- Seville is Andalucia’s capital and largest city, and is highly rated as a travel destination. Its Cathedral, Alcázar, and Archive of the Indies (Archivo de Indias) form a World Heritage site in the heart the city.
- On this trip we prioritised Cordoba and Granada as our focus in Andalucia, but did manage a day trip to Seville. We certainly saw enough in that day to whet our appetite for a longer visit in the future.
- The Moors captured Seville in 712 though its eminence as a Moorish city in Al-Andalus came in the 11-13th C under Moroccan Almoravid (1040-1147) and Almohad (1121-1269) caliphates. Seville was capital of the Almohad Caliphate in Al-Andalus for 100 years (1147-1248).
- Most buildings of Moorish aesthetic in Seville belong to the Mudéjar style of the 14-16th C which was inspired by Islamic art but developed under Christian rule. This is an example of how Moorish influence on the Iberian Peninsula continued well beyond reconquest by the Catholics.
- Traces of original Moorish buildings can be found in the city walls, parts of the Alcázar (closed when we visited), and the main section of the famous Giralda. The Girlada was the minaret of the Great Mosque of Seville, constructed between 1184 and 1198. The city fell to the Catholics in 1248 and the mosque was used as a church until 1401. When the mosque was razed to make way for a new cathedral, the Giralda was maintained and converted to a bell tower.
- Seville Cathedral (completed 1507) is one of the largest in the world, and it’s certainly a statement piece. It hosts the tomb of Christopher Columbus, though whether his remains are actually interred here, in the Dominican Republic, or in Cuba seems to remain under debate.
- The city has many lovely lanes, backstreets, and squares with cabelleros waiting languidly in their horse drawn carriages for the next customer.
- Our wandering took us past the old Royal Tobacco Factory, now part of the University of Seville. The central characeter in Bizet’s opera Carmen was a cigarrera (cigarette maker) in this factory.
