ABSTRACT
Though Seville dates to pre-Roman times, it became important as a Roman colony with the nearby Trajana the birthplace of Roman Emperors Hadrian and Trajan. From the eighth to the thirteenth centuries, Seville was dominated by the Moors, vestiges of which remain present in its urban form and architecture. This is especially true in the sense of the small courtyards endemic of Islamic cities. Like Jerusalem and Tunis, the city is, at its core, an Islamic city, albeit transformed over generations by the Spaniards into a series of tight, familial scale courtyards interwoven with narrow streets. Seville can be hot with narrow streets often covered in tarps while patios and tree-covered plazas shade pedestrians from the sun, making the city bearable at its hottest. Though the city grew in wealth with the opening of the New World that had, by royal decree, sole rights to trade with New Spain, the city remained a relatively small city in scope and feel. It is distinguished by a series of intimate squares that are connected by narrow streets, most of which are now covered with fabric and awnings to protect pedestrians from the sun.
