Seville Mini Guide
Seville has been the setting of some of the world's most famous operas - Bizet's Carmen, Mozart's the Marriage of Figaro and Rossini's The Barber of Seville – and the city provides a great stage for any visitor.
Seville is not only the artistic and cultural capital of Southern
Spain, but also the head of its finances and the strongest of the Andalucian cities in economic terms.
Situated near the mouth of the River Guadalquivir, boats which berth in the port of Seville can access the Mediterranean sea and the Atlantic Ocean to do trade with the rest of the World.
The magnificent architecture of Seville is one of the reasons why it is so often used as a setting in literature and performance.
Seville is more than 2,000 years old and still has traces of Roman occupation in the form of an ancient aqueduct, the Muslim Almohad Dynasty which built a Golden tower (Torre del Oro) while the city's magnificent Gothic cathedral was built in medieval times.
A walking tour is available to see the city's other main sites including the Giralda, The Cathedral of Santa Maria and the Royal Alcazar.
Those of you who have had a long winter will be glad to know that Seville's climate is one of the warmest in Europe at an average of 19 degrees Celsius over the year.
Spring and autumn are the best times to visit Seville as the summers can get very hot, up to 36C, while the winters can have sub zero temperatures and a lot of rain. Although Seville is located inland, if you have hired a car there are some great beaches which only take an hour to get to.
The surrounding countryside is also worth seeing as it is agriculturally fertile and olives, fruit and cereal are grown there. The famous Seville orange trees can be seen all over the countryside but they are in fact quite bitter to taste and best used to make marmalade.
Seville draws its gastronomic inspiration from the local produce with popular dishes being made from seafood, spinach and chickpeas. The best way to get a taste for all the different delicacies, such as sherry, snails and gazpacho, is to do a bar hop of the many tapas bars.
If you are looking for somewhere to stay in Seville you should avoid the Semana Santa celebrations in the run up to Easter and the Feria de Abril (April Fair) as rooms get booked up well in advance.