Seville This colorful city on the banks of the Guadalquivir river with more than 2000 years history is the capital and largest city of the autonomous region of Andalucía. Seville was founded as the Roman city of Hispalis, and after the Muslim conquest it became known as Ishbiliyah and was the capital of al-Andalus between 713 and 716, the first Islamic capital in Iberian Peninsula. In the 16th century Seville became the most important economic center Spanish Empire as its port monopolised the trans-oceanic trade.