Casco Antiguo
Casco Antiguo is Seville’s old town, located on the east bank of the Guadalquivir river. It borders Macarena to the north, Nervión and San Pablo-Santa Justa to the east, and Distrito Sur to the south. Bridges connect it to Los Remedios, Triana, and La Cartuja.
Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites are here: the Cathedral of Seville, the Alcázar, and the Archivo General de Indias. The Cathedral was begun in 1403 on the site of a former mosque, and the Giralda minaret is kept as its bell tower. It is Europe’s largest Gothic building and houses the tomb of Christopher Columbus.
The Alcázar was built by the Moors in 712 and became a Christian royal palace in 1248. The Archivo General de Indias was designed to store American treasures by Juan de Herrera under Philip II, but in 1784 it was given to hold documents about the Americas.
Other notable buildings include the Torre del Oro, the City Hall, the Palace of San Telmo, and the Metropol Parasol. The University of Seville mainly operates from the former Royal Tobacco Factory in the southern part of Casco Antiguo, the setting of Carmen. Seville’s bullring is in El Arenal.
Casco Antiguo has twelve neighborhoods. El Arenal on the riverfront used to be Seville’s port until the Guadalquivir silted up in the 17th century, while Santa Cruz was a Jewish quarter before the Spanish Inquisition.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 01:15 (CET).