The Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville, the first in Europe

The building of the Real Fábrica de Tabacos de Sevilla, today the seat of the Rectorate of the University, is a very interesting building built in the 18th century, becoming the first tobacco factory in Europe.

Tobacco from America arrived in Seville from the 15th century, which was processed in different factories until this great Renaissance-Baroque style building was built, which had more than 12,000 workers at the beginning of the 19th century.

Bizet ‘s opera Carmen is based on the love story of one of the cigar makers who worked in this factory.

Visit the Tobacco Factory of Seville

The building that housed the Royal Tobacco Factory of Seville until it became the headquarters of the University in 1950, is a spectacular industrial building with a unique architecture in the continent of Renaissance and Herrerian style.

The most important point of interest on the outside of the building is its Main Facade thanks to its impressive Baroque doorway through which one enters an office area thanks to a double staircase that ends in the University auditorium.

Next to these stairs were the homes of the most important positions in the factory, such as its director.

Several patios that make up the building should also be highlighted, such as the Patio de los Fieles and the Patio del Reloj and the rest of the doors through which you can access the different faculties, but these are more modern since they date from 1956 when they were undertook the reform of the factory to convert it into the university.

Also very interesting is the moat that surrounds the building on 3 of its sides and that was built, along with the sentry boxes that accompany it, to monitor the building that at that time was on the outskirts of the city in an area that could be considered conflictive. There was also a wall that no longer exists today.

Photos: wikipedia.org