Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SEVILLE (Span. Sevilla, Lat. Ispalis ...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 733 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

SEVILLE (Span. Sevilla, See also:Lat. Ispalis or Hispalis, Moorish Ishbiliya) , the See also:capital of the See also:Spanish See also:province of Seville, and the See also:chief See also:city of See also:Andalusia, on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:river See also:Guadalquivir, 54 M. from the See also:Atlantic Ocean, and 355 M. by See also:rail S.S.W. of See also:Madrid. Pop. (1900) 148,315. Seville is an archiepiscopal see, a See also:port with many thriving See also:industries, and in See also:size the See also:fourth city in the See also:kingdom, ranking after Madrid, See also:Barcelona and See also:Valencia. Its See also:history; and its treasures of See also:art and See also:architecture render it one of the most interesting places in See also:Europe. It is built in a level alluvial See also:plain, as productive as a See also:garden. Few parts of the city are more than 3o ft. above See also:sea-level, and owing to the frequency of floods an elaborate See also:system of defences against the Guadalquivir and its affluents the Guadaira, Tamarguillo and Tagarete, was undertaken in 1904. This entailed the construction (spread over many years) of dykes, walls and See also:surface drains, the raising of certain streets and railway embankments and the diversion of the See also:lower Tagarete along a new channel leading into the Tamarguillo. The See also:climate is pleasant at all seasons except in summer, when a shade temperature of 116° Fahr. has been recorded. See also:Water is provided by a See also:British See also:company, and a smaller quantity is obtained from See also:Carmona, but the See also:supply is inadequate.

On the right or western bank of the river is the suburb of the Triana, inhabited to a See also:

great extent by See also:gipsies. Seville retains its Moorish See also:appearance in the older quarters, although their narrow and tortuous alleys are lighted by See also:electricity, and traversed, wherever they afford See also:room, by electric tramways. In the more See also:modern districts there are broad avenues and boulevards, the chief of which is the beautiful Paseo de los Delicias, along the river and below the city. The animated and picturesque See also:street-See also:life of Seville has often been painted and described, or even, as in See also:Mozart's See also:Figaro and See also:Don Giovanni, See also:Rossini's Barbiere di Siviglia and Bizet's Carmen, set to See also:music. The townsfolk, and the peasants who have come to See also:town for See also:bull-fights, fairs or See also:carnival, have preserved many of the curious old customs which tend to See also:die out in the other large cities of See also:Spain; they continue to See also:wear the vivid costumes which suit the sunny climate of Andalusia; and their own gaiety, wit and See also:grace of manner are proverbial. Nowhere in Spain are the great See also:Church festivals celebrated with so much splendour; See also:Easter at Seville is especially famous, and at this See also:season the city is usually crowded with foreigners. The stately reserve and formality of Madrid society are almost as unknown here as the feverish industrialism and See also:political See also:passion of Barcelona or Valencia; See also:loyalty, See also:good See also:humour and See also:light-hearted See also:hedonism have always been characteristic of Seville. See also:Principal Buildings.—The See also:cathedral, dedicated to See also:Santa Maria de la Sede, is the largest church in the See also:world, after St See also:Peter's at See also:Rome and the Mezquita at See also:Cordova, being 414 ft. See also:long, 271 ft. wide and 10o ft. high to the roof of the See also:nave. The See also:west front is approached by a high See also:flight of steps, and the See also:platform on which the cathedral stands is surrounded by a See also:hundred shafts of columns from the See also:mosque which formerly occupied the site. The See also:work of See also:building began in 1402 and was finished in 1519, so that the one See also:style of Spanish See also:Gothic is fairly preserved throughout the interior, however much the exterior is spoiled by later additions. Unfortunately the west front remained unfinished until 1827, when the central See also:doorway was completed in a very inferior manner; but this has been renewed in a purer style. The See also:fine See also:relief above it representing the See also:Assumption was added in 1885.

At the See also:

east end are two Gothic doorways with good See also:sculpture in the tympana; and on the See also:north See also:side the Puerta del Perdon, as it is called, has some exquisite detail over the See also:horse-See also:shoe See also:arch, and a pair of fine See also:bronze doors. The gateway in the See also:southern See also:facade, designed by Casanova, See also:dates from 1887. The interior forms a parallelogram containing a nave and four aisles with surrounding chapels, a centre See also:dome, 121 ft. high, and at the east end a royal sepulchral See also:chapel, which was an addition of the 16th See also:century. The See also:thirty-two immense clustered columns, the See also:marble See also:floor (1787-1795) and the seventy-four windows filled with painted See also:glass, mostly by Flemish artists of the 16th century, produce an unsurpassed effect of magnificence. The See also:reredos is an enormous Gothic work containing See also:forty-four panels of gilt and coloured See also:wood carvings begun by the See also:Fleming Dancart in 1479 and completed by Spanish artists in 1526; the See also:silver statue of the Virgin is by Francisco Alfaro (1596). The See also:archbishop's See also:throne and the See also:choir-stalls (1475-1548) are fine pieces of See also:carving, and amongst the notable See also:metal-work are the railings (1519), by Sancho Nuiioz, and the See also:lectern by Bartolome See also:Morel of the same See also:period. The bronze See also:candelabrum for See also:tenebrae, 25 ft. in height, is a splendid work by B. More (1562). In the Sacristia Alta is a silver repousse reliquary presented by See also:Alphonso the See also:Wise in the 13th century; and in the Sacristia See also:Mayor, which is a good plateresque addition made in 1535 from designs by Diego de Riaiio (d. 1532), there is a magnificent collection of church See also:plate and See also:vestments, including the famous silver See also:monstrance (1580-1587), I2 ft. high, by ppan de Arfe (Arphe). At the west end of the nave is the See also:grave of erdinand, the son of See also:Columbus, and at the east end in the royal chapel (1514-1566) lies the See also:body of St See also:Ferdinand of See also:Castile (1200-1252), which is exposed three times in the See also:year. This chapel akin contains the tombs of Alphonso the Wise (1252-1284) and Pedro I.

(1350-1369) and a curious life-size See also:

image of the Virgin, which was presented to St Ferdinand by St See also:Louis of See also:France in the 13th century. It is in carved wood with movable arms, seated on a silver throne and with See also:hair of spun See also:gold. The chief pictures in the cathedral are the " See also:Guardian See also:Angel," the " St See also:Anthony," and other See also:works of See also:Murillo; the " See also:Holy See also:Family " of Alfonso See also:Miguel de Tobar (1678-1738) ; the " Nativity " and " La Generacion " of Luis de Vargas; See also:Valdes Leal's "See also:Marriage of the Virgin," and Guadelupe's "Descent from the See also:Cross." In the Sacristia Alta are three fine paintings-by Alexo See also:Fernandez, and in the See also:Sala Capitular See also:area " Conception " b Murillo and a " St Ferdinand " by Francisco See also:Pacheco. The See also:organs (1777 and 1827) are among the largest in the world. A curious and unique See also:ritual is observed by the choir boys on the festivals of Corpus Christi and the Immaculate Conception—a See also:solemn See also:dance with See also:castanets being performed by 1 This was stolen in 1874, sold in New See also:York for £50, and returned by its purchaser, Mr Schaus. ten of them before the See also:altar; the See also:custom is an old one but its origin is obscure. The Sagrario (1618–1662) on the north of the cathedral is a See also:Baroque addition by Miguel de Zumarraga and Fernandez de See also:Iglesias, which serves as the See also:parish church. At the north-east corner of the cathedral stands the Giralda, a See also:bell See also:tower of Moorish origin, 295 ft. in height. The lower See also:part of the tower, or about 185 f t., was built in the latter See also:half of the 12th century by Yusuf I.; the upper part and the See also:belfry, which is surmounted by a See also:vane formed of a bronze figure 14 ft. high representing Faith, were added (1568) by Fernando See also:Ruiz in the See also:Renaissance style. The ascent is made by a See also:series of inclined planes. The exterior is encrusted with delicate Moorish detail, and the tower is altogether the finest specimen of its See also:kind in Europe. At the See also:base lies the See also:Court of Oranges, of which only two sides now remain; the See also:original Moorish See also:fountain, however, is still preserved.

But the chief relic of the Arab dominion in Seville is the Alcazar, a See also:

palace comparable in See also:interest and beauty only with the See also:Alhambra of See also:Granada. It was begun in 1181 during the best periods of the See also:Almohades, and was surrounded by walls and towers, of which the Torre del Oro, a decagonal tower on the river side, is now the principal survival. The Torre del Oro (1220) has an 18th--century superstructure. Pedro I. made considerable alterations and additions in the Alcazar during the 14th century, and worse havoc was afterwards wrought by See also:Charles V., See also:Philip III. and Philip V. Restorations have been effected as far as possible, and the palace is now an extremely beautiful example of Moorish work. The facade, the See also:hall of ambassadors and the See also:Patio de See also:las Muiiecas are the most striking portions, after which may be ranked the Patio de las Doncellas and the chapel of See also:Isabella. Among other Moorish remains in Seville may be mentioned the See also:minaret of See also:San Marcos, 75 ft. high. The Casa de Pilatos is Moorish and Renaissance of the 16th century, and in addition to its elegant courtyard surrounded by a marble See also:colonnade, contains some fine decorative work. Somewhat similar in style are the 15th-century Casa de los Pinelos (Casa de Abades) and the 15th-century palace of the See also:dukes of See also:Alva (Palacio de las Duenas or de las Pinedas). The following are the most notable churches in Seville: Santa Maria la Blanca, an old Jewish See also:synagogue; San Pedro, 14th-century Gothic; Santa Marina, with the See also:oldest See also:Christian sculptures in Seville; San Marcos, badly restored, but with a remarkable mudejar portal; San Clemente el Real with beautiful See also:blue and See also:white See also:tile-work (azulejos) of 1588; the Gothic Parroquia of Santa See also:Ana, in the Triana suburb; and Omnium Sanctorum, built by Pedro I., with a Moorish tower and See also:Roman See also:foundations. The church of La Caridad belongs to an See also:almshouse founded in 1661 by the Sevillian Don Juan, Miguel de Manara. It possesses six masterpieces by Murillo, and two by Valdes Leal.

The chapel of the See also:

convent of Santa Paula dates from 1475, and has a portal magpificently decorated with azulejos. Other churches, though generally deficient in architectural interest, are enriched by paintings or sculptures of Pacheco, Montanes, Alonso See also:Cano, Valdes Leal, Roelas, Campana, Morales, Vargas and See also:Zurbaran. The museum was formerly the church and convent of La Merced. It now contains p-iceless examples of the Seville school of See also:painting, which flourished during the 16th and 17th centuries. Among the masters represented are See also:Velazquez and Murillo (both natives of Seville), Zurbaran, Roelas, See also:Herrera the See also:Elder, Pacheco, Juan de See also:Castillo, Alonso Cano, See also:Cespedes, Bocanegra, Valdes Leal, See also:Goya and See also:Martin de Vos. The school founded in 1256 by Alfonso X. became a university in 1502; its See also:present buildings were originally a Jesuit See also:college built in 1567 from designs either by Herrera or by the Jesuit Bartolome de Bustamente, but devoted to their present use in 1767 on the See also:expulsion of the See also:Jesuits. The university has faculties oflaw, See also:philosophy, natural See also:science and See also:medicine. The Casa del See also:Ayuntamiento, in the Renaissance style, was begun in 1527 and has a fine See also:staircase and hall and handsome carved doors. The Lonja, or See also:exchange, was designed by Herrera in his severe classical style, and completed in 1598; the See also:brown and red marble staircase which leads to the Archivo de Indias is the best part of the See also:design. The archives contain 30,000 volumes See also:relating to the voyages of Spanish discoverers, many of which are still unexamined. The archbishop's palace dates from 1697; the most notable features are the Churrigueresque doorway and staircase. The palace of San Telmo was formerly the seat of a See also:naval college founded by Ferdinand Columbus.

An immense doorway is its principal architectural feature, but its picture See also:

gallery is interesting and important. Other noteworthy buildings are the Mudejar palaces of the See also:duke of See also:Osuna and the See also:count of Pefiaflor; the See also:house occupied by Murillo at the See also:time of his See also:death (1682) ; the See also:civil See also:hospital built in 1559 and enlarged in 1842; the foundling hospital (1558); the bull-See also:ring, with room for 14,000 spectators; and fragments of the city walls, which formerly had a circumference of more than to m., with 12 gateways and 166 towers. See also:Commerce and Industries.—The port of Seville, in 370 10' N. and 6° to' W. has always been one of the chief outlets of the See also:wealth of Spain. It is the See also:terminus of three See also:railways to Madrid, and of other lines to See also:Cadiz, Almorchon, See also:Ciudad Real, See also:Huelva, See also:Badajoz and See also:Lisbon. Three of these lines have branches down to the water-side of the quays. The See also:quay on the left bank, 4500 ft. long, is provided with powerful See also:cranes, and sheds for merchandise. See also:Navigation up the Guadalquivir from its mouth to Seville (where the river is still tidal) is less dangerous for steamer`s than for sailing vessels, but is nevertheless uncertain. The construction of a See also:ship-See also:canal 4 M. long fromthe Punta de los See also:Remedios to the Punta del Verde—two points between which the windings of the river render navigation especially difficult—was first proposed in 1839, and was undertaken in 1907. Dredging operations were begun at the same time, so that on completion of the canal vessels See also:drawing 25 ft. (instead of 16 f t.) could come up to Seville. The principal exports are Manzanilla, Amontillado and other wines, oranges and lemons, See also:iron, See also:copper and See also:lead ores, See also:mercury, See also:olives, oil, See also:cork and See also:wool; the imports include See also:coal, wood, iron, manufactured goods, See also:hemp, See also:flax and colonial produce. There. are manufactures of machinery, See also:tobacco, See also:chocolate, See also:soap, See also:porcelain, See also:beer, See also:liqueurs, brandies, corks and See also:silk.

The royal See also:

artillery works and iron foundries are very important. The porcelain and earthen-See also:ware factory in the Carthusian convent (Cartuja,' founded 1401) employs more than 2000 hands. Pottery has been the characteristic See also:industry of the Triana from time immemorial; the See also:patron See also:saints of Seville, Justa and Rufina, are said by tradition to have been potters here. Equally important is the great tobacco and See also:cigar factory, where 6000 See also:women are employed. History.—Seville appears originally to have been an Iberian town. Under the See also:Romans the city was made the capital of Baetica in the second century B.C., and became a favourite resort for wealthy Romans. It was captured in 45 B.C. by See also:Julius See also:Caesar, who gave it the name of Colonia Julia Romula, and made it one of the conventus juridici. The emperors See also:Hadrian, See also:Trajan and See also:Theodosius were See also:born in the neighbourhood at Italica (now Santiponce) ,where are the remains of a considerable See also:amphitheatre. The chief existing See also:monument of the Romans in Seville itself is the remains of an See also:aqueduct, on four hundred and ten See also:arches, by which water from See also:Alcala de Guadaira was supplied to the town. At the beginning of the 5th century the Silingian See also:Vandals made Seville the seat of their See also:empire, until it passed in 531 under the Visigoths, who See also:chose See also:Toledo for their capital. After the defeat of Don See also:Roderick at Guadalete in 712 the See also:Moors took See also:possession of the city after a See also:siege of some months. Under the Moors Seville continued to flourish.

See also:

Idrisi speaks in particular of its great export See also:trade in the oil of Aljarafe. The See also:district was in great part occupied by Syrian See also:Arabs from Emesa, part of the troops that entered Spain with Balj in 741 at the time of the revolt of the See also:Berbers. It was a See also:scion of one of these Emesan families, See also:Abu 'l-Kasim Mahommed, See also:cadi of Seville, who on the fall of the Spanish See also:caliphate headed the revolt of his townsmen against their See also:Berber masters (1023) and became the founder of the Abbadid See also:dynasty, of which Seville was capital, and which lasted under his son Mo`taelid (1042-1069) and See also:grand-son Mo'tamid (1069-1091) till the city was taken by the See also:Almoravides. The later years of the Almoravide See also:rule were very oppressive to the Moslems of Spain; in 1133 the See also:people of Seville were prepared to welcome the victorious arms of Alphonso VII., and eleven years later Andalusia See also:broke out in See also:general See also:rebellion. Almohade troops now passed over into Spain and took Seville in 1147. Under the Almohades Seville was the seat of See also:government and enjoyed great prosperity; the great mosque (now destroyed) was commenced by Yusuf I. and completed by his son Almanzor. In the decline of the dynasty between 1228 and 1248 Seville underwent various revolutions, and ultimately acknowledged the Hafsite See also:prince, but Ferdinand III. restored it to Christendom in 1248. Ferdinand brought temporary ruin on the city, for it is said that 400,000 of the inhabitants went into voluntary See also:exile. But the position of Seville was too favourable for trade for it to fall into permanent decay, and by the 15th century it was again in a position to derive full benefit from the See also:discovery of See also:America. After the reign of Philip II. its prosperity gradually waned with that of the See also:rest of the See also:Peninsula; yet even in 1700 its silk factories gave employment to thousands of workpeople; their See also:numbers, however, by the end of the 18th century had fallen to four hundred. In 180o an outbreak of yellow See also:fever carried off 30,000 of the in-habitants, and in 1810 the city suffered severely from the See also:French under See also:Soult, who plundered to the extent of six millions See also:sterling. Politically Seville has always had the reputation of See also:peculiar loyalty to the throne from the time when, on the death of Ferdinand III., it was the only city which remained faithful to his son Alphonso the Wise.

It was consequently much 1 The interesting 15th-century tombs formerly in the Cartuja are now in the church of the university. favoured by the monarchs, and frequently a seat of the court. For its loyalty during the revolt of the Comuneros it received from Charles V. the See also:

motto Ab Hercule et Caesare nobilitas; a se ipsa fidelitas. In 1729 the treaty between See also:England, France and Spain was signed in the city; in 18o8 the central See also:junta was formed here and removed in 1810 to Cadiz; in 1823 the tortes brought the See also:king with them from Madrid; and in 1848 Seville combined with See also:Malaga and Granada against See also:Espartero, who bombarded the city but fled on the return of See also:Queen Maria See also:Christina to Madrid. See P.deMadrazo,Sevilla,yCadiz(Madrid, 1884—1886) ; R.Contreras, Estudio de los monumentos arabes de Sevilla y Cordova (Madrid, 1885) ; J. Gestoso y See also:Perez, Sevilla monumental y artistica (3 vols., Seville, 1889—1892); A. F. See also:Calvert, Seville (See also:London, 1907); J. Guichot y Parodi, Historia del Ayuntamiento de la ciudad de Sevilla (3 vols., Seville, 1896—1898) ; J. Cascales y Munoz, Sevilla intellectual (Madrid, 1896) ; W. M. Gallichan, The See also:Story of Seville (London, 1903).

S$VRES, a town of See also:

northern France, in the See also:department of See also:Seine-et-See also:Oise, on the left bank of the Seine, midway between See also:Paris and See also:Versailles, about 3 M. from the fortifications of the former. Pop. (1906) 7949. The town owes its celebrity to the porcelain manufactory established there in 1756 and taken over by the See also:State three years later. In the museum connected with the works are preserved specimens of the different kinds of ware manufactured in all ages and countries and the whole series of See also:models employed at Sevres from the beginning of the manufacture, for an See also:account of which see See also:CERAMICS. A technical school of ceramics is attached to the factory.

End of Article: SEVILLE (Span. Sevilla, Lat. Ispalis or Hispalis, Moorish Ishbiliya)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SEVILLE 		[next]
SEWALL, SAMUEL (1652-1730)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries