Sight Seeing In Seville: A Post Card From Judys Seville

SightSeeing in Seville: A PostCard From Judys Seville

by

Judy Cotter

Seville is immeasurably more than a city caught in the amber of its ancient traditions. This modern and comfortable metropolis of the 21st Century confronts its future while temporarily side-stepping the obstacles of the construction of a new underground rapid transit system.

The 1992 World Expo brought updated infrastructure to Seville, a new airport and train station, a fast train, the AVE that speeds people comfortably from Madrid to Seville in less than 2 hours. Seville is home to some of the finest, most charming and unusual hotels and restaurants in Europe. It continues to serve, as it has for centuries, as a magnet for visitors, students, artists, writers, performers and residents from all parts of the Orient and the Occident. Life expectancy is longer here the low fat diet, fruits, vegetables, wine, year-round celebrations and the SIESTA all work their magic. I have adopted Seville as my home because I think it is the only place in the world where one can feel so strongly the pulse of the Collective Unconscious. This gazpacho of cultures the ancient Iberians, Phoenicians, Tarsish, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Moors, Arabs, Jews, the parade of Kings and Queens, explorers, writers, artists and musicians have left a deep imprint on the life of this city. Aside from the visible artistic and architectural reminders of their presence, daily rituals allow the Sevillanos and visitors to continue to commune with these ancestors in a very visceral way. The flamenco cry recalls the Oriental tonal scale of the Muslims and the Jews; the omnipresent olives, wine and fish are reminiscent of the Greco-Roman heritage; the Pilgrimage to the Virgin of Roco reconnects to pre-Christian fertility rites. And the symbolism of the bullfight harkens back to the Paleolithic hunter-painters and to the Roman events celebrated in Italicas amphitheater, just outside of Seville. I am certain that had Carl Jung ever spent springtime in Seville, he would have found a veritable Living Museum of his Collective Unconscious, transcending cultures and time! Un abrazo,

Judy Cotter, a native Californian and Sevillana by adoption, is a professor of Spanish Culture and Art History in Seville. Her presentations to university students and visitors to Spain cover. For Further information about Seville, please check out

http://www.sightseeing-in-seville.com For a Free Seville GuideBook http://sightseeing-in-seville-spain.com/things-to-do-in-sevilla.html

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SightSeeing in Seville: A PostCard From Judys Seville