Seville

SEVILLE, the capital of the Spanish province of Seville, and the chief city of Andalusia, on the left bank of the river Guadal quivir, 54 m. from the Atlantic Ocean, and 355 m. by rail S.S.W. of Madrid. Pop. (1930) 228,729. Seville is an archiepiscopal see, a port with many thriving industries, and in size the fourth city in the kingdom, ranking after Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. Its history and its treasures of art and architecture render it one of the most interesting places in Europe. Few parts of the city are more than 3o feet above sea level and, owing to the frequency of floods, an elaborate system of defences against the Guadalquivir and its affluents the Guadaira, Tamarguillo and Tagarete, was undertaken in 1904. This entailed the construc tion (spread over many years) of dykes, walls and surface drains, the raising of certain streets and railway embankments and the diversion of the lower Tagarete along a new channel leading into the Tamarguillo. The climate is pleasant at all seasons except in summer, when the heat is exces sive.

The townsfolk, and the peas ants who have come to town for bull-fights, fairs or carnivals, have preserved many of the curi ous old customs which tend to die out in the other large cities of Spain; they continue to wear the vivid costumes which suit the sunny climate of Andalusia; and their own gaiety, wit and grace of manner are proverbial.

Nowhere else in Spain are great church festivals celebrated with so much splendour. Easter at Seville is especially famous, and at this season the city is usually crowded with foreigners.

Principal Buildings.

The Cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria de la Sede, is one of the largest churches in the world, being 414 ft. long, 271 ft. wide and 1 oo ft. high to the roof of the nave. Building began in 1402 and was finished in 1519, so that the one style of Spanish Gothic is fairly preserved throughout the interior, however much the exterior is spoiled by later additions. The interior forms a parallelogram containing a nave and four aisles, a centre dome 121 ft. high, and at the east end a royal sepulchral chapel, which was an addition of the i6th century. The thirty-two immense clustered columns, the marble floor (1787– '795) and the seventy-four windows filled with painted glass, mostly by Flemish artists of the 16th century, produce an un surpassed effect of magnificence. The reredos is an enormous

Gothic work containing forty-four panels of gilt and coloured wood carvings begun by the Fleming Dancart in 1479 and completed by Spanish artists in 1526; the silver statue of the Virgin is by Francisco Alfaro (1596). The Cathedral contains many treasures of i6th century craftsmanship; the tomb of St. Ferdinand of Castile (1200-1252) and a curious life size image of the Virgin, which was presented to St. Ferdinand by St. Louis of France in the 13th century. It is carved wood with movable arms, seated on a silver throne and with hair of spun gold. The chief pictures in the cathedral are the "Guardian Angel," the "St. Anthony," and other works of Murillo ; the "Holy Family" of Alphonso Miguel de Tobar (1678-1738) ; the "Nativity" and "La Generacion" of Luis de Vargas; Valdes Leal's "Marriage of the Virgin," and Guadalupe's "Descent from the Cross." In the Sacristia Alta are three fine paintings of Alexo Fernandez, and in the Sala Capitular are a "Conception" by Murillo and a "St. Ferdi nand" by Francesco Pacheco. The organs (1777 and 1827) are among the largest in the world. A curious and unique ritual is observed by the choir boys on the festivals of Corpus Christi and the Immaculate Conception—a solemn dance with castanets being performed by ten of them before the altar; the custom is an old one but its origin is obscure. The Sagrario (1618-1662) on the north of the cathedral, a Baroque addition by Miguel de Zumar raga and Fernandez de Inglesias, which is the parish church.

At the north-east corner of the cathedral stands the Giralda, a bell tower of Moorish origin, 295 ft., in height. The lower part of the tower, or about 185 ft., was built in the latter half of the 12th century by Yusuf I. ; the upper part of the belfry, which is surmounted by a vane formed of a bronze figure 14 ft. high representing faith, were added (1568) by Fernando Ruiz in the Renaissance style. The ascent is made by a series of inclined planes. The exterior is encrusted with delicate Moorish detail, and the tower is altogether the finest specimen of its kind in Europe. At the base lies the Court of Oranges, of which only two sides now remain; the original Moorish fountain however, is preserved.