Claim: Seville is the 30th most populous municipality in the European Union as of 2004.

Seville -LRB- -LSB- səˈvɪl -RSB- Sevilla -LSB- seˈβiʎa -RSB- , -LSB- seˈβi ʝa -RSB- -RRB- is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville , Spain . It is situated on the plain of the river Guadalquivir . The inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos -LRB- feminine form : sevillanas -RRB- or hispalenses , after the Roman name of the city , Hispalis . Seville has a municipal population of about 703,000 , and a metropolitan population of about 1.5 million , making it the fourth-largest city in Spain and the 30th most populous municipality in the European Union . Its Old Town , with an area of 4 km ² , contains three UNESCO World Heritage Sites : the Alcázar palace complex , the Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies . The Seville harbour , located about 80 km from the Atlantic Ocean , is the only river port in Spain . Seville is also the hottest major metropolitan area in the geographical Western Europe , with summer average high temperatures of above 35 ° C.   Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis . It later became known as Ishbiliya after the Muslim conquest in 712 . During the Muslim rule in Spain , Seville came under the jurisdiction of the Caliphate of Córdoba before becoming the independent Taifa of Seville ; later it was ruled by the Muslim Almoravids and the Almohads until finally being incorporated into the Christian Kingdom of Castile under Ferdinand III in 1248 . After the discovery of the Americas , Seville became one of the economic centres of the Spanish Empire as its port monopolised the trans-oceanic trade and the Casa de Contratación -LRB- House of Trade -RRB- 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 ; then began a gradual economic and demographic decline as silting in the Guadalquivir forced the trade monopoly to relocate to the nearby port of Cádiz .   The 20th century in Seville saw the tribulations of the Spanish Civil War , decisive cultural milestones such as the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 and Expo ' 92 , and the city 's election as the capital of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia .