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Find your Restaurant in Seville |
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| The City: |
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Seville is a flat city, just 20 meters above sea level, making the bike a comfortable and healthy way to move around the city. It´s the fourth city in the Spanish ranking with almost 700,000 inhabitants according to 2008 census.
The city of Seville itself (which is known as the Seville city) has an area of 140.8 km2. The metropolitan area of Seville is composed of 46 municipalities and includes a population of 1,421,000 inhabitants (Municipal Census, 2007), occupying an area of 4,900 km2.
Its historic city center is one of the largest in Europe, with the one in Rome, about 335 has., three miles long by two wide. This old town is framed on the wall made by the roman emperor Julius Caesar.
Among its most representative monuments are the Giralda, the Cathedral, the Alcazar, the Archivo de Indias and the Torre del Oro. Some of these monuments were declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. The Museum of Fine Arts in Seville is the most visited museum in Andalusia and the second most important gallery in Spain. |
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The Port of Seville, located 83 km from the Atlantic Ocean is the only river port of Spain, being the Guadalquivir river navigable from its mouth in Sanlucar de Barrameda to Seville, having been still limited the size of boats accessing Sevilla for a long time, though the problem has been solved as shown in the contract between the Consortium of Tourism with a major shipping company, that will bring over 11,000 anglophone tourist in the next two years.
On the occasion of the celebration of the Latin American Exhibition of 1929, the city experienced a major urban development marked by the construction of parks and buildings designed for the event, as Maria Luisa Park and the Plaza de España, Seville axis crossing north to south, the Avenue of Palm tree, ...
Expo 1992 bequeathed the city a major infrastructure improvements, mainly in land and aeronautical communications, especially with access to the AVE railway station Santa Justa. Also, the land freed from the Expo have been introduced new technology companies and universities.
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| The Tapas: |
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It is said it was Alfonso X the Wise, 13th century, who ordered that all Castilian inns and taverns will serve something to eat with the drink, not to get on head. Originally it was a piece of ham, cheese or sausage, which stood on a small plate that covered the glass, thus preventing the entry of flies.
There is also talk that the origin of tapas comes with Alfonso XIII, 20th century, with the following anecdote: on a visit to Cadiz, being in "Ventorrillo del Chato" Inn, asked for a glass of sherry. A gust of wind came, and to prevent sand entering the glass of the king, the innkeeper put on it a slice of ham. The king liked the idea, and the ham. So that, he ordered another glass of wine with the same tapa on top.
Today, tapas bars of Seville are an habit that has not been influenced by American fast food. It is still a good system to be with friends, with colleagues and clients, how many trade agreements have been closed in a bar!
The selection is eternal, changes from bar to bar, always small portions. You´ll want to repeat the same tapa you've eaten, but we recommend you do not be dazzled by the flavor of the first one. Always the second will like you more!
Each bar has its specialty, but from here we recommend the bull's tail, the spinach with chickpeas, Pavia, the spring, snails, the flamenquín, sirloin to whiskey, ... Do you want me to go on? The serranito, liver with onions, tomatoes blood, more often ,...,?? The spanish tortilla , skewer, cod with tomato, eggplant pie, marinated dogfish, gazpacho, gordales ... And the "chochitos" ...
I refer to an essential work for the good tapas in Seville: the book entertaining, amusing and anecdotal De tapas por Sevilla, by J. Antonio Garmendia.
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| Festivals: |
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La Semana Santa
Holy Week
It is the representation of the passion and death of Jesus Christ through Baroque sculptures, placed in different scenes, forming what we call "PASO", carried by 30 to 40 brothers of the different Brotherhoods. They have to make the official route, a route already followed by more than 50 processions. They must arrive at the Cathedral, cross the inside and return to their chapels, which according to its origin they need more or less time, from five to thirteen hours.
The Council of Trent recommended in the s. XVI public station, so that whoever does not enter the church of their own volition, to meet the statues in the street would make remember the Passion of Jesus.
The special devotion to certain images eventually create religious associations, many of them union character, so even today these names are preserved in fraternities guilds, as the bakers, the cigar, etc..
It is the great feast of the city, very linked yet to the popular culture in Seville, not in vain brotherhoods are creating together to show their figures to Seville.
Long processions of penitents accompanying the steps in its Via Crucis to the Cathedral.
Festival of culture, anthropological, religious, artistic, music. A unique show in the Western world not to be missed under any circumstances.
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La Feria
The Fair
Surely you have heard that the Fair of Seville was invented by a Basque and a Catalan. Well, it is right. Two town councils of Seville, D. José María Ybarra and D. Narciso Bonaplata, might recover the idea of the traditional fairs of Seville, in plural, because originally they were two, in April and September. The latter was instead left to "later." The one we all know is the Feria de Abril.
Queen Elizabeth II authorized the celebration (royal permission was required, since acting with tax exemptions), and its first edition was held on April, 18, 19 and 20, 1847.
These are the modern origins of the April Fair in Seville, but goes back to S. XIII, at the origin of Christian Seville, after the Muslims reconquered. Alfonso X el Sabio created it in 1254, providing that " always be made in Seville two annual shows: the one at cincuesma, and the second one by S. Miguel.
What was originally a cattle market, gradually built up in "Andalusian mode" was consolidated as the big party it is today. The tents were becoming canvas tents belonging to groups of workers, associations, or groups of friends and families.
Contrary to popular belief, a good percentage of stalls are public, free entry (not all sevillians have a tent), which the Fair is open to anyone who wants to visit us. It is true that having a friend to guide you and teach you what is happening at every moment is an experience to understand it better.
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| We give some urgency vocabulary to live in the fair: |
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The real is the place where we celebrate the festival. An empty esplanade over the year, which for one week in the year becomes a small city with all its services: hospital, care of lost children, police and fire station, tourist information, more than a thousand "casetas" and looooooooooooots of people.
La portada: While it is an open space with multiple entrances, who does not enter through the main entrance, at least once in the week, it seems you have not actually opened. It is a papier mache replica of a monument in the city. It is an ephemeral art building consisting of 25,000 light bulbs, which ignited at 00:00 kicks out seven days of fun.
La caseta: the second house of Sevillian people during the Feria. Imagine a beach hut, has the same structure, and multiply it by 25,500 (so to say ...). A place where you get to the friends, who were invited first to drink and eat (every house has a bar) and then ONLY SEVILLANAS dancing.
The rebujito: a fashion drink at the fair. Traditionally, drinking sherry wine, or manzanilla (sherry from Sanlucar). But over the past few years the rebujito took advantage, being more chilly (is sherry with homemade ice) and they say that does not rise much, thus drink more without knowing it, every turn of the Sevillanas dancing becomes three.
The flamenco dress: It is the only costume that changes every year. Its origin is in the dresses of the Andalusian worker ladies in the s. XIX, accompany their husbands in the treated animals.
It is a suit in continuous evolution, although the base is always the same, the gown of ruffles and polka dots, however it can be more ornate with tassels, ribbons, etc., depending on the year, notching more or less, shorter or longer,... Complemented with shawls, earrings, bracelets, necklaces, shoes ...
His perpetual innovation raises professional firms engaged in large scale manufacture of this particular dress. Sample of the strength of this market is the International Flamenco Fashion Show (SIMOF), where the best designers each year in January showed their proposals. Prominent among them professionals as Pitusa Gasul, defining beauty in costume, color and light of the Fair.
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| Find your Hotel in Seville: |
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Busqueda de hoteles Listado de establecimientos
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| Suggestions: |
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To give some “arbejone” to the doves at the American´s Square. |
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To tapear (to have tapas) in the oldest Seville´s bar, El Rinconcillo, and to try ti find what is wrong in the decorative tiles. |
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To buy some home-convent-made cakes and sweets in a Clausure Convent. |
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To stroll along Feria´s street a morning during working days, and to buy something in its market. |
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Don´t miss the Flamenco´s Museum by Cristina Hoyos. |
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