Sights

Sevilla'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 representing Faith. The Giralda is the city's most famous symbol.

The Alcázar facing the cathedral is the city's old Moorish Palace; construction was begun in 1181. Additional construction continued for over 500 years.

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 Parque Maria Luisa was built for the 1929 Exposición Ibero-Americana World's Fair, and remains landscaped with attractive monuments and museums.

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 assemblage and the test flights of the Airbus A400M military aircraft will be done in the new EADS Spain plant built near the San Pablo Airport.

Today Seville is a stronghold of the socialists (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. The mayor of Seville is Alfredo Sánchez Monteseirín.

Festivals

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.

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. Amerigo Vespucci died in Seville. 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, and 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 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

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, Seville fell soon to the insurgent army led by Francisco Franco.