SEVILLE (Spanish, Sevilla), a fa mous city of Spain; capital of the prov ince of the same name; on the left bank of the Guadalquivir, 80 miles from its mouth, and 353% miles S. S. W. of Ma drid. The river is crossed by a fine iron bridge connecting Seville with Triana (the gipsy quarter), one of its suburbs. The city proper, which is surrounded by old Moorish walls, 5 miles in circumfer ence, with 66 towers and 15 gates, con tains a labyrinth of narrow crooked streets. The houses are mostly built in the Moorish style, and are seldom more than two stories high, with flat roofs, and an inner square court surrounded with colonnades and adorned with flowers and fountains. The windows generally look into this court ; to the street there is most frequently only a balcony. The city has many fine promenades, of which the most frequented are the Alameda Vieja, El Passeo de Christina and Las Delicias. Of its 111 squares, the largest are Plaza de San Francisco, Plaza de la Encarna cion, Plaza del Duque, and the Quemadero —the scene of the autos-da-fe; while of its numerous streets, the chief are Calle de la Sierpe and Calle Francos. Most of the more notable public edifices are at the S. extremity near the river, and within a short distance from each other. Here are the Cathedral (Santa Maria de la Sede), the Giralda, the Alcazar, the Lonja, and (outside the wall), the royal Fabrica de Tabacos.
The Cathedral (1401-1519), on the site of the grand mosque of the Moors, is one of the most imposing Gothic edifices in Europe. It is 431 feet long, 315 feet wide, 145 feet high under the transept dome, has seven aisles, 93 windows, sev eral of which are beautifully painted, and an organ with 5,400 pipes. It contains the "Biblioteca Columbiana" of 42,000 volumes, bequeathed by Ferdinand Colum bus, and is rich in paintings by Murillo, Campafia, the Herreras, and other mas ters of the school of Seville. The Giralda is a square Moorish steeple, consisting of three towers with galleries and balconies, 350 feet high, the ascent of which is by a spiral inclined plane. On the top is a bronze statue of Faith, 14 feet high, and weighing 2,800 pounds, which yet turns like a weathercock. The Alcazar was the
ancient Moorish palace. Some parts of its interior are as fine as the Alhambra. The Lonja, or Exchange, is a square build ing, each side 100 feet long, in which all the American archives are preserved. The Fabrica de Tabacos, or tobacco factory, in which several thousand persons are employed, was erected in 1757. Other buildings are the Torre del Oro, a 12 sided tower on the river, so called from its having received the cargoes of the American treasure ships; the palace San Telmo, built by Ferdinand Columbus, af terward owned by the Duke of Montpen sier; Casa de Ayuntamiento (town house), a fine Renaissance structure; the Casa de Pilatos, or palace of the Dukes of Alcala ; the Museo, rich in paintings by Murillo, Zurbaran, Torrigiano, Roelas, and the elder Herrera ; and the great amphitheater, capable of accommodating, as a Plaza de Toros, 18,000 people.
One of the greatest monuments of an tiquity is the Canoe de Carmona, an aqueduct on 410 high arches, which con veys water from Alcala de Guadaira. It was built by the Romans and repaired by the Moors. Seville has a university, founded 1502, with a library of more than 20,000 volumes; 12 picture galleries (including the Musco), two theaters, sev eral upper schools and learned societies. The city is visited by large numbers of strangers during the Santa Semana ("holy week"), which commences about the middle of April. Seville has a great export of oranges, and large manufac tures of tobacco, hardware, porcelain, and silk. Pop. (1918) 164,046.
Seville was the Hispalis of the Ro mans, in whose time it was a place of great commercial importance. Under the Vandals and Visigoths it became the capi tal of southern Spain. Within its walls were held the Concilia Hispalensia, 590 and 619. In the 8th century, it fell into the hands of the Moors, by whom it was galled Ischbilia, and made the capital of a caliphate. It now became the most flourishing city in the peninsula, having a population of 400,000. In 1248 it was taken, after a siege of 18 months, by Fer dinand III. of Castile, and has ever since remained in the hands of the Christians.