SEVILLE, a large and populous city of Spain, situated on the Guadalquivir river, in W. Long. 5. 5. N. Lat. 37. 20. This city is supposed to have been founded by the Phœnicians, who gave it the name of Hispalis. When it fell under the power of the Romans, it was called Julia: and at last, after a variety of corruptions, was called Sevilla or Sevilla; both of which names are retained by the Spaniards. The Romans embellished it with many magnificent edifices; of which scarce any vestige now remains. The Gothic kings for some time made it their residence: but in process of time they removed their court to Toledo; and Seville was taken by storm soon after the victory obtained at Xeres over the Gothic king Rodrigo. In 1027, Seville became an independent monarchy; but was conquered 70 years afterwards by Yusef Almoravides, an African prince. At last it was taken by Ferdinand III. after a year's siege; and 300,000 Moors were then obliged to leave the place. Notwithstanding this prodigious emigration, Seville continued to be a great and populous city, and soon after it was enlarged and adorned with many magnificent buildings, the chief of which is the cathedral. Seville arrived at its utmost pitch of grandeur a little after the discovery of America, by reason that all the valuable productions of the West Indies were brought hither. Its court was then the most splendid in Europe; but in the course of a few years all this grandeur disappeared, owing to the impediments in navigating the Guadalquivir. The superior excellence of the port of Cadiz induced government to order the galeons to be stationed there in time to come.
The shape of Seville is circular, without any great rising in the whole space. The walls seem to be of Moorish construction, and are about five miles and an half in circumference. The ditch is filled up in many places. On the west side of the river is a suburb called Triana, as large as many towns, but remarkable for nothing but its Gothic castle; where, in 1482, the inquisition was first established in Spain.
The streets of Seville are crooked, dirty, and narrow; so that two coaches can scarcely pass one another.
ther abreast. The widest and handsomest place is called the Alameda, or Great Walk of Old Elms, in the heart of the city. The length of this is 600 yards, and its breadth 150; decorated with three fountains, the statues of Hercules the supposed founder, and of Julius Cæsar the restorer, of Seville. The cathedral is 420 feet by 273 within, and 126 feet high; the circumference of each cluster of pillars, 42 feet. It has nine doors, 80 windows, and 80 altars, at which 500 masses are daily celebrated. At one angle stands the Giralda, a tower 350 feet high, erected by the Moors in the year 1000. The Christians added two stones, with a prodigious large weathercock; and as the whole rises much higher than any other edifice in Seville, it has a noble effect. According to tradition, the Moors, in order to form a solid foundation for this edifice, made a deep hole, in which they cast all the marble and stone monuments of the Romans that could be found; and indeed, when repairs have been necessary, this tradition seems to have been countenanced by the many monuments of antiquity discovered on such occasions. The whole work is brick and mortar; with a winding stair-case within, so easy and wide, as to admit two horsemen riding abreast above half way up. The other churches are unworthy of notice; and even the cathedral, according to Mr Swinburne, is inferior to York Minster. This cathedral was begun by Don Sancho the Brave about the close of the 13th century, and finished by John II. about an hundred years after.
The Canos de Carmone, or great aqueduct of Seville, is reckoned, by the historians of this city, one of the most wonderful works of antiquity. Mr Swinburne, however, remarks, that it is ugly, crooked, the arches unequal, and the architecture neglected. The conduit, besides, is so leaky, that a rivulet is formed by the waste water. Nevertheless, it still conveys to the city an ample supply of water sufficient to turn several mills, and to give almost every house in town the benefit of it.
The only other remarkable building about Seville is the snuff-manufactory. For the more convenient carrying on this branch of commerce, Ferdinand VI. erected a most magnificent roomy palace, in a grand, but rather heavy style of architecture, which was finished in 1756. A thousand men are employed constantly here at about four or six reals per day, for nine hours work. One hundred and eighty mules work 28 mills or machines for mixing the tobacco with a red earth from Almazarron. The excessive adulteration with this earth, however, has of late occasioned a prodigious falling off in the exportation of the manufacture: the northern nations have long refused to take any off their hands; and unless they alter their method, the trade will probably soon be confined to Spain and its dominions. The neat profits, for one year, have amounted to more than six millions of dollars.