At the Royal Alcázars of Seville, in the city of Seville, Spain

 “To this day the Arab influence is evident in southern Italy, northern Africa and, above all, in Spain.” – Carroll Quigley

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(in the capital of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville) Located on the banks of the Guadalquivir River, the city of Seville is one of the largest historical centers in Europe.

+ Originally an Iberian town, Seville prospered under the Romans in the 2nd century BCE. In the 5th–8th centuries CE, it was the chief city in southern Spain under the Vandals and the Visigoths. In 711 it fell to the Moors, and under Muslim rule it was a cultural and commercial center until the 13th century, when Spanish Christians under Ferdinand III captured it. About 1500 Seville became the center of the Spanish colonial trade with the Americas. The French occupied the city (from 1808–12), and during the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) it was held by the Nationalists. It is one of Spain’s main tourist centers, with historic mosques, cathedrals, and the 12th-century Alcázar Palace.

+ The Spanish discovery of the Americas brought new prosperity to the city. Seville became the center of the exploration of America through the Casa de Contratación (“House of Trade”), which was established here in 1503 to regulate commerce between Spain and the New World. For two centuries Seville was to hold a dominant position in Spain’s New World commerce; it was the site of the main mint for gold and silver from the Americas, and many Spanish emigrants to the New World sailed from its quays.
+ Seville’s economy declined in the 17th century, though its cultural life underwent a great flowering at the time. The painters Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Zurbarán, and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, the sculptor Juan Martínez Montañés, and the poet Fernando de Herrera are considered the glories of Sevilla and of Spain. (Miguel de Cervantes conceived of his novel Don Quixote while he was confined in Seville’s jail.)

+ In the 18th century Spain’s Bourbon rulers managed to stimulate a limited economic revival in the city, but in the 19th century the French invasion, revolutions, and civil war halted such development. In 1847 the April Fair, an annual gala following Easter, was established. During the 20th century the port was enlarged, and the city revived as an industrial and commercial center. Sevilla’s many architectural monuments survived the Spanish Civil War (from 1936–39) intact because the city was held by the Nationalists throughout the entire conflict.

+ Seville's colossal Gothic cathedral, is an intoxicating mix of resplendent Mudéjar palaces, baroque churches, and winding medieval lanes. Flamenco clubs keep the intimacy and intensity of this centuries-old tradition alive while aristocratic mansions recall the city’s past as a showcase Moorish capital.

+ Shown here is Real Alcázar, a magnificent mixture of Christian and Mudéjar architecture, which is Seville’s royal palace complex -- and a breathtaking spectacle: