RASGO - Red de Juderías de España. Caminos de Sefarad

Giralda Tower from the Jewry

Many different cultures have left their footprints along the history of Seville. Their legacy throughout centuries has left a great cultural and artistic heritage that we can admire around its streets and museums. However, the obscure origins of the city give as a result a number of legends which assure that Seville was founded by the mythical Hercules. In order to get to know our ancient history, we should visit the Museo Arqueológico (Archaeological Museum), situated in an old pavilion from the Ibero-American Exhibition held in 1929. The beauty of this building alone is attractive enough for you to visit!. Among the highlights to be found, specially outstanding are the Tesoro de Carambolo (Carambolo Treasure), which is the most important example of the Tartessian culture, proof of the assimilation of new oriental influences by the locals, and the sculptures of Hermes, Trajano (emperor Trajan) and Afrodita (Aphrodite), that are among the best examples of classic statues in Spain.

The outskirts of the city (Alcalá del Río) were the scenery of the final battle between Romans and Carthagnians (206 bC) and also the setting of the first Roman Colony, Itálica, reminding with this name the origins of its founders. Julius Caesar gave to the ancient Sevillians the status of Roman citizens (45 aC), when Sevilla was known as the Colonia Iulia Romula Hispalis. “….Although in Seville you could find great and sumptuous temples, circuses and amphiteatres… everything is gone”, assured the sevillian chronicler Rodrigo Caro, already in the 17th Cent. This is a reason more to visit the Archaelogical Museum, where the Roman Age is magnificently represented with works of art found in Itálica.

A typical balcony in the Jewry

During the Almohad period (XIIth cent.) Isbiliya, as Sevilla was named as those times, reached ist peak. The Great Mosque is built now, and its magnificent minaret would become the universal symbol of the city, later crowned by a renaissance-style belfry, with a huge allegory of the Christian faith as a weather van on the very top that turns with the slightest blow of wind; that is the reason why it later will be known as the “Giraldillo”, so the tower became the “Giralda”.

In 1248 San Fernando III (St. Ferdinand III), King of Castilla and León, reconquers the city. Mosques are turned into churches, even the great one. But some century and a half later, the latter was in such poor conditions, that the “Cabildo Catedralicio” (head of the local church) decides to build a new Gothic cathedral, that was to become the pride of Christian Seville. From this medieval period also stands out the figure of King Pedro I (Peter I), who commissions his own Palacio Mudéjar (Mudejar Palace) within the ancient Alcázar (14th cent.).

Along the 16th cent, Seville becomes the Puerto de Indias (Port of the Indies), shortly after the Discovery of America. The so-called Casa de la Contratación (House of the Trade), established in the Alcázar, will hold the monopoly of the commerce, expeditions and discoveries in the new World for over two centuries. On the other hand, merchants from all over Europe will have their new headquarters built in the finest Spanish – Renaissance style, just opposite the Royal Palace (Alcázar); this building nowadays is the Archivo de Indias (Archeve of the Indies), home to more than four million documents and maps related to America. A number of palaces are built along this period, together with the Hospital de las Cinco Llagas (Hospital of the Five Wounds), nowadays the Parlamento Andaluz (Andalusian Parliament).

Patio

Great artists are born in Seville during the 17th cent. Meanwhile, the trade with the Americas starts passing from Seville to Cádiz progressively. In this period we also find the origins of the Semana Santa (Holy Week) as it is celebrated today: The “Carrera Oficial” is established, fixing the order according to which brotherhoods should procession along the streets, depending on the date of foundation. As a result of this deep religious feeling, we find masterpieces of art created by great architects, sculptors, painters…. Figueroa family, Velázquez, Valdés Leal, Martínez Montañés and Zurbarán are some outstanding examples, whose works still can be admired at several parish churches, such the Iglesia de San Jorge (St. George’s), San Luis de los Franceses (St. Louis’s) or the one of el Divino Salvador (The Divine Savior’s), together with the Museo de Bellas Artes (Fines Arts Museum), second in importance to El Prado in Madrid.

In the 18th cent. a new tobacco factory is projected. Known as Real Fábrica de Tabacos, it will become worldwide famous thanks to one of our myths: Carmen, the cigar maker. Another setting of this opera is the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza, which is started during this century but not concluded until the next one.

The Romantic period (19th cent.) makes of Seville an exotic tourist destination for those pioneers of travelling. Along them, we find some good drawers who have left interesting sketches of a city that still would keep its walls untouched; these would be demolished by the end of the century in order to improve the links between the city centre and the expanding suburbs. Two outstanding examples of the so-called Arquitectura del Hierro (Architecture of Iron) are the old fish market, known as the naves del Barranco, and the first permanent bridge over the Guadalquivir: The Puente de Isabel II also called “de Triana”, inspired in the Carrousel bridge in Paris.

The Jewry

The 20th cent will start with the illusion of a great international event: The Exposición Iberoamericana (Ibero-American exhibition), whose inauguration will be delayed until 1929; it left us the Plaza de España, the Plaza de América and the pavilions erected by the different south American republics, in peculiar styles which evoke their both pre-Columbian and Colonial past.

Close to the end of the century, another exhibition, this time a Universal one, was celebrated in 1992. The Exposición Universal or just Expo’92 commemorated the fifth centennial of the Discovery of America. A number of improvements were carried out, such as the recuperation of the Isla de la Cartuja, that was to become the Expo site; the two of the old railway stations were dismounted, and a new one was built, including the AVE (high speed train), 70 km. of new highways, links and ring roads were created in Seville alone, the enlargement of the Airport, etc.

The Alcázar

In the XXIst cent. Sevilla has some more tourist attractions, such as the Metropol Parasol, a wooden framework with a concrete nucleus situated at the central Encarnación Square. Its dimensions are 150 x 70 meters and it is 26 meters high. The author was the German architect Jürgen Mayer. The Metropol-Parasol contains a food market, shops, a podium for concerts and events; on the roof there is a viewing gallery and a winding, undulating walkway. In its basement there is the museum “Antiquarium”, where the archeological ruins found during the works, from the Roman period, are shown.

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