Sevilla, Spain
Sevilla is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Sevilla, Spain. Sevilla is the fourth-largest city in Spain and its Old Town contains three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Alcázar palace complex, the Cathedraland the General Archive of the Indies. The Sevilla harbor, located about 50 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. After the discovery of the Americas, Sevilla became one of the economic centres of the Spanish Empire because its port was able to monopolize the trans-oceanic trade and the Casa de Contratación (House of Trade) wielded its power, opening a Golden Age of arts and literature. In 1519, Ferdinand Magellan departed from Seville for the first circumnavigation of the Earth. Coinciding with the Baroque period of European history, the 17th century in Seville represented the most brilliant flowering of the city's culture.
