Seville - Triana Travel Guides | Seville | Sub Regions | Seville - Triana

Triana is many people’s favourite part of Seville. It’s redolent with history from every epoch of the Christian city as well as having a picturesque riverfront lined with terraced bars and restaurants. It was for a long time the gypsy barrio and as such the home of flamenco in Seville. Although most of the gypsies were moved on in the 1950s, its backstreet bars are still the best place to catch impromptu performances. Triana is also famous for ceramics; most of the azulejo tiles that so beautifully decorate Seville’s houses come from here, and there are still many workshops in the area. It’s also got a significant maritime history; many of the streets are named after sailors that undertook voyages to the New World; Triana has a namesake in Las Palmas for this reason. The now-disappeared castle of San Jorge was a major centre of the Spanish Inquisition and the working-class district was the seat of early resistance to the military coup of 1936; as such, much of the barrio was destroyed by the army in the early days of the Civil War. It’s got a different feel to the rest of the city, and trianeros are still a tight-knit social group. Many residents once lived in corrales de vecinos, houses centred around a common courtyard; there are still a few around. Look out too for the many azulejo plaques dedicated to flamenco singers and important people in the religious cofradías while wandering around, and be sure not to miss some of the city’s most revered religious images, such as the sublime El Cachorro, or the Esperanza de Triana, the most-loved Virgin after La Macarena. While the riverfront and surrounds are fairly trendy these days, venture into some of the smaller backstreets and you’ll find that Triana preserves more of its history and associations than any other part of Seville.

Sights

Bus C4, 43.

The best way to approach Triana is across the Puente Isabel II, usually simply called Puente de Triana. Amazingly for a city with such an important history, this was the first proper bridge it had; opened in 1852, it replaced a dicey affair built on boats tied together. In fact, some historians cite the lack of a previous bridge as an important factor in Seville's decline, or at least of the attitude that partly caused it. At night you'll get fantastic views of Triana's waterfront and the floodlit Torre del Oro from here. At the bridge's southern end is a small chapel and the Faro de Triana restaurant. The bridge ends in Plaza Altozano with a lively market building and two statues. One is dedicated to flamenco and depicts a singer with a guitar and her foot on an anvil, traditional accompaniment to martinetes (an early flamenco form). The other statue is the proud figure of Juan Belmonte, who vies with his contemporary and fellow sevillano Joselito El Gallo for the title of the greatest bullfighter ever. Though he survived death on the horns, life away from the ring was never happy. Hearing of his friend Ernest Hemingway's suicide, he replied "Well done", and did the same five months later.

Bus C3, 40.

Betis was the name of the Río Guadalquivir in pre-Moorish days and this street runs along its Triana bank. It’s one of the top strolls in the city lined with prettily coloured houses. There’s something here for everyone, whether downing finely-textured seafood on an outdoor terrace, snacking on tasty grilled sardines at Los Chorritos, or drinking and dancing until all hours in any number of places along the strip.

C Pureza s/n. Mon-Sun 0900-1100, 1900-2100 (depending on restoration works). Free.

The ‘Cathedral of Triana’ is believed to be Seville’s oldest church, dating from around 1276. It was founded by Alfonso X of Castilla, the arms of which can still be seen above the attractive Gothic north door, with a fine archivolt. The bright tower, yellow with blue ceramic stripes, is a later addition. The interior is high, with three long brick-built naves. There are several items of interest, including a large silver monstrance and a charmingly tiled tomb. The highlight, however, is the retablo, in need of some cleaning, but an inspired work of painted panels by Pedro de Campaña centred around the Virgin with Santa Ana. The church is held in much esteem by trianeros and is a popular wedding spot.

C Pureza 53. Free.

Behind the big yellow and white façade of the Capilla de los Marineros lives La Esperanza de Triana. She and La Macarena are the two most-adored Virgins of the city and there are few bars around without a picture up of one or the other of them. They are appropriately both named ‘hope’; a necessary commodity in the past for the inhabitants of Seville’s two poorest barrios. Like La Macarena, she is weeping and expensively clothed and wears a golden halo. Her passages across the bridges in the wee hours of Good Friday morning are among the most emotional of the Easter processions.

Bus C3, 40.

Heading the other way from Puente de Triana will take you into the lesser-known northern streets. Calle de Castilla is the principal one, an interesting stroll enlivened by shops selling ceramics and flamenco dresses. Just off Calle de Castilla, the Callejón de la Inquisición is a spooky lane that used to lead from the river to the Castillo San Jorge, the seat of the Inquisition – many a suspected heretic or Jew climbed this way and bid goodbye to life. At 39 is Nuestra Señora de la O with a dusky red tower topped in blue and white ceramics and home to a revered statue of Mary. Parallel is the street Alfarería named for its potteries. While most of the ceramics shops don’t make the produce on site, some do; poke your head into no 22 and you might well see the old potter at work.

C Castilla 182. Mon-Sat 1030-1330, 1800-2130. Free. Bus C1/C2, C3, 40.

This unremarkable building is decorated with blue tiles narrating the story of the life of Mary and the death and resurrection of Christ. It’s worth a visit for the superb Christ figure inside, who is much revered across Seville. He is named El Cachorro, after a dead young gypsy that the sculptor is said to have used as a model. The sculpture is breathtaking; you can feel the sinews of the crucified Christ straining, while his face is a perfectly rendered mixture of anguish and relief.

Plaza de Cuba s/n, T 954 272 604, http://www.museodecarruajes.com Fri-Sun 1100-1400. E 3.60. Bus C3, 40.

If you’re not here during Feria de Abril, this is the place to come to see a selection of the lovely horse carriages that are de rigueur for smart families at that time. Horses play a bigger part in the lives of many sevillanos than is common in the western world these days, and this likeable museum imparts some of that. It’s set in a pretty old building just on the Los Remedios side of the Plaza de Cuba. Beyond here stretches the extensive barrio of Los Remedios, a fairly wealthy place these days, with streets of smart shops and some good lurking tapas options. Turn right out of the museum and right along the riverbank. You’ll soon reach a plaque which marks the point from where Magellan set sail in 1519 with a fleet of ships. He was aiming to sail around the world; he didn’t make it, but some of his crewmen did, under Juan Sebastian Elkano, a Basque whom the street is named after

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