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Seville’s town hall dates from the 16th century, with later modifications added in the 19th century. The original sections are in Plateresque style, begun by architect Diego de Riaño in 1526 – note the mix of motifs used on the main façade (on Plaza de San Francisco). Inside, a collection of art features paintings by Zurbarán and Velázquez.

These Moorish baths feature horseshoe arches, typical of Arabic architecture (see Ronda).

Murillo (1618–82) was the most successful of the Baroque painters from Seville. He received countless commissions to produce devotional works, notably the many Immaculate Conceptions seen in Andalucía.

The final Moorish ruler (r.1482–92) lost Granada to the Catholic Monarchs.

The Iberian (Tartessian) civilization got its strongest start around 2500 BC when bronze began to be smelted and worked in Andalucía. Some early tribes built the oldest megalithic tombs (dolmens ) in western Europe.

This Málaga-born writer’s Andalucían Scenes (1847) featured the first ever description of a gypsy festival.

Designed by Siloé and Vandelvira, this masterpiece of Andalucían Renaissance was commissioned as a family pantheon and is still privately owned. The sacristy is the highlight, employing caryatids and atlantes as columns and pilasters. It was once embellished by a Michelangelo sculpture, a sad casualty of the Spanish Civil War (see Plaza de Vázquez de Molina, Úbeda).

Although not without aesthetic merit, these two structures are more about Christian triumph and royal ego than they are about spirituality. At the Royal Chapel’s sarcophagi, note how Queen Isabel’s head presses more deeply into her marble pillow than that of King Fernando – said to indicate greater intelligence. In the cathedral is the equestrian statue of El Matamoros (“The Killer of Moors”) by Alonso de Mena (see Cathedral & Capilla Real, Granada).

This 15th-century monastery has had its ups and downs over the centuries. During Spain’s Golden Age it was the favoured retreat of Christopher Columbus, whose remains were interred here for several decades. The monks went on to decorate their vast enclave with commissions from some of Seville’s greatest artists – most of the works are now in the Museo de Bellas Artes. In 1841 it became a ceramics factory. Finally restored as part of Expo ’92, the complex is today home to a contemporary art museum.

This cultural centre is dedicated to Jewish influence. Top flamenco artists and renditions of Sephardic music.