The Rectorate
The Old Royal Tobacco Factory
Its origins are as peculiar as unknown to locals and outsiders. And is that this building was one of the most important industrial constructions in Europe erected during the s. XVIII: the Royal Tobacco Factory. Undoubted proof that the Sevillian capital was the undisputed hub of trade with America.
The factory was built on the site of the Royal Tobacco Factory.
The Factory was built on land known as «Las Calaveras», where a Roman burial site was located. The works that gave rise to one of the most important buildings of the time in Europe began in 1728, and would be lengthening due to structural changes that tried to accommodate larger machinery or various remodeling. According to an inscription on the pillars of the drawbridge, the work was officially completed in 1770. It would again, however, undergo a major transformation in 1953, when rehabilitation began for use as a university building.
The architectural style of the building is very different from the original.
The architectural style of the Rectorate can appreciate the Renaissance references in its plant and the Baroque influence on its cover, especially in the ornate tympanum. Above this, rises a statue of the goddess Fama playing the trumpet. This work by Cayetano Acosta has its own legend, which tells that when the cigarette girls who worked in the Factory entered the building, the angel would play the trumpet at random.
Some curiosities
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Among other curiosities, it is worth noting that the Factory had its own dungeons to punish offenders working there, especially cigarette makers who tried to steal tobacco. Today, these dungeons are the offices of the teachers. Another curiosity of this construction is that its base is supported by a system of inverted arches. A very unusual structural oddity for the time, and that has been recently discovered thanks to some improvement works during the year 2016.
