Plaza de la Alfalfa, Seville

Plaza de la Alfalfa is a public square in Seville’s historic centre, extending naturally from Alfalfa Street. Its most surprising story reaches back to imperial Rome: this area held the city forum, where public buildings, temples, baths and markets stood. The main north-to-south avenue and the principal east-to-west route met here, making the square a significant point in the ancient city.

The name people use has remained constant through many official renamings. In 1852, the square gained another defining role when Seville’s municipal government moved an animal trading market here. The decision was intended to spare buyers the hazardous journey across the floating bridge to Triana, where the market had previously operated. So the space you see combines an ancient civic setting with a practical nineteenth-century marketplace, and its familiar name has outlasted every formal change.