The city sits well inland， but a mere 6 meters above sea level. Seville was long an important sea port， priorprior to adv.在前， 居先 to the silting up of the Guadalquivir. Amerigo Vespucci died in Seville. From Seville Ferdinand Magellan obtained the ships for his circumnavigationcircumnavigation n.世界一周旅行， 周游世界. Much of the Spanish Empire，s silver from the New World came to Europe in the Spanish treasure fleet that landed in Seville， and Seville holds the most important archive of the Spanish administration in the Americas， the Archivo General de Indias. The American riches made it a magnetmagnet n.磁体， 磁铁 for people around Spain， ranging from latifundia nobles and foreign merchants (who were broken by Spanish cargadores) to an active crime scene， pictured in the picaresque genre. The American silver was rapidly transhippedtranship v.换船， 换车 to Antwerp or Genoa， seat of the bankers who had advanced steady funds to the Spanish Crown. Other treasures of the Americas passed first through Seville， the first commercial shipment of chocolate from Veracruz arrived in Seville in 1585.
Seville was a strongholdstronghold n.要塞， 据点 of the liberalsliberal n.自由主义者， (尤指英国、加拿大等国的) adj.慷慨的， 不拘泥的， 宽大的， 自由主义的 during the Spanish Civil War， 1820～1823.
During the Spanish Civil War， Seville sided with the Nationalists， and was the site of the Nationalist edition of the ABC newspaper.
The city，s great cathedralcathedral n.大教堂 was built from 1401～1519 after the Reconquista on the former site of the city，s mosque. It is the largest of all medieval and Gothic cathedrals， in terms of both area and volume. The interior， with the longest nave in Spain， is lavishly decorated， with a large quantity of gold evident. The Cathedral reused some columns and elements from the mosquemosque n.清真寺， and most famously the Giralda， originally a minaret， was converted into a bell tower. It is topped with a statue representing Faith. The Giralda is the city，s most famous symbol.
The Alcázar facing the cathedral is the city，s old MoorishMoorish adj.摩尔人的， (建筑， 家具等)摩尔人式的， 摩尔人风格的 Palace； construction was begun in 1181. Additional construction continued for over 500 years.
Granada
格拉纳达
格拉纳达位于内华达山脉北麓，风景如画，建筑多姿多彩。特别是那些阿拉伯式建筑使这座安达卢西亚地区的城市风格别具一格。
格拉纳达是与之同名的格拉纳达省的首府，大学及天主教组织集中于此，城市被达罗河划为两部分，河水从地下穿过城市中央，左侧为阿拉巴辛老区，阿兰布拉宫便屹立在那里。格拉纳达是座历史名城，公元前5世纪便有人居住，先后被西哥特人、阿拉伯人，摩洛哥人统治过。13世纪中叶，巴勒斯坦的拿撒勒国王穆罕默德一世建立了格拉纳达王国，在这以后的两个世纪中格拉纳达的经济和文化得到了很大发展，成为伊斯兰教在伊比利亚半岛统治中心。公元15世纪，西班牙爆发了推翻伊斯兰教统治的光复运动。当时最强大的卡斯蒂利亚王国同伊斯兰王国交战。1490年费尔南德国王率五万大军南征。1492年格拉纳达的最后一个国王才向天主教国王交出了城门钥匙，摩尔王朝覆灭，西班牙获得了独立和统一，而此后格拉纳达的经济和历史地位也很快下降。17世纪一位名叫阿丰索·卡诺的格拉纳达画家、雕刻家兼建筑师在美化城市方面做出了卓越贡献，使格拉纳达具备了独树一帜的风貌。
地理和自然景观的多样性是这里的主要特点：沿海地区气候温暖，赫尼尔河套平原辽阔而又肥沃；山区气候寒冷，依比利亚半岛上的最高峰——海拔3481公尺的穆拉森峰便坐落其中。特殊的历史背景赋予了这座城市丰富的艺术财富，既有摩尔人修建的宫殿，也有基督教文艺复兴时期的建筑瑰宝。由于这里曾是阿拉伯人在依比利亚半岛上的最后一个王国的首都，格拉因此而成为具有伟大象征意义的城市。
格拉纳达是一座适宜漫步而且引人遐想的城市。名胜古迹所显示出的艺术辉煌以及喷泉、池塘和公园的碧波所展现出的水光迷离之美，令人赏心悦目。城市狭窄的街道与华美的花园形成鲜明的对比。圣周的宗教色彩以及萨克罗蒙特区窑洞式住宅的欢乐气氛，格拉纳达总是能够带给人全新的感受。
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada， in the community of Andalusia， Spain. It is situated at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains， at the confluenceconfluence n.汇合 of two rivers， Darro and Genil， at an elevation of 738 metres above sea level. At the 2003 census， the population of the city of Granada proper was 237，663， and the population of the entire urban area was estimated to be 450，439， ranking as the 13th - largest urban area of the Spanish Kingdom. About 3.3% of the population did not hold Spanish citizenshipcitizenship n.公民的身份， 公民的职责和权力， the largest number of these (31%) coming from South America.
The Alhambra， a famous Moorish citadel and palace， is in Granada. It is the most remarkable item of the Muslim， Jewish， and Christian historical legacy that makes Granada a hot spot among cultural and tourist cities in Spain.
Granada is also wellknown within Spain due to its prestigious university and， nowadays， wild nightlife (though in the 1920s Federico García Lorca described the grenadinos as “the worst bourgeoisiebourgeoisie n.资产阶级 in Spain”). In fact， it is said that it is one of the three best cities for college students (the other two are Salamanca and Santiago de Compostela).
History
The city has been inhabited from the dawn of history. There was an IberoCeltic settlement here， which made contact in turn with Phoenecians， Carthagenians and Greeks. By the 5th century BCE， the Greeks had established a colony which they named “Elybirge”. Under Roman rule， in the early centuries CE， this name had become “Ilíberis”. The VisigothsVisigoth n.西哥特人(四世纪后入侵罗马帝国并在法国和西班牙建立王国的条顿族人) maintained the importance of the city as a centre of both ecclesiasticalecclesiastical adj.教会的， 牧师的， 神职的 and civil administration and also established it as a military stronghold.
A Jewish community established itself in what was effectively a suburbsuburb n.市郊， 郊区 of the city， called “Gárnata” or “Gárnata alyahud” (Granada of the Jews). It was with the help of this community that Moorish forces under Tariq ibnZiyad first took the city in 711， though it was not fully secured until 713. They gave it the name “Ilbira”， the remaining Christian community calling this “Elvira”， and it became the capital of a province of the Caliphate of Cordoba. Civil conflicts that wrackedwrack n.失事船只， 破坏 vt.完全毁坏 the Caliphate in the early 11th century led to the destruction of the city in 1010. In the subsequent reconstruction， the suburb of Gárnata was incorporated in the city， and the modern name in fact derives from this. With the arrival of the Zirid dynastydynasty n.朝代， 王朝 in 1013， Granada became an independent kingdom. By the end of the 11th century， the city had spread across the Darro to reach what is now the site of the Alhambra.
From 1232 to 1492， Granada was the seat of the Nasrid dynasty that ruled the sultanatesultanate n.伊斯兰教君主的领地， 伊斯兰教君主的地位 (until 1238) and kingdom from the mid 13th century to the 15th century， one of the longestlasting Islamic dynasties in the history of all Andalus. The Nasrid sultans and kings were responsible for building most of the palaces in the Alhambra.