SEVILLE HAS A RICH AND FASCINATING HISTORY. THE ROMANS GOVERNED THE WHOLE OS SPAIN FOR MORE OF SIX CENTURIES. THEIR FIRST COLONY WAS ITALICA WHICH MAY STILL BE VISITED TODAY.

The Romans changed the face if the countryside and towns, building aqueducts and long straight roads to link the major towns. Today some of the best preserved artifacts from this period can be found at the city's magnificent Archaelogical Museum.

But it was the Moslem civilization witch was to have the most lasting impact on the city. Their reign lasted for nearly 800 years in Andalucía from 711 until 1492 when the Catholic monarchs defeated the Moslem kingdom of Granada.
Some of the city's most magnificent buildings stand as a legacy to this era, including the Torre del Oro, Torre de Plata, Giralda, Patio de los Naranjos, the area of Triana, the Macarena Walls and the Alcazar. Later the mudejares used their skill to create beautiful Moorish-style buildings, such as the Palacio Pedro I, part of Seville's Reales Alcazares.
There are several Mudejar churches dating from this period, including the Iglesia de San Marcos, the Iglesia de Santa Caralina and the Church of San Pedro.
Interestingly, Mudejar architecture cotinued long after the Moslem period, one of the best examples being the Casa de Pilatos, one of the most beautiful buildings you can visit in Seville.
After the fall of Granada to the Cristians, Spain entered an era of expansion and prosperity. The conquest of the New World made Seville one of the most affluent cities in Europe, but much of this wealt was squandered on wars by the Hasbsburg Kings. The 13 years War of the Spanish Succession saw Bourbons on the throne in place of the Habsburgs and, under the Treaty of Utrecht, the loss of Gibraltar to the British. Later ties with France dragged Spain into the Napoleonic Wars.
Following the Battle of Trafalgar, the Spanish King, Carlos V abdicated and Napoleon Bonaparte placed his brother, Joseph on the Spanish throne. The Peninsula War ensued and, with British help, the French were driven out of Spain. After the Bourbon restoration, Spain weakened by further strife, began to lose her colonies.
By the 18th century, Spain had falen into economic decline and in the 19th and early 20th centuries poverty led to political conflict and ultimately to civil war. Many of the more recent historic buildings date from the 1929 Ibero-American Exposion of 1929, including the Plaza de España and the Parque de María Luisa.
In 1992 this event was repeated when Expo took place again in Seville, attracting of visitors from around the world.

LA GIRALDA

The Giralda is the most emblematic monument of Seville. This Minaret of Almohade style was constructed by the Emperor Abu Yacub Yusuf, between 1184 and 1197, up to a height of 76 metres.
After the reconquest the christians fitted the minaret with renaissance bells, designed by the arquitect Hernán Ruíz, in 1568, pushing the total height close to 100 metres.

CATHEDRAL
The "Magna Hispalenses", the Seville Cathedral, is the third biggest cathedral after the Saint Peter in Rome and Saint Paul's in London. It has been constructed on the place of the biggest Almohade mosque that dated from 1172, which at her turn was built on the foundations of a Visigode church. Only the Patio de los Naranjos and the former Almohade Minaret, known as La Giralda, are left of the mosque.
The construction of the Cathedral began in 1401. cosisting of a large open area with 5 naves and 25 chapels. The separate Royal Chapel contains many of the works by Murillo, Zurbarán, Valdés Leal and Goya among others.

THE ROYAL ALCÁZAR
Abd Al Ramán III ordered in 913 the construction of the Alcazar a fortified palace which later became the residence of various monarchs. Pedro I, "the cruel", (1350 to 1369) made significant additions to the palace which is one of the most important examples of Mudéjar architecture in Seville. The numerous rooms, patios and halls vary in architectural styles from the Islamic to Neoclassic.
The beautiful gardens and fountains are especially worth visiting.

PLAZA DE ESPAÑA

Representative of much of the regional architecture, this magnificent construction is highlighted with polychromatic ceramic tiles.
The semicircular plaza has a diametre of 200 metres and is flanked by two spectacular towers and a bordering lake that are especially worth seeing. Plaza de España has been one of the sceneries for episode II of George Luca's STAR WARS saga: Attack of the clones.

THE ARCHIVES OF THE INDIES
The construction of this building began in the 16th century to be used by traders for their commercial transactions.
In 1785, the premises became the headquarters for the General Archives of the Indies when structural changes were made to accomodate the numerous files and documents.
The archives contain references to Spain and her foreign possesions between the 15th and 19th centuries.