We were driven across modern Seville to its historic centre which is honeycombed with a maze of ancient cobbled streets, narrow lanes ways which converge into tiny plaza areas where cafes, taverns or stalls are sardined together. The two and sometimes three storey hickory-pickledy huddle of homes along these streets and lanes are so quaint with their tiny windows, low doorways and whitewash or stone walls. Always present in the mini plazas are one or two orange trees. Their thick foliage spreads out like open umbrellas, providing the much needed shade from the midday sun.
We took a leisurely unguided walk through parts of the old city where many Sevillanos (males) and Sevillanas (females) live and run small outlets selling small goods or providing home made snacks from tiny cafe.
Walking through cobbled narrow passageways we were amazed at the age and strength of the stone buildings. 0ne passageway we came across had an enclosed bridge high up above us. This enclosed bridge gave access between the buildings and it reminded us of the Bridge of Sighs, we'd seen in Venice.
After wandering around the maze of passageways we found ourselves in a cute courtyard or mini plaza area where at least four other lane ways met. True to Sevillian form there in one corner stood a gracious orange tree which gave shade to the outdoor sets of tables and chairs of a tapas bar-come cafe area. Tourists were relaxing in the cool of the mini courtyard, drinking and snacking and chatting. It was a busy bazaar-type area because tucked in one corner of this cobbled stone patio area was a tourist trinket shop and a toilet facility with about thirty people coming and going. The sun was beaming down into this alcove area and almost all of us sought the shade of the orange tree.
After browsing the tiny souvenir shop's trinket array that we never intended buying from (admire but not aquire is our motto generally, for we're in a decluttering stage in our life) we took a new passage way exit and continued our self guided tour through the Old Town area. It was then that we came across the remains of an ancient high stone wall which once protected the Old Town of Seville that we were exploring.
Since the Romans first erected walls here during the reign of Julius Caesar in the 4th century, there have been a series of defensive walls being maintained or modified over the centuries by subsequent rulers of Seville. The Visigoth, the Moors and finally the Castilians.
After the revolution of 1868 the walls were partially demolished but some parts of the wall still exist and we were fortunate to see them. They were very high and wide and because they had been modified over the centuries but it was difficult to pick out original parts of the Roman wall. We did however, see some Latin letters and Roman stone carvings in one section of the wall.
Originally the walls had eighteen entrance gates but only four have survived into the 21st century. We saw one later in the morning when we visited the famous Alcazar Palace when our guide resumed her tour with us after we'd completed our free time wander through the Old Town precinct.
Before going to the palace we entered what is known as the Jewish quarter in the Old Town area of Seville. Our guide spent some time explaining the history and plight of Jews in Seville.
Records show that Jews first arrived in Seville as early as the sixth century BC. They spoke a Judeo Spanish language and were very resourceful as a community. Under Visigoth rule they were persecuted and life was difficult but during the Moorish rule which followed the Jews had a time of peace where people of different faiths coexisted and respected one another. The Jews who had a higher literacy rate than any other Spanish communities, prospered in farming, banking, medicine, law and commerce. They were employed as envoys for the King and this caused a lot of resentment among the local people. At one stage Jewish homes were attacked by those who resented that Jews were the tax collectors for the King. Some Jews fled but many stayed and the group became a closed community, living in homes clustered together in the Old Town.
However, following the rules established by the early leaders of the Spanish Inquisition, in the 1300's where the King and catholic clerics sought to destroy heresy by forcing people to be baptised as Catholics or be expelled, the Jewish people were persecuted even further. Their homes were burnt and many fled to Portugal. Those who stayed converted but secretly held Jewish practices. As the terror of the Inquisition increased non Catholics either converted otherwise they were killed and their homes were taken and their synagogues were turned into churches. Thousands of Jewish lives were lost. It's a dark history of deceit, destruction, misuse of power, evil and death. In the 1540's the Spanish Inquisitors turned on the Protestants in Spain in an attempt to further unify the country through forcing Roman Catholicism onto people. Many Jews and Protestants fled Seville but the Spanish Inquisition's reign of terror was not finally suppressed until 1834.
Looking at the homes which make up the Jewish part of Seville in the narrow cobbled streets today, it is hard to imagine what the ancestors of the inhabitants of these homes, went through.
Our guide added that in 2014 it was announced that the descendants of the Jews who were expelled from Spain would be offered Spanish citizenship, without being required to move to Spain and/or renounce any other citizenship they may have.
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