Triana

Sevillanos will tell you that Triana is not just a neighbourhood but a state of mind. For centuries it stood apart on the west bank of the Guadalquivir, linked to the city by a bridge of boats first built by the Almohads, and it developed its own fiercely proud identity as the home of sailors, potters and Roma families. Many of the seamen who sailed with Columbus and Magellan came from here, and the expedition that first circumnavigated the globe set out from these banks — a sphere in the Plaza de Cuba marks the spot as mile zero. Triana's potteries produced the glazed tiles that cover Seville, from the Alcázar to the Plaza de España, and its streets gave birth to some of the greatest flamenco artists; the soleá, the most profound of flamenco's forms, is particularly associated with the neighbourhood. You arrive across the Puente de Isabel II, the iron Triana Bridge built in the nineteenth century. At its western end, the Mercado de Triana is a lively food market built over the ruins of the Castillo de San Jorge, the castle that served as the headquarters of the Spanish Inquisition in Seville; its remains, beneath the market, can be visited in a small museum that tells that grim story with restraint. From the bridge, the Calle Betis runs south along the river, its houses painted ochre, blue and white, with bars and restaurants whose terraces look across the water to the Torre del Oro and the Giralda. Inland, the Calle San Jacinto and the Calle Pureza are the neighbourhood's spine, with the Capilla de los Marineros, home of the beloved Virgin of Hope of Triana, and the Gothic-Mudéjar church of Santa Ana, the oldest parish church in the city.

Ceramics: Triana's pottery tradition is the best reason to linger. The Centro Cerámica Triana, in a former ceramics factory on the Calle Callao, tells the story of the craft with kilns, tools and centuries of tiles, and the streets around the Calle Alfarería and the Calle Antillano Campos still have workshops and shops selling hand-painted tiles, plates and house numbers. Look up as you walk: many façades are decorated with tiles of saints, shop signs and street names. A tile or a small ceramic plate is the best souvenir of Seville you can buy.

Eating and drinking: Triana is where many Sevillanos go out, and its bars are generally more local and better value than those around the Cathedral. The Mercado de Triana has stalls selling fresh produce and small bars serving tapas and drinks; go late in the morning when it is busiest. The riverside terraces of the Calle Betis are the place for a sunset drink with the best view of the old town, while the side streets and the area around the Plaza del Altozano and the Calle San Jacinto have traditional bars for fried fish, chicharrones and cold beer. Many of the flamenco venues in Triana programme regular performances, and the neighbourhood is at its most alive during the Velá de Santa Ana in July, its summer fair on the riverbank, and in Holy Week, when its brotherhoods cross the bridge in procession.

How to see it: a loop of two to three hours works well. Cross the Triana Bridge from the Plaza de Armas side, visit the market and the castle ruins, walk down the Calle Pureza past the Capilla de los Marineros, cut through to the ceramics district and the Centro Cerámica, then return along the Calle Betis for sunset and cross back by the San Telmo bridge to the Torre del Oro. Time it for the evening, when the light falls on the river and the neighbourhood fills with people. Triana is also a good place to stay, with a more local feel than the centre and quick access across the bridge.