If the Cathedral is the building that represents religious power, the city hall is that of political power.

However, this assertion may not convince the people who say that this power is represented by the Alcazar. Which is true, but if the Alcazar is the centre of power of the kingdom, the city hall is that of the city. In the years of the construction of the City Hall, the Alcazar wasn’t lived in by the monarchs but by the officials of the crown. As one of the richest cities of the world, Sevilla now needed to show the authority of its leaders, this great building started being constructed in 1526.

A building of the height of an empire

The so called ‘caballeros 24’ -24 knights-, the most influential lords that governed the city, had their meeting place in the same space as the cathedral chapter, with whose constituants they had to share. It was the former Courtyard of the Elms located in what is now Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, next to the Giralda. In the beginning 16^th century, with Sevilla being the centre of trade with the New World, the emperor of the Hispanic kingdoms chose this city to celebrate his wedding. The city had to be at the height of such an event and the leaders who governed it couldn’t see a better occasion to build their own headquarters that differentiated them from the religious rulers.

Their wishes were surpassed, it was constructed next to the former convent of San Francisco (that’s now disappeared and which gives its name to the square) a Plateresque stone building, one of the classic styles of the Spanish renaissance. In the interior the Chapter Room conserved, where the leaders would meet to govern the city.

An unfinished building

The absence of relief decoration on almost half of the facade attracts attention. This is because part of the City Hall was knocked down in the 19^th Century as it was in a state of disrepair.  To build it again, the intention was to decorate it with reliefs of the same style as the rest of the building, however, a lack of funds impeded it from being finished. A result of these new reliefs that were begun, we have as an anecdote the portrait of Grace Kelly, which the artist Echegoyen wanted to sculpt to pay homage to the actress who had visited the Fair of Seville in 1966.

Images source: 1 – 5 (section 2).