Seville is the capital of Andalucia and its most populated city with 689.434 inhabitants. Undoubtedly, Seville is the most important city of the south of Spain, from the artistic, cultural, financial, economic and social point of view. Its climate is temperate and warm. Its annual average temperature is 18,6ºC.
The history of Seville starts in the Roman period, in which the so-called colonia Italica was created. Nevertheless, it was more influenced by the Islamic occupation (711-1492) than the Roman one. Nowadays, there are still monuments of this historic period such as La Torre de la Plata” (The Silver Tower), La Torre del Oro (The Tower of Gold), La Giralda, El Barrio de Triana (Triana neighborhood), El Patio de los Naranjos, Las Murallas de la Macarena (Macarena´s walls) as well as The Alcazar.
After the liberation of Spain by the Christians, Seville was converted into one of the most important city-ports of Europe, entering the Golden Age of Arts and Letters, an era in which geniuses such as Diego Velázquez, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Juan de Valdés Lean and others were born.
Besides the European crisis in the seventeenth century, Seville was converted into a center of the Counter-Reformation. Many monasteries were built during that time, which are a part of its architectural legacy.
Among the most distinguished places in Seville, besides the ones mentioned before, we also have the Cathedral of Seville, the Real Alcazar, one of the most beautiful and complex monuments in the world, as well as the so-called Indian Archive where 300-year-old documents of the history of the New World are preserved.
The Park of Maria Luisa, a beautiful place from which the Towers of the Plaza de España (Spain Square) can be seen, is an important monumental compound facing the River Guadalquivir. In this way, there is a merge bewteen natural and architectural beauty.
La Feria de Abril (The April Fair) is one of the most important events of Seville, which gives light and color to the city and a lot of joy above all, by means of the various activities which take place on the streets which are illuminated with lanterns, hereby creating a magical atmosphere. The River Guadalquivir is also beautifully illuminated because of the fireworks.
Seville has a very delicious cuisine, some of the favorite dishes of which are the Gazpacho (a summer-soup made of tomatoe and other vegetables and served very cold), the cocido-stew, made in the Andalucian way, the “huevos a la flamenca”, and “el rabo de toro” (the bull´s tail), among others.
esides all the famous native people of Seville already mentioned before, the city is the birthplace of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer and Francisco de Zurbarán.
