• The city of Sevilla

• Partner School Sevilla
• Price list

THE CITY:

• Population: over 835,000.
• Location: South West of Spain.
• Capital of the Andalusia region.
• Seville has an extremely rich history dating back over 2,500 years but it is also a modern city.
• The city has an international airport.
• Seville has a Mediterranean climate. Winters are mild and summers are extremely hot. But don’t worry, the school building provides air-conditioning..

CULTURAL/RECREATIONAL:

• Seville is a very complete city, and the rich mixture of its history and modernity will add value to your Spanish course. Much of the history is still reflected in the monuments of the city (e.g. the Cathedral, the Giralda, the Alcázar, the Torre de Oro and the famous Barrio Santa Cruz quarter). If you would like to discover the popular customs of this region, you should visit Seville in the spring. The two most important festivities of this city take place within two weeks: Semana Santa (Easter Holy Week), with its world-famous processions, and Spain’s most famous Flamenco event, Feria de Abril.
• It is the world center for bullfighting and flamenco music.
• The "good life" is another of the traditions that the Sevillanos Sevillians like to maintain, as you will see from the many restaurants, bars and terraces that guarantee an entertaining and thrilling nightlife. Seville has one of the highest concentrations of bars in Spain!
• Seville has an international airport, which makes for good communication between other Spanish cities and the rest of the world. Plus, it only takes 2 1/2 hours to reach Madrid (the capital of Spain) with the high-speed trains known as AVE.

Seville, the provincial capital, seat of the government and parliament of the Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía (Regional Government), is located in the Southwest of Spain. With more than 700.000 inhabitants, it contains nearly half the population of the whole province!

The city of Seville is located on the plain of the Guadalquivir River which crosses the city from North to South. The river can be navigated from Seville all the way to its outlet near Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on the Atlantic coast. In the past, the port of Seville played an important role in commerce between Spain and the Americas and remains today one of the most active river ports of the Iberian Peninsula.

The Tartessians were the original founders of Hispalis. Next to this settlement, in 207 B.C., the Romans built Itálica. It was the center of their Western Mediterranean dominions for seven centuries until the Roman Empire was overrun by Northern barbarians at the beginning of the 10th century. The long Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula, from 711 A.D. to 1248 A.D., left indelible traces in Seville as in all of Al-Andalus (today’s Andalusia community). La Giralda, the tower of an important mosque, is the most well-known of the remaining Islamic monuments. Seville also played an important role in the 1492 discovery and conquest of America.

The 17th century was a period of artistic splendor in Seville. Painters such as Velázquez, Murillo and Valdés Leal, and sculptors like Martínez Montañés were born in Seville and all left important works. The city also took on a key role in world literature as the birthplace of the mythical Don Juan. Two events in the 20th century put in the world spotlight: In 1929, when it hosted the Latin American Exhibition, that left important urban improvements in the city, and again in 1992’s World Expo92 which reinforced the image of Seville as a modern and dynamic city.

One more thing: dont's miss out on the Seville’s tapas. The city is credited with their invention and has more than a thousand bars where the choice of food, is virtually unlimited, from seafood to ham and sausage, from vegetable to cheese. The Sevillians actually make a meal of them by moving from bar to bar, trying one dish at a time.

In 'Semana Santa' (March - April) there is movement of people throughout the region. The 'Cofradías' (religious fraternities) and thousands of Sevillanos process in penitence through the streets of the city. During the whole week, sanctuaries are visited and the people attend the different masses. A public and multitudinous catechism is performed in the streets around the sacred images of the brotherhoods, whose 'pasos' (floats) represent the distinct stages of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

'La Feria de abril' as indicated takes place in April. Just after 'Semana Santa' , the Sevillians begin to prepare for this fair. There are thousands of individual 'casetas' (tents) decorated with lanterns, paper flowers, light bulbs, photographs, bars, paintings, mirror, lamps and other decorations, and all compete to obtain a prize for the nicest tent.