Seville

Seville is the capital of Andalusia and is situated on the banks of the Rio Guadalquivir in the Southwest part of the Iberian Peninsula. It has a Mediterranean climate with mild winters, pleasant temperatures in spring and fall, and very hot summers. It is Spain's fourth largest city with over 700,000 inhabitants.

The fertility of the land and the Mediterranean climate made Phoenicians and Carthaginians settle here. Later came the Romans. Andalusia was occupied by the Moors for about 800 years, and the Moorish influence is, even today, most evident in the architecture of the city.

Julius Caesar founded the Roman colony of Iulia Romula Hispalis here in 45 BCE. Arab rule began in 712, and in 1147 the Almohades established their capital city here. In 1248, Fernando III captured Seville, and the city has been in Christian hands ever sense.