Those who have never visited Seville will be instantly seduced by the provinces romantic allure and overwhelmed by the amount of cultural wealth that this city has to offer. Now the capital of Andalusia, Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis, which later became Ishbiliyya after the Muslim conquest in 712. T he city has a long and distinguished history and it was one of the principle towns during the Roman era. Julius Caesar spent time in Seville, and the emperors Hadrian and Trajan were born in the settlement of Italica, an elaborate Roman city situated seven kilometres outside Seville in the dusty town of Santiponce. Seville became a favoured residence of the Spanish monarchy after the Christian re-conquest in the thirteenth century; and the discovery of the New World, more than two hundred years later, would make Seville one of the liveliest and most cosmopolitan cities in Europe: a status it retains today. This iconic city has featured in the works of many artist