English and the World · Spain · 39 · Seville · A1–C2 · A1–A2 free
A Roman river port, a bishop who explained the origins of words, an Almohad capital, the conquest of 1248, and the century when every ship to the Americas sailed from here. The story of Seville, and a walk through it. Choose your level.
Seville, then and now
Seville is the capital of Andalusia. It is on the river Guadalquivir, about 80 kilometres from the sea, and it has about 700,000 people. In summer it is one of the hottest cities in Europe.
Two thousand years ago, Seville was a Roman town called Hispalis. Ships came up the river from the sea, and the town had a busy port. Later, from the 8th to the 13th century, it was a Muslim city called Ishbiliya. Its people built a great mosque with a tall tower. Today that tower is the Giralda, the bell tower of the cathedral.
The 16th century
In 1248 the Christian king Ferdinand III took the city. About 250 years later, after Columbus’s voyages, Seville became the most important port in Spain: all the ships to and from the Americas had to stop here. There were sailors, merchants and gold everywhere, and the city was very rich.
Today there are no big ships in the city, but there are many tourists! You can see the cathedral, the royal palace called the Alcázar, the Torre del Oro by the river, and the beautiful Plaza de España.
🦉 Want more? Sophia explains the present in The Instant and the Standing Rule (Lesson 1) and the past in An Incident with a Shelf (Lesson 2).
Language: then and now
| Now (present simple) | Then (past simple) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| is / are | was / were | Today it is a cathedral tower; then it was a minaret. |
| has / have | had | It has 700,000 people; the town had a busy port. |
| there is / there are | there was / there were | There are many tourists; there were many sailors. |
| other verbs | regular -ed or irregular | come → came, build → built, take → took, become → became |
⚠️ Time words help: today, now, these days → present; then, in 1248, two thousand years ago, in the 16th century → past.
Read the texts first. Press “Check my answers” at the end.
Choose the best answer.
1. What river is Seville on?
2. What was the Giralda first?
3. Why was Seville so rich in the 16th century?
4. Who took the city in 1248?
Write is, are, was or were.
5. Today Seville the capital of Andalusia.
6. Two thousand years ago, Seville a Roman town.
7. In the 16th century there sailors and merchants everywhere.
8. Now there many tourists in the city.
Write the verb in the past simple.
9. The people of Ishbiliya (build) a great mosque.
10. In 1248 Ferdinand III (take) the city.
11. Seville (become) the most important port in Spain.
12. The Roman town (have) a busy port.
Go there!
Walk: the Cathedral and the Giralda → the Real Alcázar (book your ticket online) → the Archive of the Indies → along the river to the Torre del Oro → across the bridge to Triana → back to the Plaza de España in the María Luisa Park. Trains from Málaga take about two hours. In summer, walk early in the morning or in the evening: it is very hot!
Your task: write six sentences about your town then (100 years ago) and now, with is / was, are / were, has / had.
It tells the full story: Roman Hispalis and Itálica, Saint Isidore and his Etymologies, the Almohad Giralda and Torre del Oro, the siege of 1248, the monopoly of the Indies and Magellan’s voyage, the plague and the move to Cádiz, and the reinventions of 1929 and 1992, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.
It tells the full story: Roman Hispalis and Itálica, Saint Isidore and his Etymologies, the Almohad Giralda and Torre del Oro, the siege of 1248, the monopoly of the Indies and Magellan’s voyage, the plague and the move to Cádiz, and the reinventions of 1929 and 1992, with grammar, practice, etymology and a visit plan.
The A1–A2 version above is free for everyone.