Assignment 1: Senses of the City of Sevilla

Dong!Dong!Dong!The riddling sound of the bell drifts through downtown Seville at every quarter past the hour. As I stand adjacent from La Cathedral de Sevilla and beside the La Casa de La Provincia, people from all walks of life steadily stroll up and down the streets. Birds chirping as they seek a stand still place, horses hooves clamping through the cobble stones, and maintenance attendants conducting street improvements creates sounds of  activity. The gloomy sky shifts the temperature from hot to cool. As I approach the Patio de Banderas, I encounter French speaking tourists capturing vivid monumental images of the city. Tourists pace through the deserted geometric square field  that is encircled with orange trees awaiting  to be picked and nourished. Steps away from La Casa de La Provincia, horse carriages are unoccupied with visitors and horses awaits for  signal for embarkment. The medieval architecture of La Cathedral de Sevilla sits at an angle awaiting for visitors to discover history behind its doors.

Seville, Spain

Seville, also known as Sevilla, is the artistic, cultural, and financial city located South of Spain.  The city is 200 years old and one of the oldest cities in Spain. According to Legends, Hercules discovered the city of Seville. However, historians argue that the area of Seville had existed during the Tharsis reign. About six centuries ago, the Romans were the first to govern entire Spain, where they colonized Italica. Italica is about 10 km of Seville and has historical architecture, such as the three houses, De Exedra, Los Pájaros or Hylas.

Both Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian were born in the town of Italica. In 49 B.C., Julius Cesar renamed the town of Italica, Hispalis as it was also the first colony of the Roman Empire. Due to Italica’s expansion, it reached the city of Sevilla. The Moslem civilization had a huge impact on the city of Seville, until their reign lasted nearly 800 years ago. The Catholic monarchs defeated the kingdom of Granada. Seville is the provincial capital, seat government and parliament of the Communidad of Autónoma de Andalucía. Later Madrid became the capital of Spain, and Seville remained Spain’s major hub until the 17th century. By the 18th century, Spain had fallen into an economic decline. Between the 19th and early 20th centuries poverty led to political conflict and ultimately to civil war in Spain.

The city is populated with more than 700,000 people, which is equivalent to 41 million in Spain. The city of Seville surrounds both north and south of the plain of the Guadalquivir River and it is connected to the outlet of Sanlúcar de Barrameda that sits on the Atlantic Ocean. In 1492, the conquest of the Americas transformed the Seville into one of the most affluent cities in all of Europe. Some of the city's most historical buildings are the Torre del Oro, Torre de Plata , Giralda , Patio de los Naranjos , the area of Triana , the Macarena Walls and the Alcazar . The Mudejar churches that are still in existence from 800 years are the Iglesia de San Marcos, the Iglesia de Santa Catalina and the Church of San Pedro.

In addition, many of the more recent historic buildings exist from 1929, Ibero-American Exposion of 1929, such as the Plaza de España and the Parque Maria Luisa. In 1992, the event was repeated when the Exposion took place again in Sevilla, attracting thousands of visitors from around the world. Spain’s predominantly practiced religion is Roman Catholic and its first language is Castilian Spanish. The countries world time zone is 1 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The country uses Euro currency. The countries dialing code is +34 and telephone area code is 95. Spain’s electricity capability is 220 volts, 50 Hz - round two-pin plugs.