(Latin: Hispalis)
City in southern Spain. The capital of a Roman province, Seville was the seat of a bishop as early as 287. The Moors seized the city in the 8th century, and Christinaity was not restored until the conquest of Ferdinand III in 1248. The cathedral, rebuilt on the site of a mosque (1403 to 1506), is an amazing structure, second only in size to Saint Peter's in Rome. The city was the scene of two provincial councils, 590,690; and it was the home of the holy brothers, Saint Leander and Saint Isidore, 6th century bishops of Seville. It possess many old churches, among them San Ildefonso dating from the Visigothic period, a university founded in 1505,a nd museum containing many priceless Murillos.