The 5 most impressive legends of Seville that you have ever read
If something makes a city really mysterious, those are its legends. There are many curiosities and anecdotes that surround the Andalusian capital, but in this article we are going to tell you about the 5 legends of Seville most impressive you'll ever read. So take a seat, make yourself comfortable, and continue reading, we assure you that when you finish they will not leave you intact.
The most fascinating legends of Seville ever told
1. Doña María Coronel and the pan of boiling oil
One of the legends of Seville that most draws the attention of visitors and locals is that which has as protagonist Doña María Coronel, daughter of Alfonso Fernández Coronel, cupbearer of King Don Pedro I.
He soon married Juan de la Cerda, descendant of the Royal family of León and one of the main participants in the uprising of the Trastamara against King Pedro I. This conspiracy against the throne motivated the monarch to condemn him as a traitor, and having caught him Prisoner in a battle, ordered to be decapitated.
With the passage of time, Doña María Coronel was recovering from her loss, and dedicated herself to administer the property that belonged to her because of her dowry, because the property from her husband had been confiscated by the king and his house, located next to him. to the church of San Pedro, demolished.
So far, Doña María Coronel and King Don Pedro I had never coincided, until one day, they met by chance. From that moment, Don Pedro was captured by her beauty and from that moment, he pursued her in order to make her fall in love. Despite the zeal of the Sevillian lady for running away from him, Don Pedro always ends up finding her. Desperate to put an end to this nightmare, she took boiling oil to disfigure her face and put an end to the king's pretensions.
The monarch, moved by his enormous sense of guilt given the events, gave him the plot of his husband to María Coronel in which, shortly after, was built the Convent of Santa Inés, a place that today is still one of the most characteristic monuments of the city.
2. How the Virgin Macarena was changed by a clock
Although there are several stories about the size of Esperanza Macarena, the legend that we tell you goes back to the 16th century, when the newly founded Brotherhood of the Penance of Hope, instituted by Fray Hermando de la Cruz, needed an image for his temple of San Basilio. The Hospital of the Five Wounds (now the seat of the Parliament of Andalusia), which was a few meters from the basilica, housed the suitcase of an Italian traveler who intended to leave for the Indies. However, the deadly disease he suffered was prevented and, a year after his death, the hospital opened his luggage and discovered the image of the Virgin. When the brotherhood knew of its existence, he proposed a barter, the image in exchange for a new watch that was so needed to the hospital. It was as well as the image of the Virgin Macarena happened to belong to the brotherhood.
3. The beautiful Susona
The ingredients of this story are love, tradition and death. Its protagonist is Susana Ben Susón, daughter of a Jewish convert who led the uprising to end the persecution of the Jews and take control of the city. This reached the ears of the city's assistant, who ordered the arresting and hanging of those involved, including Susona's father. She, devastated by the death of her father, retired to a convent where she lived her last days. His last request before dying was that, once he died, his body was separated from his head and it was exposed on the door of his house in Calle Muerte, in the neighborhood of Santa Cruz. To this day you can still see a tile with a skull on this street, which bears the name of the protagonist of this story.
4. The head of King Don Pedro
Another of the legends of Seville The oldest is the one led by King Don Pedro I. We go back to the fourteenth century when the monarch, in one of his nocturnal tours, crossed with the son of Count Niebla, who faithfully supported the bastard brother of the king to occupy the throne . They fought in a duel where King Don Pedro fatally wounded him. The beating of the weapons aroused the curiosity of an old woman who lived right on the street where the event was taking place. When she gave birth to the lamp, she quickly recognized the author of the crime and, in horror, hurried to close the window, dropping the lamp in the street next to the corpse. Given the situation, Don Pedro, who had noticed that the old woman had recognized him, ordered the authorities to bring her in front of him to testify, since, as he had promised the Guzmanes, relatives of the deceased, he would do justice by cutting and exposing publicly the head of the malefactor who had killed his firstborn. During the private interrogation, when Don Pedro asked her about the perpetrator, she placed a mirror in front of her face and said "Here you have the murderer".
To solve the matter, Don Pedro had the head of one of his marble statues cut off, placed in a wooden box and left in a niche in the street where the events took place on condition that it was not opened until his death. . Today you can see the bust on the street which gives the name Cabeza del Rey Don Pedro. And just the street in front is called Candilejo, by the lamp with which the witness who recognized the king was illuminated.
5. Visit the Great Power to a man in his garage
The protagonist of the fifth and last legend of this article about legends of Seville es Juan Araújo exfutbolista of Sevilla FC. We go back to 1965 when Juan Araújo lost his son after a long illness. The ex-footballer, who was very devoted to the Christ of the Great Power, repeatedly asked him to heal his son, however, his prayers were not fulfilled and, after his death, the father broke with pain and denied his faith and The Great Power said that she would never return to her church, she would only see him if the Lord of Seville was going to visit her at home.
Right in this same year, what was known as the Popular Missions was staged in Seville, that is, events in which several images of Holy Week left the historic center to make a tour throughout the city. Specifically to the Christ of the Great Power it corresponded to him the zone of Nervión where Araújo had mounted a workshop. When the day of the procession arrived, the rain surprised the brotherhood and they had to quickly find a place to shelter the Christ.
At first they went to the nearest church but upon arrival, it was closed. Upon seeing the premises of Araújo open, they knocked on the door of the premises in order to find shelter. When Araújo opened, he found the Cristo del Gran Poder at the door, and he fell kneeling on the floor and surprised as well as repentant for his challenge.
We hope you have enjoyed these magnificent legends of Seville and we invite you, if you know any other, share it with us in the comments of this article or through our social networks Facebook and Instagram. And if you are coming to visit Seville, we leave you this guide of the best routes of 2 and 3 days to know Seville and enjoy every corner of the Seville capital.