Numerous romantic travellers and foreign writers and artists began to include Andalucía in what was termed the ‘Grand Tour’ in the first quarter of the 19 th century. Most of these foreigners, like Lord Byron, Richard Ford, Robert Dundas Murray and Washington Irving, headed straight for Seville, a city which, until then, was little known to the outside world. Many books have since been published about the history of Seville, including those by the aforementioned foreigners: these offer an insight to Seville and its architecture, its culture and traditions and its religious and social backcloth, much of which is still standing, both structurally and culturally. The majority of these romantic travellers arrived in Seville aboard a steamboat along the Guadalquivir, although the skyline that confronted them has changed greatly since that time. Since then, most of the fortified walls and gateways have vanished, and sprawling areas like Plaza de España and Parque María Luisa have ap...