Spain: University of Seville

January 2017

The University of Seville originally dates to the 15th century. Created by Archdeacon Maese Rodrigo Fernández de Santaella, it was originally called Colegio de Santa María de Jesús. In the 16th century (1505), a Bull of Pope Julius II granted the college the faculty to teach degrees in Theology, Philosophy, Law, Medicine and Arts. In 1551, the City Council allowed it, by means of a Royal Provision, to officially become a university, enjoying all the privileges of the other Spanish universities.

(Wikipedia)

Walking through old downtown Seville I happened to pass in front of the university. The university itself is old and venerable, but its location has shifted a lot over the years due to politics. Finally in the 1950s it ended up in an old tobacco factory from colonial days.

The Royal Tobacco Factory is an 18th-century stone building in Seville, southern Spain. Since the 1950s it has been the seat of the rectorate of the University of Seville. Prior to that, it was, as its name indicates, a tobacco factory: the most prominent such institution in Europe, and a lineal descendant of Europe's first tobacco factory, which was located nearby. It is one of the most notable and splendid examples of industrial architecture from the era of Spain's Antiguo Régimen.

(Wikipedia)

I loved the architecture (it was a factory?), but even more, I loved that a university had been put inside it. Even if tobacco and smoking were to lead to many deaths, the impact of the plant on Europe is significant. The University of Seville is now centered on the oldest tobacco factory in Europe - basically the place that taught all others how to process the leaves into pipe fodder and cigars. What an ironic history.

I loved finding it randomly and that it was given proper historical recognition. Seville, it seemed, was going to be a very interesting place to explore.