Description
Main port of Spain for trade with the West Indies during the 16th and 17th centuries, functioning as the center of the Spanish trade monopoly. Located inland, on the banks of the Guadalquivir River, it was the original seat of the Casa de la Contratación.
Year of Foundation or Oldest Source
Active since antiquity as the Roman Portus Hispalensis. The Casa de la Contratación was founded in 1503, marking the beginning of its primacy in Spanish Atlantic trade, which consolidated in the 16th century.
Country (State or Region)
Spain
Location
Seville, Andalusia, on the banks of the Guadalquivir River, approximately 80 km from the Atlantic Ocean.
Structuring
Inland river port. Infrastructure included the Casa de la Contratación, responsible for regulating trade and navigation; the Atarazanas Reales (royal shipyards) established as early as the Muslim period (9th century) and later expanded; and walls with specific gates that gave access to the port area. The navigability of the Guadalquivir was a constant challenge due to progressive silting.
Notes
It was the administrative and commercial heart of the Spanish Empire for almost two centuries, monopolizing the traffic of fleets, goods (especially silver and gold), and passengers between Spain and its American colonies. The Casa de la Contratación, based there, exercised fiscal, judicial, scientific (cartography, pilot training), and migration control functions. The increasing silting of the Guadalquivir River made access difficult for larger draft ships, leading to the gradual transfer of commercial hegemony to the port of Cádiz, a process consolidated in 1717 with the official move of the Casa de la Contratación. The city had a long maritime tradition, with guilds such as the Colegio de los 63 Cómitres (ship masters) and the boatmen's guild, and institutions such as the Alcalde de la Mar.
Sources
AYUNTAMIENTO DE SEVILLA. Sevilla: puerto y puerta de América. [s.d.].; ESPANHA. Ministerio de Cultura y Deporte. Archivo General de Indias. [s.d.].; GIMÉNEZ DE LA CUADRA, Guillermo. Sevilla, Escuela de Marinos. Revista General de Marina, 2009.; MARNOT, Bruno. Ports as Tools of European Expansion. Encyclopédie d'histoire numérique de l'Europe [online], 2020.; O'FLANAGAN, Patrick. Port cities of Atlantic Iberia, c. 1500-1900. London: Routledge, 2008.; PRÁCTICOS DE PUERTO. Curiosidades Históricas: El Alcalde de la Mar y Río de Sevilla. [s.d.].; PUERTO DE SEVILLA. Archivo Histórico. [s.d.].; PUERTO DE SEVILLA. Historia. [s.d.].; ROMERO DE LA CRUZ, Elena. Historia Económica del Puerto y Ría de Sevilla. In: Historia de la Navegación Comercial Española. Madrid: Puertos del Estado, 2004. p. 489-531.; SÁNCHEZ NÚÑEZ, Pedro. Guadalquivir: Sevilla y Sanlúcar, barcos y fiestas. [s.d.].
