

Where to eat

Property listings can be found in individual articles urban districts.

White wine and jamón (ham)

As in other Andalusian cities, the residents of Seville have the custom of making the rounds of the tapas bar to taste as many delicacies as possible and fill your mouth with the most varied flavors. This local custom, known as el tapeo, is followed with enthusiasm by passing tourists. The inhabitants of Seville avoid the central places too touristized and prefer those of Triana but now even the latter have been discovered. There are many great tapas places around the foot of the cathedral in the city center. You can't go wrong, just order everything to find your favorite! Some tapas typical include the tortilla española (potato omelette), Galician pulpo (octopus), aceitunas (olives), patatas bravas (spicy potatoes) e queso manchego (sheep's milk cheese from the La Mancha region in central Spain). Also be sure to try the jamón (ham), which you often see hanging over the counter. Most restaurant kitchens don't open until 8:30 pm. Although usually some easy-to-prepare meals are available before that time.

As the quality of the food is considered of great importance in Seville, most of the local bars will have great food for a low price. For an authentic and interesting meal, stop by one of the many bars, especially one that doesn't offer menus in English (prices are probably lower!).

Some bars near the river, like Pedalquivir is El Faro de Triana, they offer a nice view but are not a good deal in terms of the quality of the food. Another would be El Patio San Eloy (San Eloy 9, Seville) where the tapas they can be a bit hit and miss, but where there is fabulous decor and fruity sangria.

Much easier it can be found in less characteristic places like Pizza Inn is Papasá by Sloppy Joe.

Don't eat the oranges from the trees on the road, they have been sprayed to repel birds and they taste terrible.

If you are a vegetarian, be sure to specify that you don't eat fish or tuna as vegetarian is not all about meat here.

Where stay

Property listings can be found in individual articles urban districts.

Safety

How to keep in touch

Around

North

Amphitheater of Italica

Constantina

• 37.441-6.04486 Italica (12 km / 20 minutes by bus M-172 which leaves from Plaza de Armas for Santiponce) - Archaeological site of the colony founded in 206 BC. by Publio Cornelio Scipione Africano. Among other things, we visit the ruins of the baths, the amphitheater and the temple of Trajan dedicated to the cult of the emperor born in Italica on 18 September 53 AD. like his successor Adriano. In the area there is also a small museum but most of the finds are exhibited at the archaeological museum of Seville.

• 37.84123-5.765017 El Pedroso (64 km / 1 hour by train or bus) - Sierra Norte village at 413 m. of altitude much appreciated for its cool climate especially in summer.

• 37.87763-5.621558 Constantina (87 km) - Another pretty village in the Sierra Norte, dominated by the ruins of an Arab castle from the Almoravid era built on a castrum Roman. It presents possibilities for excursions such as the karst landscapes of Cerro del Hierro, an ancient iron mine exploited since Roman times.

East

Carmona

Osuna

• 37.4713-5.64179 Carmona - A typical Andalusian village with white houses still partly enclosed within the medieval walls and a series of interesting monuments even in the immediate vicinity. Like Seville Carmona the celebrations of Holy Week and Corpus Christi are famous.

• 37.5417-5.079110 Écija (86 km) - Another typical Andalusian village with a long history behind it dating back to prehistoric times. The Greek origin of its name (Astygi) suggests that it was disputed between Greek and Carthaginian colonists but it was under the Romans that it reached its apogee. With the name of "Colonia Augusta Firma Astigia" it was the capital of one of the four conventus in which the province of Betica was divided. Its historic center is full of churches, convents and noble palaces.

• 37.2366-5.10511 Osuna (87.4 km / hour by bus via the A-92) - Located at the foot of the sierra Sur (Subbética), Osuna is famous for its collegiate church of 1535 and for its farmhouses (cortejos) scattered in the surrounding countryside (more than 500 have been registered). Osuna was the backdrop for Michelangelo Antonioni's film "Profession: reporter", starring Jack Nicholson and some scenes from the American television series "Game of Thrones".

• Cordoba (140 km / 42 min by AVE trains) - Cordoba lends itself to a day trip from Seville on the AVE high-speed trains.

South

Utrera

Grazalema

• 37.18165-5.7847112 Utrera (30 km / 25 minutes by bus or even by train) - City of more than 50,000 inhabitants dedicated to the breeding of bulls and horses, Utrera has an interesting historic center and is considered one of the cradles of flamenco. It is also famous for local gastronomy, especially sweets (mostachón de Utrera)

• 36.75911-5.3686513 Grazalema (128 km / 1 hour and 3/4 by car) - Pretty village in the sierra of the same name, Grazalema is the first of the white villages (pueblos blancos) Andalusians which you meet coming from Seville. Although it is possible to return within the day, it is wiser to enter Grazalema in a short itinerary that has as its next stop Ronda (33 km), one of the most charming villages in the province of Malaga, situato sul ciglio di una gola, a strapiombo sulla pianura sottostante detta Serrania percorsa dal torrente Guadalevín.

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