Près des Remparts de Séville

Wifie and I returned from a lightning visit to Seville early this morning; we left on a 6.30 flight from Reus and returned on the 22.00 flight that same evening.

With only a single day for sight-seeing we expected no more than a blurred and indistinct sense of Seville, but we managed to bring back strong impressions of a graceful and beautiful Andalusian city. The muslim past surrounded us during the day, for example, the Giralda, converted from a Almohad minaret to the cathedral's bell tower or, on the banks of the Guadalquivir, the Torre del Oro, a watchtower built by the muslims as part of the chain of defence for the city.

It's easy to understand the sense of loss that must have overcome the muslims as the Reconquista bit deeper into the muslim territories of al-Andalus. The city of Seville itself was conquered by the armies of Fernando III in 1248, and the deep sense of loss to Islam is starkly conveyed by the poet, Abu-al-Baqa, writing in 1267. Clearly devastated by the sweeping changes that Spanish Islam had suffered in a single generation he wrote: 'Therefore ask Valencia what is the state of Murcia; and where is Játiva, and where is Jaén? Where is Córdoba, the home of the sciences ... Where is Seville and the pleasures it contains, as well as the sweet river overflowing and brimming full?'

Move two and a half centuries forward in time and Seville, with the monopoly of trade with the Indies, is the wealthiest and most important city in Spain, "not a city but a world" wrote Fernando de Herrera. In 1503 the catholic kings, Fernando and Isabel created the Casa de Contratación by royal decree, to administer and control the stream of gold from traffic with the Indies.

Seville is an enchanting city to visit. walk past the University which used to be the tobacco factory and is situated Près des remparts de Séville and try not to whistle the Séguedille from Carmen. Go in Spring or Autumn if you can, but if that's not possible go whenever you can; the city repays even a fleeting visit with sensory overload.