Architecture of Seville, Andalusia, Spain

UNESCO Sites in Seville: Cathedral of Seville, Royal Alcazar of Seville, and the General Archives of the Indies

Must-See Sites in Seville: Cathedral of Seville, Royal Alcazar of Seville, and Plaza de España

Overview

One thing that always gets me going when I visit a city is a blending of cultures. There’s not much about Reykjavik that doesn’t really feel “Icelandic” – but there’s so much about the architecture of Seville that doesn’t necessarily feel “Spanish.”

Every single region with a varied blend of different cultures has one unifying trait…conquest, lots and lots of conquest. Can you think of any other city that has been controlled by – Romans > Visigoths > Moors > Castilians > and The Spanish Empire – and is still somehow thriving today? Well, maybe you can, but I guarantee there within a short drive of Seville.

Pre-Roman Era

Legend has it, Seville was founded by that classic Greek mythological hero, Hercules. As he traveled to the Atlantic Ocean, he founded several trading outposts on the Iberian Peninsula, which grew into great cities. If Greek Mythology isn’t really your thing, and your more interested in facts, then Seville was founded by native Iberian tribes around the 8^th century BCE.

Thanks to its strategic placement along the water in the Guadalquivir River Valley, the city prospered for centuries. The fertile lands around the area were cultivated and the population steadily grew. Eventually, the Carthaginians, which at this point in history were still a mighty seafaring and mercantile empire, began to occupy the Iberian Peninsula.

They left a lasting effect on the region, most notably founding the city of Carthago Nueva, modern-day Cartagena. They controlled much of the Guadalquivir River Valley, but after a few decades, their old enemy, The Roman Republic, started knocking on their door.

Roman Architecture in Seville

Rome first started to occupy the Iberian Peninsula around 220 BCE first invading from the East in modern Day Catalonia. After a lengthy and violent confrontation with Carthage, called the Second Punic War, the Romans pushed out the Carthaginians and colonized the entire Iberian Peninsula. The Romans named ancient Seville, Hispalis, and the city continued to grow and prosper under Roman rule.

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• (left) Roman columns at the Alameda de Hercules.
• (right) Roman Corinthian column at the Plaza de las Cruces.
• Left Photo from Anual from Wikimedia Commons

Although they are sparse, there are still a few Ancient Roman structures visible in the city. There are two separate locations that showcase Roman Columns from local monuments. In the Santa Cruz neighborhood, three columns center the Plaza de las Cruces, although the exact origins are a mystery, its believed they came from a Roman Temple and were then placed in the square centuries later.

In the northern part of the historic center of Seville, there is the Alameda de Hercules. (named for the mythological founder of the city) In this square there are two well-preserved columns that were repurposed from a local temple, also believed to be dedicated to Hercules.

The most impressive monuments that still exist from Roman times are the fragments of the Caños de Carmona – an Ancient Roman Aqueduct that once connected Seville and the nearby town of Carmona – a distance of over 10 miles. (17 kilometers) The remaining portions are not nearly as impressive as they would have been before the aqueduct was demolished in 1912, but nevertheless, they show that Seville was once a mighty Roman Center.

Visigoth and Moorish Architecture in Seville

Eventually, as all empires do, Rome fell; and lost control of the Iberian Peninsula in the process. After being displaced from their homeland, a Germanic tribe known as the Visigoths began to settle in modern-day Spain. Unfortunately, they did not leave a lasting mark on Seville, in fact, they left little evidence of their existence in Spain at all. (except for a few churches in the north, as well as some artifacts such as jewelry and coins) Because of this, historians often jokingly refer to them as the invisigoths.

The Visigoths established a large Kingdom that lasted almost three hundred years, beginning in 418 CE and ending with the fall of the Visigoths at the hands of Muslim invaders. The fall of the Visigoths is where our story on the history of Seville really starts to get interesting.

The Umayyad Caliphate had pushed westward from the Arabian Peninsula, all the way through North Africa, eventually pausing at the Straight of Gibraltar. They sought the help of some of the local Berber tribes, in crossing the straight and invading the Iberian Peninsula. They quickly toppled the Visigoth Kingdom and expanded all the way to northern Spain and Eastward over the Pyrenees Mountains and into modern-day France.

The Umayyad Caliphate based its operations in a city nearby Seville called Cordoba. They established the Emirate of Cordoba which eventually became the Caliphate of Cordoba. They called this region of Spain, Al-Andalus, which is where we get the modern term “Andalusia.”

Even though the Islamic rulers of Al-Andalus were made up of many unique cultures over time, (Berbers, Arabians, Umayyads, Almoravids, Almohads, and Marinids, to name a few) these are all often bundled into the unifying term “moors” since they invaded the Iberian Peninsula from a region of North Africa called, Mauritania.

The Moors left some incredible works of architecture all over modern Andalusia, and in Seville in particular. Although Seville had a defensive wall, with a foundation dating back to Roman times, most of what can be seen today was refurbished and built up by the Moors.

A large portion of the wall still stands at the northern edge of the historic center, as well as to the south surrounding the Royal Alcazar of Seville. The wall eventually ended at the banks of the Guadalquivir River, where the Moors built a great defensive tower. The Torre De Oro or “Tower of Gold” as it later came to be known, stands tall over the banks of the river.

The Moors built several Mosques in the city, which were surely architectural marvels in their day. Unfortunately, most of these were lost to history when the Moors lost control of the city. But a few of their Minarets were left intact and turned into bell towers; two great examples are the bell towers of The Church of Omnium Sanctorum and The Church of Santa Catalina.

The cities most notable landmark, The Giralda, is also the repurposed minaret of a former mosque. Seville’s greatest Moorish Mosque was torn down to make way for the Cathedral of Seville. Only the minaret and portions of the original cloister remain to this day and are incorporated into the cathedral.

The Giralda was completed in the year 1198. It still stands as the highest tower in the surrounding area and can be seen from all over the city. The bottom portion of the bell tower looks pretty much the same way it did 800 years ago. However, the Christian rulers later added a Renaissance-style top in the 16^th century.

The Moors also created a defensive palace, the Alcazar of Seville, and joined it with the defensive wall in the southern portion of the city. Most of the original building was destroyed when the city was retaken by Christian forces, but a portion of some of the original walls in the Patio Del Yeso are still intact.

Castilian Architecture in Seville

Over time, the Moors started to lose control of the Iberian Peninsula. The remnants of the Visigoths in the north started to begin their own kingdoms and tried to push southward to regain control of the entire region, in a movement known as the Reconquista. The most powerful of these groups was the Kingdom of Castile.

Beginning in 1247 CE and after an incredibly long siege of over 15 months, the city surrendered to the Christian Conquerors in the year 1248. Immediately, the Castilians got right to work changing the city to reflect their own culture. As was customary at the time, they tore down the mosques and rebuilt them as Churches.

On the foundation of Seville’s largest mosque, the Castilians began construction of what would eventually become the world’s largest Gothic cathedral. The original designers of the cathedral said they wanted to, “Build a church so beautiful and so grand, that those who see it will take us for mad”…I think they accomplished their goal. The tall towering nave is one of the tallest in the world and has some incredibly detailed stonework. Immediately when you enter, your head tilts up, to view the towering arched vaults overhead.

Light gleams in from the stained glass windows and reflects off the soft beige-yellow stones creating a very ambient glow. From the exterior, the most notable feature is The Giralda, which shows the entire history of Seville, both Moorish and Spanish. (believe it or not, there’s actually a copy of The Giralda located in Kansas City Missouri) Beside the cathedral, in an adjacent cloister dating to the Moorish era, you can find the Patio de los Naranjos; which directly translates to “orange tree courtyard.”

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• (left) Exterior facade of Seville Cathedral, from the Patio de los Naranjos.
• (right) Interior view of Seville Cathedral, showing the vaulted ceiling above.
• Left Photo by Heparina1985 from Wikimedia Commons
• Right Photo by Hpschaefer from Wikimedia Commons

The Castilians also made significant changes and additions to the original Moorish fortress, the Alcazar. They created a grand palace, mostly designed in a new architectural style, known as Mudejar. The style is uniquely Spanish. At the time, much of the skilled craftsmen and laborers were Moors.

The Spanish used the local populations of Seville to create buildings in this new style. They used classic Islamic motifs such as the horseshoe arch, and Arabic script. But the biggest difference is the addition of pictures and sculptures, such as people and animals, which are traditionally forbidden in Islamic Architecture.

The Golden Age: Architecture in Seville during the Age of Discovery

Like a lot of cities and countries, there is a clear time frame in history when Seville was, well…killin’ it. They were building buildings left and right, and becoming an economic powerhouse in the region. This time period, known as Seville’s Golden Age, coincides with the peak of Spain’s imperial dominance. In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed (the ocean blue) from Seville. His journey and the myriad of voyages from others that followed, brought unimaginable wealth and prosperity, to what was now the Spanish Empire.

Because Seville was such a well-fortified city, and because it was so far up the Guadalquivir river, it had a reputation of being the safest shipping harbor in all of Spain. Because of this, the Spanish Government decided that all goods from the New World had to be offloaded in Seville.

Those new spices everyone’s been talking about; Cocoa, Cinnamon, black pepper, and Vanilla? They had to come through Seville. That new craze everyone’s been trying, Tobacco? Had to be imported from Seville. Wait, they found gold in the new world? That came from the Seville too. And one final thing that Spaniards took a liking too, coffee, also got imported through Seville’s harbor. Like any economics professor will tell you, importing goods comes with tariffs, taxes, and fees, which financed so much of the buildings we can see in Seville today.

Seville City Hall, The Palace of San Telmo, The General Archive of the Indies, The Antiguo Hospital de las Cinco Llagas, and The Convent of the Order of the Merced Calzada de la Asuncióo (which now houses Seville’s Museum of Fine Arts) are all excellent works of architecture built during the Golden Age.

During the 17^th century, Seville fell on harder times. Not only did trade with the New World slow down, but Seville lost its monopoly on incoming goods. The harbor also became too shallow, due to silt and sand buildup, for large vessels to pass through. The city’s population fell, and although new buildings, churches, and public projects were still completed, nothing really compared with what was happening during the Golden Age. Two notable exceptions to this, are the Church of the Devino san Salvador, and the Royal Tobacco Factory, both built in the late 17^th and 18^th centuries.

The Industrial Age in Seville

During the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, Seville became more and more prominent politically and economically. The local government created many new projects that greatly influence the city to this day. Wider streets were created to be more vehicle-friendly, including the Avenida de la Constitution, Seville’s main pedestrian boulevard. One of the cities most beautiful squares was also created as a public works project, Plaza Nueva.

In 1929, Seville hosted the Ibero-American Exposition. Just like when a city hosts a World’s Fair or an Olympics, Seville rapidly improved its infrastructure and also built new monuments for the event. The Archeological Museum of Arts and the Museum of Popular Arts are both central buildings within the Parque de Maria Luisa

. Seville’s most photogenic site was also built for this exposition. The Plaza de España combines several types of popular architectural styles that were prominent in Spain in the early 20^th century. Plaza de España is widely regarded as one of the greatest public plazas in Spain.

Check out some of our related articles to learn more about architectural history!

Modern Architecture in Seville

Modern-day Seville has spread out dramatically past the ancient historic core. Today it is home to more than 700,000 people. The most recognizable piece of modern architecture in Seville is known as Las Setas, or “the mushrooms.” Locals gave the structure this nickname due to the curved overhanging canopy. Las Setas was built in an attempt to revitalize the Plaza de la Encarnación, which had become more of a parking lot than a public square.

Seville also hosted the Universal Exposition of 1992. The city built several pavilions all located on an island over the river from the historic center of the city. Most of these pavilions can still be visited today. One notable landmark is a bridge over the Guadalquivir designed by Santiago Calatrava.

In 2015, Seville finished the construction of the tallest building in all of Andalusia, now know as Seville Tower. Although controversial due to its impact on the city skyline, this tower has added a significant amount of office space resulting in economic growth for the whole city.

Conclusion

To me, Seville’s architectural significance is embodied in the Mudejar style of Architecture. The whole concept, of a new style of architecture forming itself from historic events, is the thing that makes Andalusia, and Seville in particular, so magical. Everywhere you look, you can see in every stone, brick, and column, influences of the past rulers of this great city. From the Romans to the Moors, to the Spanish Empire, and on to modern Spain, Seville showcases all of these cultures and how they helped the city become the landmark it is today.

I’ve always felt Seville should be considered more as a travel destination in Spain, equally as significant as Barcelona or Madrid. Seville is the quintessential essence of Andalusia, and Seville’s architecture is an eclectic mix of the city’s complicated past. If you like Spain venture to Seville, and if you like Seville, expand outward into the entire region of Andalusia.