SEVILLE, a city of Spain, the capital of the province of the same name, and formerly the capital of the ancient kingdom of Aragon. Its origin is unknown; but, un-
der the Roman government, it was a place of considerable note under the name Hispalis. It enjoys a most delightful climate, and is surrounded by a fruitful country. It contains about 100,000 inhabitants, exclusive of the suburb Triana, divided from it by the river. The population of the latter is about 15,000.
Seville abounds with ancient buildings, both Roman and Moorish, and with numerous modern structures of great extent and magnificence. The golden tower, on the banks of the river, is said to have been the work of Julius Cæsar. It is in perfect repair, and, before Cadiz rose to its present importance, the gold and silver transmitted from America was landed here, and deposited in this tower, on account of its strength and security. The aqueduct which supplies the city with spring-water is the work of the same people. It is still in perfect repair, and now, after the lapse of ages, serves the purpose for which it was originally constructed. In the vicinity of the city, at the ancient town of Italica, the birth-place of the Emperor Trajan, are the remains of an ancient amphitheatre, which, though partly in ruins, is sufficiently perfect to show its plan and extent; and from the rows of benches for spectators, which remain, it may be calculated that it would seat about ten thousand persons. Its dilapidated condition is the result of an earthquake, and has not been occasioned by the regular decay of time.
The chief building of the Moorish period that remains is the alcazar or palace: the date of its origin is not ascertained. A considerable part was added by Peter the Cruel, between the years 1353 and 1364. In the addition, the Arabian style of building is so closely imitated, that it is impossible to determine which part was built first. Though the exterior is mean, like all the Arabian buildings, yet the inside is beautifully filled up with noble staircases, marble halls, and courts with fountains of pure and cool water. Before the French entered Andalusia, the central junta occupied the palace after their dispersion. Joseph Bonaparte held his court in it.
Some of the houses of this city, belonging to individuals, have the most entire specimens of the exquisite stucco workmanship with which the rich Moors adorned the interior of their houses. In some of the most obscure streets of the city are found houses with the exterior appearance of a prison, with no windows towards the town, and only an entrance through massy doors studded or plated with iron; but the visitor, on entering, is surprised with the view of arcades surrounded with marble courts and sparkling fountains, and the whole adorned with that durable kind of stucco, in the composition of which the Moors so greatly excelled.
The buildings erected in Seville since the extirpation of the Moors are materially different in their style of architecture. One of these is the cathedral, with its tower, the Giralda, 360 feet in height. The length of this church is 398, and the breadth 290; but its choir and principal altar being in the centre, they take off very considerably from the effect of its dimensions. The different specimens of architecture which in successive periods have prevailed in Spain, may all be seen in this extraordinary church. The tower, and a part called the orange court, Patio de las Naranjas, was built about the year 1000, by the Moors, and in their peculiar style; another part, built 200 years later, is in the Gothic taste, which was then introduced into Spain; whilst the part which completed it, and which was finished about the year 1520, is in a style denominated by Spanish artists platarea, or the imitation of the silver ornaments of a Catholic church. Though this last fashion is a most gross perversion of taste, yet the contrast with the Gothic is not unpleasant; and, viewed as a whole, the cathedral is perhaps one of the grandest of all the modern edifices in the Peninsula.
La Lonja, or the Exchange, for it was designed, though
never used, for that purpose, was completed in 1598, and is a most extensive and chaste building, now used as a depository for state-papers, in which are collected all the original despatches from America at the period of its discovery, and the library of the son of Columbus. The college of the Jesuits, since converted into the inquisition, is a most beautiful pile of building, with a handsome church, a hall of judgment, and various cells for the reception of prisoners.
This city abounds in convents, monasteries, and other religious establishments, most of them richly endowed; and their chapels are the repositories of the finest specimens of the art of painting, at the period which produced better artists in Spain than in any other part of Europe. The works of the native artists Murillo, Velasquez, Zubaran, Spanioletti, Morales, Cano, and others, as well as of Titian, Rubens, Michel Angelo, and other foreigners, are preserved in the cathedral, and in several of the other churches, chapels, and convents.
There is a university, though the building is gloomy and tasteless, and the professors neither enlightened or learned; the number of pupils is very considerable, and most of them are destined for the ecclesiastical profession. It is said that two thirds of the houses in this city are either the property of the cathedral or other ecclesiastical bodies, who receive the rents of them in some cases weekly, and in others monthly.
In this city the edifices belonging to the government are numerous and extensive. The mint is one of them, in which the whole process of coining money is conducted. There is a foundry for cannon, a manufactory for muskets, swords, and other military accoutrements; but the largest establishment is the manufactory of tobacco, which, being a royal monopoly, can be sold only by the crown, either in the form of snuff, or in cigars or smaller particles for smoking.
The manufactures of this city are not great in proportion to the whole number of the population. But a large proportion of the inhabitants are ecclesiastics; and a much larger portion are paupers, who have no inducement to work, because they can obtain bare necessities by going the rounds of different convents, where food is gratuitously bestowed on them, or by receiving from the episcopal palace a share of the alms which are daily dispensed. There are, however, fifteen hundred looms employed in making silk goods of various descriptions. Very little silk is raised in the vicinity of the city, it being principally drawn from Valencia and Murcia, where mulberry-trees abound. There are some manufactory of cloths, serges, hats, stockings, and other more minute articles. There is a very extensive establishment for currying leather, and every part of the process, from the first currying to the conversion into boots, shoes, saddles, bridles, gloves, and other articles, is carried on upon a large scale. The bark of the cork-trees is used for tanning, which, though not so strong as the common oak-bark, is yet in larger quantities found to be equally efficacious.
The foreign trade of Seville is but small, the harbour of Cadiz being more commodious for large vessels. The principal exports are, oil, goat and kid skins, quicksilver, liquorice, shumac, cork, and olives. The imports are almost wholly made through Cadiz.
The streets of Seville are in general so narrow as to forbid the passage of carriages through most of them; and some, in which frequently the best houses are to be found, are so close, that a person standing in the middle and extending both arms may touch the walls on the opposite sides. There is, however, what compensates for this, a fine public walk on the banks of the Guadalquivir, where all that is fashionable of the city may be seen enjoying the cool of the evening. This city was the birthplace of the Emperors Trajan, Adrian, and Theodosius; of Juan de la Cueva, of Diego Velasquez de Silva, and of Francis de Herrera. It is situated in long. 5. 18. W. and lat. 37. 24. N.