The Royal Alcázar of Seville and the Americas

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Royal Alcázar of Seville (Real Alcázar de Sevilla) is the oldest royal palace in Europe that is still in use today.

It dates back to the 11th century, when the Muslim authorities decided to build a fortress in a strategic location to protect the city.

The Casa de la Contratación was set up to promote and regulate navigation and trade with the Americas.

It managed the supplying and equipping of fleets, as well as inspecting and registering ships that were headed there. It also regulated emigration to the New World, took delivery of all the products coming back, and stored goods waiting to be shipped.

The institution later took on an even wider role, with the establishment of a court (the Audiencia) and a prison to handle crimes committed against the trade monopoly.

The Casa de la Contratación was run by an overseer, an accountant, and a treasurer, each assisted by other officials.

The image shows one of the best-known paintings on display in these rooms. It depicts Alfonso XIII of Spain and his family at the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition, held in Seville.

Goods such as gold, silver, pearls, hardwoods, and sugar were transported from the Americas to the Royal Alcázar, while all kinds of instruments and tools, clothing, shoes, textiles, wine, oil, wheat, and wax traveled in the opposite direction.

The Dying Moments of Saint Ferdinand (Las Postrimerías de San Fernando) is the other large painting on display there. The scene depicts the final hours of Ferdinand III of Castile, father of Alfonso X (the Wise), who died in the Royal Alcázar in 1252.

In 18th-century Seville, the Asistente was the monarchy's representative in the city, and governed in its name.

The site of the old Asistente lodgings is now occupied by three courtyards, known as Asistente, Levíes, and Romero Murube.

Pablo de Olavide was one of Seville's most distinguished Asistentes. Born and educated in Peru, he held the post between 1767 and 1775.

Over those nine years, he introduced several important initiatives in the city. These included the University of Seville's curriculum, a plan to restructure the municipal treasury, improving supplies to the city, reforming and secularizing the welfare system, and promoting theater and the arts.

In the 16th century, Ferdinand Columbus (son of Christopher) introduced American plants to Europe for the first time. He planted them in the garden of his Sevillian house, near the Puerta de Goles, which later became the Puerta Real or Royal Gate. We know that there were botanical species from the Americas in the Royal Alcázar (and the rest of the city) soon after that, although there is very little documentary evidence of this.

Significant numbers of species were introduced into the palace gardens in 1910, when the architect José Gómez created the Jardín de la Alcoba (Garden of the Alcove) where the kitchen gardens had been. He also installed the Jardín Inglés (English Garden) and the Jardín del Retiro (Garden of Retreat) the following year.

Some of the numerous species planted in these gardens included jacarandas, American walnut, horse chestnut, silk-cotton, and monkey puzzle trees.