Sometimes we wish we could become birds to be able to enjoy Seville from the heights and admire the whole city in its splendor. The Cathedral, without going any further, offers successful visits to its roofs. However, we do not rule out unraveling the secrets, passages that lie meters underground.
It may be surprising that the city has subway passages, but it is logical when you stop to think that there is a whole ancient city of secrets buried under the Seville of our times. It is enough to see the Roman temple of Marmoles street or the Antiquarium de las Setas to realize how this unevenness is.
In some documents there is talk of a subway passage that connects the Torre del Oro with the Alcazar and Triana, and other corridors that connected the prisons of the Inquisition with the Tribunal of the Holy Office. We also know of the existence of Roman tunnels, which were basically sewers, since the Roman Empire was very concerned about the sanitary conditions of the city.
There are practically no tunnels that can be accessed by the public, but we have evidence of some that we will describe below.
Secret passages under our feet
- A Roman cistern under the Plaza de la Pescadería. This hydraulic structure about 4 meters deep and only 60 centimeters from the ground came to light in 2006 and that the City Council covered with a glazed structure from which it is difficult to distinguish the interior.
This cistern, dating from the second century, facilitated the distribution of water. The interior has only been visited during some editions of the Noche en Blanco of Seville.
- The passageway of Abades Street, which could be investigated in 1970 as a result of some works in the street. It is said that in the nineteenth century a slave used this passageway during a carnival to escape from the yoke of his master.
- The subway passage of Argote de Molina, which was known as the Callejón de las Brujas during the 16th and 17th centuries, and is located in what is now the Don Raimundo restaurant.
- Some subway passages known as the Cave of Hercules, which reached from the church of Santa María la Blanca to Mateos Gago Street.
- Of course, the Real Alcázar, being a fortress, had another passageway, although this was also used for non-military purposes by Pedro I El Cruel and his love affairs with María de Padilla, his mistress.
- Some galleries that went from the Cathedral to García de Vinuesa street.
- Passages under Torneo Street, documented by the chronicler Don Manuel de la Cruz.
- If there are any galleries that are admirable, they are those of the hotel complex Las Casas de la Judería.
This 18,000 square meter hotel is made up of 27 houses joined together. All these houses are connected by an incredible subway tunnel and even a wall from the period is preserved at the entrance to the passageways.
- Where today is the Flotarium of AIRE Ancient Baths Seville, there were once Roman ruins of the first century A.D. And this temple dedicated to wellness is housed in a sixteenth-century palace house in whose depths you can see the passage of history.