What an amazing city! Seville proudly wears its historical legacy while still embracing all the best aspects of the modern world, from architecture, the visual and performing arts to marvelous cuisine.
Seville has witnessed the kind of varied and illustrious history that few cities can boast. Settled by the Romans, it later became a capital of the Moorish Caliphate of Al Andalus which enjoyed dominance over the region for more than two centuries until the Reconquista, the Catholic conquest of the Muslim Empire in what is now southern Spain.
In the years following Christopher Columbus’s so-called ‘discovery’ of America in 1492, Seville became one of the world’s largest and wealthiest cities after being selected by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella as the home port for all the treasures being plundered from the ‘New World’. The Guadalquivir River, which runs through the heart of the city, was utilized as a safe harbor for the tons of gold and silver which were brought back to Spain and stored in the Torre de Oro (Tower of Gold) on its banks.
