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'Seville' (Spanish: 'Sevilla' , see also different names) is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Sevilla. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of 7 meters above sea level.
(). The inhabitants of the city are known as ''Sevillanos'' (feminine form: ''Sevillanas'') or "Hispalenses". The population of the city of Seville was 704,414 as of 2006 (INE estimate). The population of the urban area was 1,043,000 as of 2000 estimates. The population of the metropolitan area (urban area plus satellite towns) was 1,414,827 as of 2006 (INE estimate), ranking as the fourth largest metropolitan area of Spain.

Contents

History

Main city sights

Climate

Culture

Festivals

Gastronomy

Flamenco and Sevillana

Motto

Economy

Economic infrastructure

Characteristics by sector

Research and development

Education

Famous people born in Seville and Seville province

Sport

Twin cities

Seville in fiction

Literature, television's inspired

In movies

Gallery

References

See also

External links

History

Seville is more than two thousand years old. The passage of the various people instrumental in its growth has left the city with a distinct personality, and a large and well-preserved historical center.
The city was known from early Roman times as "Hispalis". The nearby Roman city of Italica is well-preserved and gives an impression of how Hispalis may have looked in the later Roman period. Existing Roman features in Seville include the remnants of an aqueduct.
After successive conquests of the Roman province of Hispania Baetica by the Vandals and Visigoths, in the 5th and 6th centuries, the city was taken by the Moors in 712 and became an important center in Muslim Andalusia. It remained under Muslim control, under the authority of the Umayyad, Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, until falling to Fernando III in 1248. The city retains many Moorish features, including large sections of the city wall.
Following the Reconquest, the city's development continued, with the construction of public buildings including churches, many in Mudéjar style. Later, the city experienced another golden age of development brought about by wealth accumulating from the awarding of a monopoly of trade with the Spanish territories in the New World. After the silting up of the Guadulquivir, the city went into relative economic decline.
Seville's development in the 19th and 20th centuries was characterised by population growth and increasing industrialisation.

Main city sights

;Monuments
The city's cathedral was built from 1401–1519 after the Reconquista on the former site of the city's mosque. It is amongst the largest of all medieval and Gothic cathedrals, in terms of both area and volume. The interior is the longest nave in Spain, and 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 tower's interior was built with ramps rather than stairs, to allow the Muezzin and others to ride to the top.
The ''Alcázar'' facing the cathedral has developed from the city's old Moorish Palace; construction was begun in 1181 and continued for over 500 years, mainly in Mudéjar 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 Riaño. The Façade to Plaza Nueva was built in the 19th century in Neoclassical style.
;Parks and gardens

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

★ The ''Gardens of Alcázar'', arranged with the back of the palace unit. They were planted and developed alongside the Alcázar throughout the centuries. Sheltered within the walls of the palace, they are laid out in terraces, and present variations of influences, styles, plants, according to the sectors.

★ The ''Gardens of Murrillo'' and the ''Gardens of Catalina de Ribera'': Joined with the wall of Alcázar and the district of Santa Cruz.

★ Parque de los Príncipes

★ Parque del Alamillo

★ Parque Amate

★ Parque Metropolitano de la Cartuja

★ Jardines de las Delicias

★ Jardín Americano

★ Jardín Este

★ Jardines de Cristina

★ Jardines Chapina

★ Jardines de la Buhaira

★ Jardines de San Telmo

★ Jardines del Guadalquivir

★ Jardines del Valle

★ Jardines del Prado de San Sebastián

Climate

The climate of Seville is Mediterranean, with oceanic influences. The annual average temperature is 18.6 °C, which makes this city one of the warmest in Europe.

★ Winters are mild: January is the coolest month, with average temperatures of 15.9°C (max)/5.2°C (min).

★ Summers are very warm: July is the warmest month, with average temperatures of 35.5°C (max)/19.4°C (min) and every year the temperature exceeds 40°C on several occasions. The registrated extreme temperatures by the weather station at Seville Airport are -5.5°C on 12 February 1956, and 46.6°C on 23 July 1995. There is a non-accredited record by the National Institute of Meteorology which is 47.2°C on 1 August during the 2003 heat wave, according to a weather station (83910 LEZL) located in the southern part of Seville Airport, near the abandoned military zone.
This temperature would be one of the highest ever recorded in Spain and Europe.

★ Precipitation varies from 600 to 800 mm per year, concentrated in the period October to April. December is the wettest month, with an average rainfall of 95 mm. On average there are 52 days of rain, 2,898 hours of sun and four days of frost per year.

Culture

Festivals

Holy Week 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 colorful and lively fair held two weeks after. During Feria, families, businesses and organisations set up ''casetas'', marquees, in which they spend the week dancing, drinking, and socializing. Traditionally, the women wear elaborate flamenco dresses and the men dress in their best suits. The marquees are set up on a permanent fairground in which each street is named after a famous bullfighter.

Gastronomy

Seville is a gastronomic center, with a cuisine based on the products of the surrounding provinces, including seafood from Cádiz, olive oil from Jaén, and sherry from Jerez de la Frontera.
The ''tapas'' scene is one of the main cultural attractions of the city: people go from one bar to another enjoying small dishes called tapas (literally "lids" or "covers" in Spanish, referring to their origin as snacks served in small plates used to cover drinks.)
Local specialities include fried and grilled seafood (including squid, cuttlefish, swordfish and dogfish), grilled meats in sauces, spinach and chickpeas, Andalusian ham (''Jamón ibérico''), lamb's kidneys in a sherry sauce, snails, and ''gazpacho''.
Typical sweet cakes of this province are ''polvorones'' and ''mantecados'' from the town of Estepa, a kind of shortcake made with almonds, sugar and lard; ''Pestiños'', a honey-coated sweet fritter; ''Roscos fritos'', deep-fried sugar-coated ring doughnuts; ''magdalenas'' or fairy cakes; ''yemas de San Leandro'', which provide the city's convents with a source of revenue, and ''Tortas de aceite'', a thin sugar-coated cake made with olive oil.
Except for "polvorones" and "mantecados", which are traditional Christmas products, all of these are consumed throughout the year.
The Seville oranges that dot the city landscape, too sour for modern tastes, are commonly used to make marmalade.

Flamenco and Sevillana

The Sevillana dance, commonly presented as flamenco, is not thought to be of Sevillan origin. But the folksongs called ''Sevillanas'' are authentically Sevillan, as is the four-part dance that goes with them.
Seville, and most significantly the traditionally gypsy ''barrio'', Triana, was a major center in the development of flamenco.

Motto

The motto of Seville is "NO8DO". The "8" is shaped like a wool hank, in Spanish ''madeja''. This makes the motto, as a rebus, read "NO madeja DO," which is a pun on "no me ha dejado," meaning "she has not abandoned me". This is supposed to refer to the city's support for King Alphonse X in the war with his son Don Sancho in the 13th century. Others say this refers to Ferdinand III who uttered the words upon entering the city and freeing it from Moorish rule in 1248. This motto is seen in the city flag and throughout Seville, inscribed on manhole covers and on some street signs.

Economy

The economic activity of Seville cannot be detached from the geographical and urban context of the city; the capital of Andalusia is the center of a growing metropolitan area. Aside from traditional neighborhoods like Santa Cruz, Triana and La Macarena, those further away from the center, such as Nervion, Sevilla Este, and El Porvenir have seen recent economic growth. Over the past twenty years, this urban area has seen significant population growth and the development of new industrial and commercial parks.
Due to its size and location, Seville is economically the strongest of the Andalusian cities. The infrastructure available in the city contributes to the growth of an economy dominated by the service sector, but in which industry still holds a considerable place.

Economic infrastructure

The economic development of the city and its urban area is supported by good transport links to other Spanish cities, including a high-speed AVE railway link to Madrid, and an international airport.
In addition:

★ Seville has the only river port of the Iberian peninsula, located 80 km from the mouth of the River Guadalquivir. This harbor complex offers access to the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and allows trade in goods between the south of Spain (Andalusia, Extremadura) and Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The port has undergone reorganization. Annual tonnage rose to 5.3 million tons of goods in 2006.

★ Seville has conference facilities, including the Congress Palace.

★ The city and its surrounding province have a number of large industrial parks and technology centers: Dos Hermanas accommodates the largest Andalusian industrial park, while Alcalá de Guadaíra has the largest industrial complex by surface area in Andalusia; the ''Parque Científico Tecnológico Sevilla Tecnopolis'', gathers companies, research centers and university departments directed towards the development of new technologies; the ''Parque Tecnológico y Aeronáutico Aerópolis'' is focused on the aircraft industry.

Characteristics by sector

The town of Seville and its agglomeration have, by their situation in the heart of the plain of the Guadalquivir, maintained a dynamic agricultural activity. Agroalimentary industry is flourishing there. Nevertheless, for a long time the area has been looking to the future, while investing massively in the industrial activities, supported by the existing infrastructures. The service sector and new technologies are increasingly important. Seville concentrated, in 2004, 31% of the large Andalusian companies and 128 of the 6.000 larger national companies. The agglomeration counted in 2005 a working population of 471.947 people, of which 329.471 (69,81%) for the city centers.

★ Agriculture represents less than 1,3% of the workers of the city. Cereal, fruit and olive-growing constitute the principal agricultural activities in this area of Andalusia.

★ Industry contributes up to 28% of the Sevillan G.D.P. It employed in 2005 15,2% of the Sevillan workers. It is well established in the agglomeration, stimulated by the various industrial parks, the presence of adequate logistic infrastructures and the proximity of the complexes of the Bays of Cadix, Algeciras, and Huelva.

★ The service sector employs 83,5% of the working population of Seville. It currently represents a significant share of the local GDP and is articulated around the main following branches: Tourism, trade and financial services.

Research and development

The city of Seville has a great place in the area of scientific research, as it houses the first and largest DNA bank in Spain, through the local company ''Neocodex''. Neocodex stores 20,000 DNA samples and is recognized internationally. In addition, Seville is also considered an important technological and research centre for renewable energies and the aeronautics industry.
Through its high tech centers and its fabric of innovating companies, the Andalusian capital rose among the very first Spanish cities in term of development and research. Moroever, the scientific and technological activity of the three Sevillan universities has to be added, whose certain laboratories and research centers work in close connection with the local socio-economic power. Thus, the ''Parque Científico Tecnológico Sevilla Tecnopolis'' gathers private and public actors in various fields of research.
The principal innovation and research orientations are articulated around telecommunications, new technologies, biotechnologies (in relation to local agricultural specificities), environment or renewable energies.

Education

★ University of Seville

★ Pablo de Olavide University

★ San Pablo - CEU University, the first private university in Andalusia, situated in the suburb of Aljarafe.

Famous people born in Seville and Seville province

★ Writer Jose Zorrilla, author of the famous "Don Juan" novel

★ Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik Ibn Zuhr (known in the West as Avenzoar) - 1091-1161 C.E - "Master Physician"

★ Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian were born in Italica

★ Renaissance composer Cristóbal de Morales, Francisco Guerrero

★ 16th century novelist Mateo Alemán

★ Playwrights Lope de Rueda, Hermanos Alvarez Quintero

★ Historian of New Spain Bartolomé de Las Casas

★ Explorer Juan Díaz de Solís, born in Lebrija

★ Spanish Linguist and Grammarian Antonio de Nebrija, born in Lebrija

★ Baroque painters Diego Velázquez, Valdes Leal and Murillo

★ Explorer and astronomer Antonio de Ulloa

★ Romantic poet Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

★ Bullfighters Juan Belmonte, Curro Romero, Gitanillo de Triana, Espartaco, Ignacio Sánchez Mejías, José Antonio Morante de La Puebla and Joselito el Gallo

★ 20th century poets:

★
★ Vicente Aleixandre (Nobel Laureate)

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★ Antonio Machado

★
★ Manuel Machado, his brother

★
★ Luis Cernuda

★ Composer Joaquín Turina

★ Actors Paco Leon, Manuel Luna

★ Actresses Carmen Sevilla, Paz Vega, Conchita Bautista, Verónica Sánchez, Soledad Miranda

★ Beauty queen and model Eva Maria Gonzalez

★ Dancers Antonio, el bailarín, Realito, Farruquito

★ Singers Isabel Pantoja, Juanita Reina, Lole y Manuel, Paquita Rico, El Caracol, and a large etcetera...

★ Comedians Paco Gandía, Josele, Pepe da Rosa, Manuel Summers and the Cadaval brothers, Jorge and Cesar, better known as ''Los Morancos''.

★ Football (soccer) players Antonio Ramiro, "Antoñito", José Antonio Reyes, Fernando Muñoz, "Nando", Ricardo Serna, Sergio Ramos, Jesús Navas, Antonio Puerta.

★ Track and field runner Antonio Jiménez Pentinel (European Champion in 3000-meters steeplechase)

★ Olympic swimmer Fátima Madrid

★ Rower Beatriz Manchon

★ Politicians Felipe González, President of the Government of Spain from 1982 to 1996, and Alfonso Guerra, vice president from 1982 to 1991

★ Comic book artist Scott Kolins was born in 1967 near Seville (a US Air Force Base.)

Sport

★ Seville is the hometown of two rival football (soccer) teams: Real Betis Balompié and Sevilla Fútbol Club.

★ Seville also unsuccessfully bid for the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics, which it lost to Athens and Beijing, respectively. For political reasons, it was unable to bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics as Madrid was also interested in submitting its own bid. Seville had already shown its ability to cope with other international sport events such as the Tennis Davis Cup in 2004 and the 7th Athletics World Championships in 1999.

★ Seville FC stadium Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan hosted the 1986 European Cup Final, in which Steaua Bucharest (Romania) unexpectedly defeated FC Barcelona (Spain).

★ 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 finished in extra time 3–2 to Porto after a 2-2 draw at 90 minutes.

★ Sevilla FC won the 2006 UEFA Cup, their first European trophy, with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Middlesbrough FC of England in the final, played at the Philips Stadion in Eindhoven on May 10, 2006. Sevilla retained the UEFA Cup in 2007 against fellow Spaniards Espanyol in 3-1 on penalties, after a 2-2 draw at Hampden Park, Glasgow. They are also the holders of the European Supercup which they won with a 0-3 defeat of F.C. Barcelona (Spain) in Stade Louis II in Monaco on August 26, 2006. On 23rd June, 2007 Sevilla FC won the King's Cup (Copa del Rey) beating Getafe 1-0 in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. 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.

Twin cities

★ Kraków, Poland

★ Kansas City, Missouri, United States

★ Angers, France

★ Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

★ Cartagena de Indias, Colombia

Seville in fiction

Literature, television's inspired

★ The picaresque novel ''Rinconete y Cortadillo'' by Miguel de Cervantes takes place in the city of Seville.

★ Seville is the setting for the legend of Don Juan (inspired by the real aristocrat Don Miguel de Mañara).

★ Seville is the primary setting of many operas, the best known of which are Bizet's "Carmen" (based on Merimée's novella), Rossini's "The Barber of Seville," Verdi's "La Forza del Destino," Beethoven's "Fidelio," Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and "The Marriage of Figaro," and Prokofiev's "Betrothal in a Monastery."

★ The episode "The Grand Inquisitor" in Dostoevsky's ''The Brothers Karamazov'' is set with Christ's return to Seville.

★ Seville is the setting of the novel "The Seville Communion" by Arturo Pérez-Reverte.

★ Seville appears in the first chapter of science fiction novel ''Ringworld'' by Larry Niven.

★ Seville is both the location and setting for much of the 1985 Doctor Who television serial The Two Doctors.

★ Seville is also used as one of the locations in Dan Brown's "Digital Fortress". According to the author he started to think about writing his The Da Vinci Code when he was doing a course on Art History at the University of Seville. The description of Seville in the book is in question and according to an article by Alvaro Sanchez Leon in the January/February 2006 issue of the Spanish-language magazine Epoca, "Ese señor nunca ha estado matriculado en esta universidad, a no ser que se apuntara a un curso de otoño de los que se dan en la "Facultad de Geografía e Historia" para alumnos extranjeros." (trans: That gentleman was never registered at this university, unless he attended one of the Fall courses for foreign students at the Faculty of Geography and History.")

★ Arthur Koestler's book Spanish Testament is based on the writer's experiences while held in the Seville prison, under a sentence of death, during the Spanish Civil War.

In movies

★ The ''Plaza de España'' in the ''Parque de María Luisa'' appears in George Lucas' as well as in ''Lawrence of Arabia'' as the British Army HQ in Cairo, while the courtyard was the King Alfonso XIII Hotel.

★ The ''Plaza of the Americas'' also appeared in ''Lawrence'', substituting for Jerusalem, and in Anthony Mann's ''El Cid''. It would also serve as the Palace of Vladek Sheybal's Bashaw in ''The Wind and the Lion'' (1975) (including the memorable attack scene by the US Marines).

★ Seville is given as the setting of part of the action on Tom Cruise's Mission Impossible II, but wasn't shot there. The portrayal of the Holy Week in the film holds no link to reality.

★ The ''Patio de los Naranjos'' in the ''Catedral'' appears in Kingdom of Heaven''.

★ The Spanish translation of ''My Fair Lady's phonetic exercise "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" is "''La lluvia en Sevilla es una pura maravilla''", "The rain in Seville is a pure marvel".

Gallery

References

★

See also

★ Seville metro

★ Seville Statement on Violence

★

External links

★ Official website of the city council.

★
★ Tourism section of the city council website, in English.

★ Seville in Google Maps.

★ Islamic Seville by Paul Lunde