Few cities show so little respect for the border between history and legend. On this route, the rake Miguel de Mañara meets his own funeral, the cigarette girl Carmen waits at the factory gate, the Jewish girl Susona asks that her skull be displayed and Doña Elvira leans from a Santa Cruz balcony. Four centuries of literature, opera and theatre born in these streets and still haunting them.
The route
Apartamento Esencia Sevilla
Route starting point. Leave the apartment towards the first stop.
Hospital de la Caridad
The church-hospital founded by Miguel de Mañara, the gentleman who inspired the figure of Don Juan.
Tip: Legend says Mañara crossed paths with a funeral one night, asked whose corpse it was, and pulling back the pall saw his own face. He converted and founded this hospital. Inside, Valdés Leal's "Hieroglyphs of Death".
Real Fábrica de Tabacos
The factory where 4,000 cigarette girls worked; where Prosper Mérimée set Carmen's story.
Tip: Today it's the University of Seville. The main courtyard and chapel can be visited; Carmen "worked" in the wing facing San Fernando.
Calle Susona
Former street of death: for years the skull of Susona hung here, the Jewish girl who betrayed her father.
Tip: Susona denounced a converso plot to save her Christian lover; repentant, she became a nun and asked that her skull remain on display. The tile at number 3 remembers her.
Plaza de Doña Elvira
According to tradition, Doña Elvira, Don Juan Tenorio's lady, lived on this square.
Tip: At night, with the lanterns lit and no tourists, it's the neighbourhood's most theatrical corner.
