Seville City Hall

Brief Information

Seville City Hall grew out of a specific political need: after the imperial wedding of Charles V in the city, a building was needed that would demonstrate the weight of municipal authority. Until then, the council had met elsewhere, and the new house was placed on the central trading square in front of the monastery of San Francisco and the Royal Audiencia.

The building shows that the city hall changed along with the squares around it. The old section faced Plaza de San Francisco and was connected to the monastery by an arch. After the monastery was demolished in the 19th century, the city hall was expanded, a neoclassical facade was added facing Plaza Nueva, and the interior layout was reorganized around two courtyards and a grand staircase.

What to Notice First

The main clue to reading the building is the difference between its sides. The Plateresque facade can be compared with the later neoclassical facade on Plaza Nueva: this makes it clear that the city hall was not conceived from the outset in its present form, but was expanded after the disappearance of the neighboring monastery.

On the old section, it is worth noticing the five facade blocks and the reliefs. Grotesque motifs, coats of arms, allegories of Justice and Good Government, and the figures of Hercules, Caesar, and Charles V function as a stone program of power: the building did not merely house the city council, but showed the images with which Seville associated its governance. Its unfinished state is also important: an attempt was made to continue the Plateresque style onto the new facade, but it was not completed, so the break between eras remained visible.