Without a doubt, you should cross Seville’s most famous bridge to arrive at this neighbourhood of which is so widely heard of.

The cradle of Flameco, home to sailors, the centre of pottery are all mixed together in the most characteristic neighbourhood of Seville.

Triana, Bridge and Beyond

Its inhabitants say that Triana is the ‘bridge and beyond’ and during many centuries the life of this place developed outside of the walls of the city, only connected to it by a bridge made of wood and little boats called the ‘Bridge of Boats’.

Today Triana is a neighbourhood full of life and its own soul, with its impressive Santa Ana Church, its summer festival of the same name, its river walkway, its chapels and buildings related to the ceramic trade. So much and so concentrated in little space, make it the perfect neighbourhood to wander around and enjoy at our leisure. In addition, something that cannot be missed are the night views from the Bridge of Triana. 

Triana, with its foundation legend similar to that of Seville’s and just as ancient, from early on it needed its own market, trades and churches. Owing to the rise of the river sometimes in the year  it couldn’t depend on the city in front of it. What is more, it was through Triana that the oil and food from Aljarafe, a former agricultural region of Seville, arrived, something which turned Triana into a very important surburb. With the passing of time these idiosyncrasies resulted in its own architectural style, the most significant being the Corrales de Vecinos, groups of dwellings surrounding a central courtyard, these humble houses had nothing in comparison to the palaces of the city centre which were reserved for the people who had greater purchasing power. Nevertheless as they were not unique to Triana on the other side of the bridge neighbourhood corrales and courtyards survive, however they are more abundant here.

Entering Triana

Here there was the castle of the Sevillian Inquisition, the Castle of San Jorge. Its ruins are found underneath the market of Triana and they can be visited by a museum of the same name, which has free entry. Another museum to visit in Triana is the Centre of Ceramics, which was one of the oldest potteries, renovated to house this interpretation centre of the traditional craft of the neighbourhood. The Regionalist buildings of the Altozano Square or San Jacinto Street also deserve special attention, like the inimitable Carmen Chapel, Patron saint of Sailors. Finally, you shouldn’t leave Triana without walking down Betis Street -the roman name for the river- and look at the House of Columns, with was the University of Sailors. 

This is a neighbourhood to walk in, to admire, to lose and submerge yourself in a culture that is not Sevillian but Trianarian.

Seville had a child… and they name her Triana.

El Pali, Sevillian singer

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If you want to walk around Triana, marvelling at its streets and history, don’t hesitate to look at this specially made tour:

Images source: 36 – 42 (section 3)